Nan's 2014 Appalachian Trail Journal

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September 23, 2014

9/7 1,873.0 miles down with 312.3 to go. Left Pinkham Notch this morning after a great breakfast. All of the meals that we got while staying at the AMC Huts and Lodge were great. Whitey told me that someone who is reading my journal thinks I am obsessed with food. Well, it is a big deal. Every meal is because you only have what you carry and, boy, does hiking all day make you hungry.

After Rte. 16 at Pinkham Notch, there is a huge steep climb up to the top of Wildcat Mtn., 4,065’ elevation which is Wildcat Peak E followed by Wildcats Peaks D, C, and A. The AT does not cross Wildcat Peak B. Some people call it Wildcat and kittens.

We are still hiking with a few of the same people. Hob and Chickadee, Yeti Legs, Spif and Chip. Yeti Legs has been hiking in underpants since we first met him in Georgia. I wonder now that it is getting a little cooler if he will put on pants. Everyone is getting a little nuts as we move further north. Chip said he isn’t going to wash his clothes anymore because no one else does. Anyway, after crossing all the Wildcats we went down a steep descent to Carter Notch where the last of the AMC huts of the White Mountains is located. After getting some water, we climbed to the top of Carter Dome and found a clearing for two tents where we set up for the night.

9/8 Mile 1,885.1 with 300.2 left to go. 12.1 miles today after a bad start. There are lots of trails in the White Mountains and for some reason they don’t list the AT on most of them. So, long story short, we got off on the wrong trail and hiked an additional 1.6 miles before we got going north on the AT. This was our first goof-up so, after 1,885.1 miles, it doesn’t seem too bad.

Last night was very cold and windy at 4,832’ elevation. Tonight we are at Rattle River Shelter and camp area at a lower elevation so we should have a better night. Today we had a lot of steep descents on granite ledges. I guess that is New Hampshire’s way of saying goodbye.

9/9 We have 286.5 miles to go. We are doing a happy dance because we are under 300. Hiked 13.7 miles today over a pretty nice trail. Sooooo glad to be out of all day rock scrambles. There were several bad areas today but mostly it was a pretty nice trail. We are staying at Gentian Pond Campsite Shelter which is high and has a great view out over the mountains. Saw a beautiful sunset. There are five other people staying in the shelter and some in tents. Seems like an even mix of north bounders and south bounders. Today we saw lots of north bounders that we know and saw that several others had signed in at the Rattle River Shelter. Our old friend, Rambler, who we haven’t seen since Dalton, MA, signed in with “Going to Gorham for all you can eat Chinese buffet.” Sassafras signed in with “going to Gorham to eat 1 million burgers.” So, you can see, I’m not the only one obsessed with food.

9/10 276.9 miles to go. 9.6 miles to Full Goose Shelter. I think this was one of the hardest hiking days so far. Lots of technical climbs and descents. Very scary stuff. There were a few places with rebar and ladders but there should have been a lot more. We were glad to get into the shelter in one piece. We are now in Maine and tomorrow we have Mahoosuc Notch, sometimes called the hardest mile on the AT.

9/11 Miles left 271.8 with 5.1 hiked today. Took three hours to get thru the Notch in light rain. Triple P hiked with us. She was camped close to the beginning of the Notch waiting for us so she would have someone to go thru the Notch with. It was good to have three people because we could help each other out. There were several places that I was able to do in 2010 when I was doing my section hikes that I wasn’t able to do this time. I guess it had to do with the ½” that I have lost in height.

We had planned to get to the other side of Rte. 26 Grafton Notch today but the rain picked up and we were cold so we decided to stop at Speck Pond Shelter for the night. Hope the weather is sunny and warm tomorrow.

9/12 – 261.4 remaining with 10.4 hiked today. Another hard hiking day in southern Maine. Well, so much for warm and sunny. A very cold and very, very windy night at Speck Pond Shelter. The shelter is open on the side that takes the direct wind. Morning could not come soon enough. We finished climbing Old Speck Mountain in a cloud of mist at 4,033’ elev. It was pretty cold and then we had a long descent to ME Rte. 26 Grafton Notch at 1,495’ and then, as you can guess, a huge steep climb up to the summit of Baldpate. Not just the west peak at 3,662’ elevation but down and back up to the east peak. It is all open granite on the summits and the wind was so strong at times that I felt like I was going to be blown away. I was pretending that I was climbing Mt. Everest. It seemed like a good comparison. At the summit of the east peak we found a group of four young hikers huddled in a cave-like outcropping. They have been hiking near us for the last few days and are having a lot of fun together. We stopped at Fry Notch Lean-to for the night.

9/13 256.9 left. It was 4.5 miles to East B Hill Rd. We got a ride into Andover and stopped at the Corner Grocery store to get something to eat before being picked up to go to The Cabin, a hostel run by a really nice older couple called Bear and Honey. I had stayed there in 2010 and 2011 during my section hike. We had resupply boxes there and could take showers and do laundry. I am having a relaxing afternoon waiting for the dryer to stop. Tonight they will shuttle us to town for dinner.

9/14 Miles remaining 246.8. Hiked 10.1 today. Did our first slack pack from B Hill Rd to South Arm Rd. This is an easy shuttle for Bear and Honey as we are staying at their hostel. After a great breakfast they took five of us to the trail head. The hike was not bad with the exception of Moody Mtn. which was very steep. After our hike we were picked up and returned to the Cabin for another night of sleeping in the warm room and eating a good dinner prepared by Honey.

9/15 with 233.6 miles remaining. Hiked 13.2 miles today. Another slack pack day. Bear dropped us off at Rte. 17 and we hiked south bound to South Arm Road so we could return to the Cabin for another night. It has become very cold at night and this morning it was in the 30’s with a heavy frost. Dinner at the Cabin of burgers, potato salad, corn on the cob, and ice cream. We saw lots of north bound hikers since we were hiking south. Some we had not seen for hundreds of miles and four states. Saw at least 30 of them. I had heard there was a big bubble of hikers so I guess we are in it. Everyone seems to be hiking into Rangeley tomorrow.

This is Drag’n Fly signing out.

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