Date: 2017-08-09
From: Inn 32, North Woodstock

To: Galehead Hut
Miles today: 13.0

I have a relaxing morning at the motel as the owners won't be shuttling me back to the trail until 9. Everything has dried out from the rain of the past two days and I leave with a full belly. John drops me off at the Liberty Springs parking lot. There I meet Hobo who thruhiked to Delaware Water Gap last year before running out of money and is sectioning the Whites with a buddy, preparing for another try next year. It's a 2800 foot climb up to Mt Liberty, but fortunately more like Moosilauke than the arduous Kinsman climb. I find myself wondering when it's going to get steep. I can do this kind of hiking all day. It's the boulder climbing that slows me down. Yesterday felt like I was shrunk to the size of a bug and dropped into a suburban yard where every little stone is a nightmarish climb or drop. I break above treeline at Mt Liberty and am awestruck. The view is spectacular. I can see the whole Franconia ridge and the massive Pemigewasset Wilderness it surrounds. My path for the day circles it on the ridgeline. Words don't do it justice, but there are ample pictures in the photos section. Even they can't convey the scale and detailed beauty of the mountain ranges.From Liberty it's a relatively easy hike over Little Haystack, Mt Lincoln, and the highest peak of the ridge Mt Lafayette. I pass 5000 feet for the first time. But I don't notice the hiking. The whole ridge is above treeline and the views never stop. The camera rarely leaves my hand. Dozens of day hikers of all ages have made the strenuous climb to enjoy the good weather. A bunch of thruhikers break for lunch on a rocky outcropping between Little Haystack and Lincoln. All northbounders, the SOBOs are few and far between anymore. Dusty amuses us with faux photo shoots of his now Fabio-length blonde hair.The air is practically still below treeline and merely breezy on the lower peaks. But at the summit of Lafayette (5300+ ft) it is a 50-60 mile per hour continuous gale. This is a calm day. There's a wind shelter for days when it is not calm. Hobo's baseball cap flies off in a flash, seemingly lost to the valley below, but someone manages to retrieve it. I have to put on my fleece, something I've only done on chilly mornings. I can only imagine what Mt Washington will be like.Again I need to reevaluate my plan. I was aiming to do 20 miles to Zealand Falls Hut. I won't make it before dark. So I shoot for Galehead Hut at the 13 mile mark and hope to get work-for-stay. That's where 2 or 3 thruhikers are allowed to sleep in the dining room and eat the dinner and breakfast leftovers in exchange for some menial labor like washing dishes. You need to get there between 4 and 5 to be allowed in. If rejected you wind up stealth camping as the campsites are too far and the expensive hut bunks are always booked. So it's a gamble to walk past Garfield shelter and hike the difficult 3 miles to Galehead. The dayhikers have disappeared but there are still many section hikers here, from families to college kids to elderly couples. I climb Mt Garfield, which looks like a narrow spear on the elevation map - steep both ways. It's a tough but short climb and rewarded by another panoramic view of the ridge I just completed. I can see Galehead hut nestled far below.I pass Garfield shelter and am now committed to Galehead. The trail gets much rougher with steep boulder climbs and drops and one section that is basically a rock slide with a spring trickling down it. Ah, AT, never change! Finally nearing the hut, I catch up with a hut "croo" member packing in 65 pounds of food on a wooden frame backpack that looks very uncomfortable. The nearest road is five miles over rocky terrain. At least one croo member does this every day to keep the guests well fed.Pilgrim is outside the hut, surrounded by section hiker guests. He got WFS and fortunately after waiting a bit I do as well. No other thruhikers show up. They all stopped at Garfield. The view over the interior valley is wonderful, and only gets better as a light drizzle brings a rainbow cascading into the valley. The guests get a lecture on sustainable power and waste in this off-the-grid location, then file in for dinner. Pilgrim and I wait it out until they're done, then get our leftovers - slow-cooked pork, couscous, bread, and mushroom soup, all made on premises. It's cold but delicious. It's Sara's birthday and fortunately I have a signal and get to call her. It's hard not to be there. It makes me happy to hear her voice.Pilgrim is a twenty-year-old from western Maryland with a couple years of community college. He's not sure what he'll do after the trail but he's not one of those looking to make it a permanent lifestyle. He'll turn 21 in 10 days and get his first beer on the trail. We watch the stars come out from the porch while the guests play board games inside and file off to bed. Then we stretch out our sleeping bags under the tables and let the exhaustion take over.