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| Second to last state crossing |
19 June 2015: 26.7 miles to a stealth campsite about 8 miles outside of Hanover, NH
- Camped on the south side of the stream… we had to cross it in the morning, it had rained all night…hard. Not the best way to start our morning, we didn't think that one through.
- Trail Magic- eggs and toast
- Hanover, NH… huge disappointments all day long
20 June 2015: 26.7 miles to … another stealth campsite, we are getting into a bad habit
- Campsite infested with mosquitoes … they can bite through clothing apparently...
21 June 2015: 18.1 miles to Lincoln, NH and the Daley's home!
- Entered the White Mountains
- Mt. Moosilauke … no view
- Climbing up the south side of the mountain was pretty easy in all honesty. it was climbing down the shear rocks in the rain on the north side that slowed us down the most.
- The moment we got off the mountain the skies cleared… I think the trail gods are punishing us for stealth camping too many nights
- Got picked up by the Dalys and had a huge supper
- At this point in the trip we were suppose to meet up with Poppin's grandfather (whom lived in Lincoln, NH). But sadly he passed away back in April. At the memorial service (why we were at Thare and Ann's house for a few days last week) Poppins met one of her grandfather's good friends, Jack. Jack kindly offered to hand off our sleeping bags to us before we started the Whites and to crash at his home if we needed a break… little did poor Jack know, he was signing up to have two little, bubbly, hiker girls at his house for three nights. Donna and Jack were very hospitable and generous and it was such a pleasure to get to know them. It was also kind of fun to get to explain the trail and all the little ins and outs of our world over the course of a few days.
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| As usual, the view is the inside of the cloud |
22 June 2015: 16.3 miles to Lincoln, NH (there are two ways to get into Lincoln from the trail)
- Climbed Kinsman mountain, VERY slow going
- Typically we can do 13-16 miles before lunch (12:30ish) with a 6:15am start in the morning. On this particular day we started at 8:30am and it took us until 5:30pm to finish 16 miles
- Also, on good terrain Poppins and I can average 2.5-3.2 mph easily. We were LUCKY to get over 2 mph for 10 minutes on this particular day
- Rock climbing ALL day
- Call me a bad sport, but when I have to use my feet and both my hands for 40% of the day I have trouble considering what I am doing as "hiking"
- Rocks were VERY slick due to two days of off and on rain
- When we were not busy climbing rocks we were busy walking through mud. fun.
- Gave a interview. Some 20-something year old girl caught us at a power line in the park and asked if she could interview us on how we felt about the northern pass pipe line and hiking in general. we told her about hiking and admitted we had no clue what she was talking about, she had to explain what was going to happen was a big power company was going to put in new towers and dam some of the park. I tried to state in my interview that the fact I did not know about this power line shows that the general public and individuals from other states have no clue what is going on, so if it is an issue, no one except the immediate locals can voice an opinion because the matter doesn't have enough media attention/notice. I really did not feel it was right for me to speak on the project in general because I really did not know enough facts. But I did mention construction of this magnitude, whatever the project would greatly take away from the natural experience of the White Mountains. Not the strongest case, I know, but the only one an uninformed person has any right making.
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| The interview about the power line we knew nothing about |
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| The top of Mt. Kinsman, at least there was a view to justify the climb |
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| And what a climb it was. A 16 mile day took us as long as our typical 24+ days |
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| We were not very happy about all the sudden climbs |
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| Oh. and the trail was underwater WHERE WE WERE NOT climbing up rocks |
23 June 2015: zero day
- Most efficient zero day yet, we got a lot of town chores done Poppins even traded in her pack for a newer one!!!
- Had lunch with Thare, Steve, and Betty
24 June 2015: 10 miles to Garfield Campsite
- Campsites (and shelters) in the White Mountains are different from the majority of camping sites on the AT. In the Whites most of the tent sites have a caretaker due to the high volume of use. The caretaker is in charge of cleaning up trash and such from the campsite... but ultimately they are in charge of taking care of the "leavings" in the privy. We have seen moldering privies up and down the AT, it was nothing new. However, these privies are used by hundreds of people a week so the privies have to attended from time to time. Also when a privy site is moved the old site has to monitored and stirred so the leavings can safely turn back into dirt. For this leaving monitoring and stirring service most of the tent sites have a $8 charge. The AMC (the trail club that manages the white mountains) says the fee is for the price of a helicopter to drop "duff" (a key ingredient in a moldering privy process) but I honestly think the fee is so that they can pay some poor soul to stir and monitor poop.
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| The path to Mt. Lafayette |
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| Mt. Lafayette approach |
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| Poppins painting her memorial rock for her grandfather |
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| Lunch on the top of Mt. Lafayette |
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| The black flies were super bad at the campsite... and I somehow lost my bug net...so I now look like a babushka from Russia |
25 June 2015: 24 miles to Mizpah Hut
- A hard day, the Whites are definitely the hardest part of the trail so far
- Got our first work for stay!!!- Aside from the tent sites and shelters there are "huts" in the White Mountains for the richer hikers that want to "rough it" without the added concern of carrying their own food or sleeping on the ground. The huts have a crew and about 40 bunk beds... and are VERY expensive, about $140 per person per night. Anyway, $140 is a bit pricy for most thru-hikers and it is just the principal behind it that is annoying. Also, reservations for the Huts have to be made months in advance and there is no way a thru-hiker can know their exact timing through the Whites (for example, Poppins and I expected to be in the Whites some time in August... we went a little faster than expected). So to solve the money problem Huts offer "work for stays" to a few hikers a day. Typically a hiker does a menial task and the crew lets that hiker crash on the floor of the dining room and eat the leftovers... like the peasants we are...Just kidding, it is actually a very nice arrangement. I had to scrape the freezer and Poppins re-foiled something and did a few dishes.
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| Last 5 miles of cliff climbs for the day |
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| Poppins has gotten into eating fruit by the foot |
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| The peasants waiting to be called in to feast on the leftovers |
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| Scrapped the freezer at night, got free coffee in the morning |
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| Thare (Poppin's uncle and my adoptive uncle) actually stayed at the Hut in 1987 and we went through ALL the old log books and found his entry!!! |
26 June 2015: 19 miles to Pinkham Notch
- Had perfect weather for going over Mt. Washington!!! (that is actually the main reason we did a 24 mile push the day before, we heard Saturday was suppose to be bad viewing weather)
- Went over Mt. Madison... and the blazes abruptly stopped. The Whites are known for being super confuzzling for hikers due to the AMC having ADHD when it comes to painting blazes. Sometimes we went for miles without seeing a blaze. But Papa Poppins had sent us maps so we found our way.
- Hitched into town and had dinner at a pizza place... where we ate grilled cheese because we like to fight the system
- Stayed at The Barn Hostel. The Bard is exactly what it sounds like, a semi-reconverted barn with a bunch of beds up stairs. It was great and Poppins and I both agreed it was the kind of experience we had hoped to have on the trail.
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| Mt. Eisenhower |
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| Lake of the Clouds Hut early in the morning before hitting Mt. Washington |
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| Lake of the Clouds hut crew. Sometimes there are leftovers for thru-hikers after breakfast. the crew was super friendly and there were a lot of leftovers for us as well!!! |
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| Mt. Washington warning sign |
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| Mt. Washington |
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| Mt. Washington weather station |
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| Self explanatory |
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| Mt. Washington |
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| Cog railway at Mt. Washington, they only run the old steam one once a day so we were lucky to see the giant smoke |
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| Mt. Washington view |
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| Walking away from Mt. Washington we turned around to see that a storm had blown up, just shows how fast the weather can change up there |
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| Mt. Madison approach |
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| Mt. Madison Hut with Mt. Madison looming behind (yes we hiked that too) |
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| Stayed at The Barn Hostel- serving hikers for over 30 years |
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| You could tell it use to be a barn... I couldn't find a barn kitty however :( |
27 June 2015: 21 Miles to White Mountain Lodge and Hostel
- We had made arrangements with another hostel that offered slack-packing over one of the hardest section of the Whites a day earlier. In the morning the hostel dropped off 13 thru-hikers to basically race 21 miles back to the hostel... thru-hikers are a competitive lot. The funnier part was there were NoBo and SoBo thru-hikers in the crowd... so there were reputations at stake.
- Poppins and I came in 3rd and 4th (at the same time). A respectable finishing considering the first guy (a NoBo) broke the record and the second guy was just super fast (a NoBo that was thru-hiking for the 3rd time). Of course the "female factor" was part of our finish, which is annoying but hopefully hurt a few over pumped male egos out there.
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| Dead center, Mt. Washington covered in clouds at the tippy top... we pushed on Friday to avoid this exact thing from happening to us, worth it |
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| The thru-hiker slackpacking crew |
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| Civilian clothes and thru-hiker tan lines |
28 June 2015: zero day...
- Why? Because it is raining buckets and we are feeling tired and wimpy (every thru-hiker stayed, there are flood warnings, it is not like we carry kayaks with us or anything)
29 June 2015: 21 miles to Full Goose Shelter (ME)
- The trail just got HARD. I honestly think NH and ME where in competition to see which state could make the trail the suckiest for thru-hikers.
