Date: 2015-07-24
From: Hikers Welcome Hostel

To: North Woodstock, NH the Notch Hostel
Miles today: 16.5
Weather: broken clouds

7/24, 9.5, The Notch HostelToday was a great day! We slept in a bit, until 5:30, packed and were ready to hike when breakfast was served at 7. We had made arrangements to shuttle most of our gear ahead to the next hostel so we could slack up over Mt Moosilauke. Mt Moosilauke is the first peak above 4000 ft since the southern mountains, and our climb today started at 1000 ft leaving us 3800 to the top. We settled up at Hiker's Welcome and walked up the road to the trailhead stepping on trail at 8:30. The climb started right away but was a gradual and very enjoyable hike enhanced by the drastically reduced weight on our backs. We carried our packs in order to have our water bladders, cameras and such where we are used to having them, but without our tents, clothes, sleeping gear and food my pack probably weighed ten or twelve pounds! At this point that feels a lot like carrying nothing! The air was a cool 58 degrees as we started and the early morning sun was soon blocked by incoming overcast. The rain forecast was not daunting, but there was a chance. Nevertheless, the overcast kept the climbing cool and pleasant. We stopped about half way up for a snack break but hiked fairly steady all the way to the top. As we neared the crest the winds began to pick up. Nearer the peak a southbound hiker passed us and warned us that he top was cold, wet and windy so be sure we have jackets handy. We were all prepared and it was just a few moments later when we rose above tree line and the jackets came out. The wind at the peak was blowing 30 to 40 mph, sleet was in he wind and the air temperature was 48 degrees. The cloud cover kept us from any views but we have decided at this point we take whatever the trail provides. Today it provided a good climb and a cool rest on top. After a few photos we headed down the north side of the mountain. The climb down was very steep, descended many rock and built in wooden steps but followed a waterfall cascade most of the way. Fortunately as we started down the clouds cleared, the sun came out and we had many great views off the side of the mountain. I took way too many waterfall photos but should have at least on good on in the batch. We reached the road around 1:30 and were greeted with trail magic in the parking lot. Stitches, a local trail angel, had set up with sodas, sandwich makings, hot dogs, and apple pie. We stopped and visited many hikers who were traveling each direction as we enjoyed the gracious offering. After munching we finished the final 200 yards to the road and started trying to hitch. The third vehicle to drive up the hill pulled over and offered The back of his pickup into town so we loaded up and were on our way. He dropped us at the center of North Woodstock and we made our way to the local brew pub. We decided to eat a big meal and take a few snacks back to the hostel for later so I had fish and chips and we all shared a couple of orders of onion rings. After eating we wandered to the general store for some sodas and snacks for later, then began the one mile walk to the Notch Hostel. The hostel is brand new and is a very nice place. The least expensive stay for the four of us was the largest, semi-private room with a double bed and two futons. Perfect for us and less expensive than a shared room. We showered, handed over our laundry and have all been updating photos and such to Facebook and journals. Tomorrow we will slack 16 more miles and return to here for another evening. It is interesting that hiking over the next section and back down to the road leaves us just four miles from the other side of town where we will hitch back in to stay. Slacking the big climbs appears to give us all the best chance of not aggravating injuries so we are doing it as much as we can. Unfortunately after tomorrow we have a four day section with no road crossings or slack opportunities. I guess we will just have to carry it all again. SilverbackNote, I added 7 miles to todays distance to correct the total miles that show in the journal. Tomorrow we pass 1800!