Date: 2011-09-07
From: Gorham, NH (Rt. 2)

To: Carter Notch Hut
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: light rain

Day 170 - What a day!! I was up at 5:20am, showered and walked to Welsh¢s' for breakfast. Bruce got there at 6:00am and it was already raining, reminisce of Earl which had dumped so much rain in the southeast and along the eastern seaboard. The bad news was that Bruce confirmed what I had heard, the AT in Vermont was closed and if one is caught hiking in the Green Mountains there would be a $5,000 fine. This was very disappointing to hear but given the devastation that the people in Vermont have experienced I completely understand. Bruce let me out at the trail at 7:10am and I was on my way in the rain. It was quite warm and I was hiking in my shorts and tee shirt, even though the wind was blowing hard. I had an immediate 1,100 foot climb up Mt. Moriah. I also had two stream crossings and had difficulty determining exactly where the trail went. It had rained so hard and created many paths where the water had run, I could not tell which was which. I did not want to rock jump a stream if it was not leading me to the AT. I finally figured it out but not with the help of white blazes, they are just not big on marking the trail in NH. I was going to eat lunch at Imp shelter; my guidebook said it was 0.1 miles off the trail. I wanted to get to the shelter so I could get out of the rain for a few minutes. When I got to the side trail leading to the shelter, the sign there said 800 yards to the shelter. I walked downhill a little way but decided I was not going to walk a half mile there and back just to get to a shelter, so I returned to the trail. Mt. Moriah's elevation is 3,991 feet and the wind was now starting to get very chilly. So, in the middle of the trail, in the rain, I got out my long pants, wind pants, rain jacket, gloves and proceeded to strip and change clothes. Of course, everything in my pack got wet as a result of this but I knew I had to put on some warmer clothes, my thermometer on my pack said it was 50*F. I did not bother to take time to eat. I did see Hopeful today; I had not seen him since early in Virginia. We had hiked together for 3-4 days back then and I had enjoyed his company. He was doing well and headed northbound. I warmed up quickly climbing up Mt. Carter at 4,610 feet and it was totally in the clouds. Bruce had recommended that I stay at Zeta Pass which I arrived at around 4:20pm. However, there was standing water everywhere and it was still raining. My only option at this point was Carter Notch hut, 2.7 miles away. It was time for a little prayer, since I am only moving at a 1 mph pace. I had little choice but to push on even if it took me three hours. I had to climb up Carter Dome at 4,832 feet before descending to the notch. The path down did not have large boulders, just basketball, soccer ball, softball, baseball, golf ball size rocks, so every step had to be placed carefully. Finally, with God's blessing I arrived at the side trail to the hut at 6:40pm and to the hut at 6:48pm, in the dark. I walked in and there were 3 NoBo hikers and 4 AMC employees, but no paying guests tonight. Thru hikers can stay at these huts for "work for stay" (WFS). By doing some small jobs the AMC will allow you to sleep on the floor and feed you any left overs. What a fortunate ending to a long, wet, cold day. I hung up all my wet gear, changed my clothes and had a hot bowl of corn chowder. They have to carry in all the food to the huts and carry out all the trash and they do this twice a week. The huts have solar panels and small roof mounted windmills to heat the water and generate some electricity for lights. They do fly in large propane canisters to operate the stove, oven and refrigerator. Everything is cooked on site. In fact, they had made 9-10 pumpkin pies that day because they did not want to carry out the #10 can of pumpkin. The AMC must operate 8-10 huts along the White Mountains; most of them stay open until mid-October except for Carter Notch, Madison and Lake of the Clouds. Those three huts close on September 11, so that is why the folks at Carter were trying to consume all the food that they could. Around 7:00pm, we had homemade calzones, salad, ham, homemade Reese cups and, of course, pumpkin pie. It was delicious. Since there were no paying guests tonight, we were also allowed to sleep in the bunk houses. There are 40 bunks, in two separate building, so I had a room all by myself. I did have to wash dishes for an hour but that was OK given my circumstances. I got into my bunk, inside my sleeping bag around 8:30pm, dry, warm and with a full stomach. I would never have imagined in my wildest dreams that I would find myself in that situation earlier in the day. He certainly is watching over me and caring for me, for which I am very grateful. It rained hard throughout the night and I woke up several times wondering how it would be to be outside in my tent. I covered 15.2 miles today bringing my total up to 1,433.9 with 747.1 miles remaining.