Andover, MAINE!

Leaving Hanover was like leaving Vegas. A Dartmouth student invited us to a party on campus the night before, and even though I'm way to old for college parties, I went with 4 fellow hikers. Lets just say Ivy League kids don't mess around. We got back a little past 2:30am and fell in to our tents. At 5:30am, the campus police woke us up and made us leave. Apparently, we were supposed to be in the woods just 5 feet back and not on the field. Needless to say, I was not ready to start hiking. Because I had a maildrop to get to by Saturday afternoon, I hiked out. It was a rough one that was made even harder because the heat wave started on this day. 16 miles in a heat wave with 3 hours of sleep is super dooper fun. I was only one of three to make it out of town that morning.

Someone told me that the part of New Hampshire before the White Mountains is easy and flat. They are a liar and are lucky I can not recall who they are. The ups start right away. Luckily, I spent the next day slacking with Book Smarts courtesy of Blink, a former thru-hiker who runs a little seasonal hiker camp. The following day, I hiked the 10 miles to Glencliff, got my package in time, and was treated to some great trail magic. Prana (GAME06) and her family took a bunch of hikers in, let us swim in their pool, do laundry, and eat up a storm. Such luck. I actually met this woman on a section hike in 2006 and she happened to be driving by when Miss Janet was giving us a ride to the store, so we lucked out on the invite.

The morning meant Moosilauke. This is the first real New Hampshire mountain. The ascent is nice and gradual and the views are above treeline and beautiful. The day was gorgeous. The descent was our first taste of what the Whites have to offer. Steep and rocky. I was hiking with Book Smarts and Trauma and she took a spill going down the mountain that really shook her. That night we stayed at Chet's Place in Lincoln, a hostel run with donations and the settlement Chet received from a lawsuit with a camp stove manufacturer. Chet is a really neat guy and puts up with some serious busy nights as his place is where Northbounders and Southbounders colllide. The place stays packed for awhile.

The next day was a short one to Eliza Brook Shelter but definitely had me noticing how long miles take up here even when there are no climbs. Same goes for the next day. I ended up taking an unintentional zero when Book Smarts started having irregular heartbeats coming out of Franconia Notch. Both Trauma and I walked back down with him and escorted him to the Medical Clinic for tests. He was hoping his electrolytes were just low. Pretty scary business considering he's only 28.

The next morning, we lost a soldier for the cause when the doctor informed Book Smarts that his electrolytes were fine. Later we would learn he had Lyme Disease, but at the time there was a sad parting. He'll be getting back on the trail after some rest and a round of antibiotics.

I said hello to the nitty gritty of the Whites that day. The climbs take forever. I can not get over how low my mileage per hour has plummeted. Its all a bit dramatic because while you are sweating and groaning, you are surrounded by the most breathtaking scenery. I have never seen anything like these views, and I have never felt this sore before either. Had to pay 8 bucks for my mousetrap shelter that night. They're Gansters at the AMC.

I did work-for-stay at my first hut the next day. For those that are not in the know: The AMC has several huts that they charge people over 100 bucks to stay in a bunk and sleep with multiple people in the same room. Thru-hikers can neither afford nor plan to stay in these bunks that are booked well in advance. The AMC solution is to let the first few of us that arrive at their door begging- to sleep on the dining room floor and do some chores. Chores can range from cleaning the freezer to washing dishes. I washed dishes at Zealand Hut and was rewarded with leftovers and floor space. That night some scout leaders kept us thru-hikers up 'til 10:30pm while they played cards. 10:30 is like 1:30am in hiker time.

I did a huge White Mountain Day, 18.9 miles, on the next day. I'm not sure what possessed me but I can only say that the first 7 miles were uncharacteristically easy followed by 5 hard slippy rock up and down crazy miles and the last ones were gorgeous and gradual all of the way to Lake of the Clouds Hut. They tried to make us sleep in the dungeon that night for the bargain price of 10 bucks. At first, I was excited because it meant I got a bunk but then I went down and saw the place. It really is a dungeon. Drippy wet, cold, windy loud, and drain on the floor where Lord only knows what crawls out of there at night. No thank you. I slept upstairs on the dining room floor with the rest of 'em.

Mount Washington was like Disneyland the next morning. People were everywhere just meandering around. I almost had an anxiety attack walking behind the slowpokes going uphill. Luckily, as Badger later noted, they drop like flies while getting air and taking pictures. Washington was pretty anticlimactic but everything after was pretty spectacular. Exposed with 360 degree views on another clear day. But then things got harder and harder. Going down Madison means descending a giant rock pile only to descend another giant rock pile. Beautiful and treacherous. At what seems like the end of the descent, you go back in the treecover and descend some more. I was in some serious pain at the end of this 15 mile day and headed to White Mountain Lodging and Hostel. This is a new place run by the Somerville family and they are fantastic. Just what the doctor ordered.

After the last few rough days, I decided to go slower. I hiked just 13 miles to Imp Campsite. Just 13. They felt pretty hard and took me all day. The next day was a short one back to the hostel and follwed by a zero. I spent the day playing monopoly with Whoop, Badger, Spark, and Orange Blaze and enjoyed the break. Also, I was celebrating the end of the White Mountains.

Maine. 17 miles the next day brought me to Maine. I wasn't sure I could make it in a day but the first 10 were fairly easy then it got all treacherous Mainey on me but I was determined to get there at that point. Maine goes all kinds of hardcore the next day with the Mahoosic Notch. Its a little over a mile of boulder scrambling. It took me two hours to get through it and then followed that up with the Mahoosic Arm which is just rock face straight up a mountain. Thats all. That's all it is. This place makes me feel like a novice. I am humbled and tired and sore. I ended up paying a final 8 bucks to the gangsters at AMC that night to camp at Speck Pond.

So here I am in Andover. I'm staying at Pine Ellis Hostel and I was fortunate to jump in on a slackpack with Team Mofo, a group of older men, who know how to hike the trail in style. They took pity on me or were bamboozled by me. Depends how you want to look at it. Point is, I slack packed today and will slackpack tomorrow and am so grateful because after New Hampshire kicked my ass, Maine has come looking for a piece. So close yet so far away.