Date: 2006-06-27
From: Gorham, NH

To: North Woodstock, NH
Miles today: 74.8

Sauce Dog Here,   On this leg of the journey we hauled ourselves up, across, and over the many ridges of The White Mountains. This section starts in Gorham, NH.    In Gorham we quickly got a hitch into town from what seemed to be a friendly older hippie from way back. It turns out that his name is Jack Arno, and he is Jay Leno's best friend. Believe it or not. He is an entertainment lawyer, hotel owner, musician, and the campaign manager for Bill Weld's Presidential Campaign. Really really talkative guy, and he thought we were some crazy cats to use his lingo. The town stop went smoothly and we got full of chinese food and groceries in short order. In and out of town in 4 or 5 hours. A well oiled machine we are.    After Gorham we stayed just 1.6 miles up the trail at the Rattle River shelter. There we met another interesting fellow from Massachusetts. He had a sugar glider. A small marsupial that glides around and catchs birds, crazy. The thing looked and sounded like the devil. He also talked a great deal and we enjoyed his company.    The next day which would probably be the 22nd of June(?) we headed up Mount Moriah and into the Whites. The climb was a long and fairly frustrating one. Lots of blown down trees which make progress much more difficult. At the top we realized we were in for a day of big ups and downs. We only went a bit over 13 miles, but I would say that it was probably the most difficult day of the whites if not the whole trip thus far. That evening we camped just past the Carter Notch Hut.   The white mountains are maintained by the Appalachian Mountain Club(AMC). They are a strict regime that rakes in the money and caters to motorized tourists. The huts cost 77 dollars a night(dinner and breakfast included). That is insanity and we managed to avoid paying a cent through the entire range. The huts are located inside No Camping areas called forest protection areas, and we would simply camp outside these areas in less desirable locations. A small price to pay.    The next day we went up and over the wildcat mountains and descended a hellish 3 miles into Pinkham Notch. Another Tourist trap. The views from both ridges had been superb and the terrain beautiful and challenging. I believe however that the Bigelow's in Northern Maine surpassed them in grandeur. My humble opinion. That same evening we climed 5300foot Mount Madison and stayed in the Madison Spring's Hut. At this hut we scrubbed pots and pans for a few hours in exchange for leftovers and a hard floor to sleep on. Not great, but better than paying money. This option is open to two thruhikers per night per shelter and we got very lucky. I am happy it worked out.    At this point we were on top of the Presidential Ridge which hinges on Mount Washington. We traversed the 18 mile ridge in one day, and found the experience to be magnificent and surprisingly pleasant on the feet and legs. We got partial views in the morning which gave way to great views in the afternoon. On top of washington we got a root beer and sent out some post cards.    Mentioning the postcards remindeded me to thank everyone for sending me such fine emails and for signing the guestbook. It is very encouraging to know that you are all thinking of myself and the General on occassion(sp?).    After traversing the presidential ridge we slept on the Banks of the sandy Saco River in Crawford Notch. The next day we had a very easy 8 miles to the Zealand Falls Hut where we ate lunch. After that time the weather began to deteriorate, but the rain held off for the most part. The days wasn't too much to write home about so I will skip it. In the evening we got 3 dollar all you can eat soup and baked goods at the GaleHead Hut. The food and its cooks were great to eat and talk with. We enjoyed that very much, and in the register we learned that we might soon catch a fellow SOBO hiker named Sanibel. It turns out we passed him a bit later without knowing it, and I guess except for a few odd cases further ahead we are the first true SOBO's of the year.    I say that for no real reason, and hope I don't slight anyone else who is ahead and/or deems us otherwise unworthy of the title. We are planning a few good long breaks in the future however, and hopefully some others will catch up and liven up the shelter scene. Right now we seem to be on our own. However the NOBO hordes are approaching, and we see more and more every day. Soon we will have more company than we can handle.    Getting back to the hike we have one more day of hiking after Galehead hut to Franconia Notch and North Woodstock. This bit of hiking is over the Lafayette Ridge, and it is supposed to be the most beautiful ridge in the white mountains. Sadly, we awoke to rain and it didn't let up in for a period of at least 24 hours. The ridge was long and exposed. We hiked over it in cold rain and gusting winds of at least 25 mph. The experience was less than joyful. Then we ate lunch in the rain before heading down the hill to set up our tent before heading into North Woodstock in the Morning.