Date: 2008-08-22
From: Gorham, NH

To: Gorham, NH
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Oh man did we have fun with A.M. and V8 last nite. They came over to our room,we all ordered pizza and just sat around laughing, telling stories, andenjoying some deeper conversations about re-entry after hiking. I'm gonna missthese ladies when they're gone. Truly.....I was still up and awake at 7:30 this morning. A.M. called and asked if wewanted to go for breakfast downstairs, and yup, we were game. I got thebiggest breakfast they offered, but added another egg (for 3 total) and I ate1/2 of Karen's french toast.We all decided to take care of our own stuff today, A.M. and V8 needed to taketheir cars to Grafton Notch (MAINE!) where we'll be coming out next. I neededto get my hiking poles fixed up with new tips and baskets and get a refund fromthe other store who put a tip on that broke in 15 minutes on flat terrain. Noproblem, they were more than accomodating and of course, gear needed to bepurchased. Karen may be doing some camping, so she wanted her own littlealcohol stove. We ended up getting her a Vargo stove, which is pretty cool andone I'd considered using myself.Oh...for the person who asked if I'm still using my catfood can stove, yes, I'musing the same one I've used since day 1, the one Jakebrake made for me andmailed to me unexpectedly. It's still working like a charm, but I havereplaced the pink insulation in it with the cloth-like marine insulation. Itseems to last much longer.I got the tips replaced and my hiking poles are feeling loved again, after theabuse of the Whites where more than not, I was throwing them up or down therocks so I could scramble up them on all four's.Then it was back to Wal-Mart for resupply. Man, my pack is going to weigh sofreakin much, 5 days of food for this leg. We "might" be able to do it in 4,but we're all a little gun shy of overplanning considering how hard the Whiteswere, and it doesn't necessarily get that much easier in Maine. We're doingthe Mahoosics with that infamous mile in it too, and I want to allow plenty oftime to get through that and not be stressed.After resupply, we came back and I got my pack all ready to go. Then I got mytopos/maps/guidebook out and came up with a slackpacking plan to get me fromGrafton Notch to Monson with as much day hiking as possible, and it looks likeit's possible with only one section where I'll do a 2 niter with full pack. Itwould be nice to speed things up a bit. It's not that I'm doing tremendouslyhigher mileage, although, I HAVE been hiking only 6-8 mile days since I hit theWhites, and these days are closer to 9-13 mile days, so I guess they are a bitlonger. It's logistically a bit of a challenge for Karen to know where to stayor hang out during the day while I'm hiking, but we'll figure it out. And bythe way, I want to pass on some info to hangers while it's still fresh on mymind, concerning the Whites.You can obviously tell this if you read my journal, but here's what you need toknow to get through the Whites..all in one place:I basically think of the Whites as sections between major notches, where you canget to towns if need be, but here's the skinny on hanging at each of the majorsections if you want to avoid staying at the huts, but many campsites are $8.00fee:Glencliff, NH to Kinsman Notch--Only above treeline on top of Mt. Moosilauke,and is NO problem hanging on either side of the summit in lower elevations orcloser to the roads, and the shelters have good hanging sites in this section,with plenty of stealth hanging as an option. No worries in this section.Kinsman Notch to Franconia Notch--I hung at Eliza Brook Shelter with no problemsand again, only above treeline on the summits and then you're back down.Stealth hanging is an option in this section too, but keep in mind, closer tothe alpine zone, the forest changes to very dense thick stuff that may beharder, so try to hang in lower elevationsFranconia Notch to Crawford Notch--A few stealth sites on the way up Lafayette,you can definitely hang at Garfield Ridge Campsite, Guyot Campsite and EthanPond Campsites. This section has some ridge hiking where the trees aren't thegreatest for stealth hanging, however, it is totally possible to hang throughthis section and not have to stay at the huts at all. Side trails will alsoquickly take you below treeline for some stealth camping and the Gale RiverTrail and Zealand Falls Hut Trail are excellent trails to do this on. (not theBridal Path by Greenleaf Hut though, it's way out of the way)Crawford Notch to Pinkham Notch: This is the section with Mt. Washington andthe Presidentials. You can hang @ Mizpah Hut for $8.00, or try to find astealth site near it, but after this hut there is a challenge. There are 14.8miles from Mizpah Hut to the Osgood Tentsite (off the ridge) that are totallyabove treeline and there are zero options to hang or really even tent for thatmatter, because it's totally exposed and would damage the alpine environment. Now, just as you get below treeline heading down to Osgood Tentsite, I saw 1small stealth site that you can hang at, but that was it, this is still onlyabout 1 mile from Osgood Tentsite though. In my opinion you have a few optionsfor this section, which is slow and exhausting hiking due to pure rocks and onehell of a descent off the ridge from Mt. Madison:Option 1: Hike to Mt. Washington, pay/hitch for a way down to Pinkham Notch,camp for the nite, then try to get back up Mt. Washington and hike to OsgoodTentsite the next day. There's a shuttle service, but they charge hikers$26.00 per person one way, or the Cog railway is $46.00 per person one way,down the mountain. I'd personally try hitching down and keep in mind, peopledriving up the Auto Rd. have to pay $20.00 for the car/driver and $7.00 foreach additional person in the car, so be prepared to offer some $ to getdown/up.Option 2: Hike 1.4 miles past Mt. Washington to the Jewell Trail and take thistrail down (I estimate about 2 miles down) to treeline and hangOption 3: Prepare yourself for one hell of a long day and go from Mizpah Hut tobelow treeline past Madison Hut (within a mile of Osgood Tentsite)Option 4: Use the huts, but don't even THINK about asking for work for stay oranything before 2 p.m., so if you hut hop, just hang out on the trail if you'reearly (don't let them see you hanging out in other words) till after 2 beforeyou walk in and let them see you, otherwise you'll be told to move onThis 14.6 miles is the ONLY section of the Whites that it is impossible to hangon the trail, so to people worried about hanging through the Whites...don't.Pinkham Notch to Gorham, NH: There are great hanging sites .3 before Carter Hutthat are legal and free. Exposed hiking at the tip top of the summits of themountains, but you're in treeline most of the time. Next great place to hangis around Imp Campsite/Shelter. I actually saw some great spots going down thesidetrail that takes you to the shelter, and then there's places just past Impafter going up the next tiny hill about .1, on the right. Once up and over Mt.Moriah, you'll head down and hanging is totally an option as well, so no worriesin this section.In a nutshell, the only section you'll need a plan is that 14.6 miles betweenMizpah Hut and Osgood Tentsite on the Presidential Range. You can hang throughall of the other sections.OOOOOOOOO KKKKKKKKKKK   enough of that stuff.A.M. and V8 are coming over to talk about dinner plans, when we're leaving inthe morning and some car stuff. Then, I'll pig out AGAIN and try to make it anearly nite. The weather is beautiful now, really excited about this and excitedto get back at it too. Hey guess what folks...I'll be in Maine not tomorrow butthe NEXT DAY!!!!!!!~Certain