Friday, July 29th

Pinkham Notch Visitors Center (1874.9 mi) to US Route 2 (1896.0)

Hiking Miles: 21.1 Slack Pack

Total Ascent: 6,781.2 ft

Total Descent: 8,043.6 ft

Total Grade: 700.8 ft/mi

Steps: 51,646

STEELY DAN – Reelin’ In The Years

Gator/Sunrise: It was a moderately good evening of rest, although I did get up three times for restroom breaks, walking gingerly down each stair to the first floor because of my sore feet. I was still undecided about hiking today, but my mind was telling me DO IT! Why not – Bumble Beast agreed we could make it given our current pace, and it was indeed a slack pack opportunity. But the “ace in our pocket” was the flat 5 mile stretch at the end of the 21-mile day. I kept thinking about a girl we passed on trail who promised we would be singing during those last five miles. Funny thing was she actually sang to us when she described it.

Paul’s cousin Bob dropped us off at the Pinkham Notch Visitors Center. Bob actually ran the Inn (actually I think both cousins were Inn Keepers) which was connected to the Barn and was called “The 1880 Libby House Inn”. It was an elegant Victorian Inn with a wrap-around porch and pretty flower garden. The funny thing was anyone staying at the Barn was not allowed on the porch. The whole compound was a family homestead that was handed down to them.

We continued northbound (the best direction for the 21-mile hike) up a very steep climb to Wildcat Mountain. Being well rested, we cruised along efficiently and completed it within an hour. Had we gone southbound, we would have started with an easy 5-mile stretch and finished with a steep descent at the day’s end. That would have been challenging to finish in time for our shuttle pick up.

To be honest, I felt strong after that fast climb, and my feet actually were not that sore which gave me confidence for the remainder of the day.

Music once again filled most of my day. It is so pleasurable hiking in nice weather and pretty blue skies skies having upbeat tunes playing in the background. We reached Mount Moriah around 4:46 pm, and making great time. We climbed some steep corridors rather swiftly although it wasn’t trivial. It was another major milestone in our NH journey; we only had a few more high peaks to get through before reaching the Maine border.

After Moriah came the promised 5-mile straightaway, a pleasant surprise. The girl was right about feeling like I wanted to sing through most of that stretch. I called ahead to Croc and asked if he was at least singing to himself, and he replied “Nah”.

We made it back to the Route 2 trailhead by 7:15 pm and I called Paul to pick us up. He was probably cursing because I feel he hoped most hikers missed the 7:30 pm imposed deadline, at which point hikers would be responsible for finding another way back to the hostel. Waiting until 7:29 pm really would have pissed him off. Either that, or he simply could have ignored all calls for a few minutes.

As we approached the Barn, I asked Paul if he minded dropping us off at the local Subway shop so we could pick up some dinner. He emphasized that Subway was within walking distance from his hostel, meaning he really didn’t want to bother. So I replied “Great, then we could easily walk back”. He wasn’t too happy about doing that simple drop off, but also didn’t want to look like the bad guy. We ordered three “Foot-Long Pro’s” along with chips and drinks. We took everything back to the Barn and ate it at the dining room table.

Later that evening, I showered and went to the 7-11 to pick up some ice cream. The next day, we expected to reach Maine, our final state on the AT by late evening. Although that sounded awesome, we would still have another 282 miles of hiking to go from that point.

Croc: I was a little nervous about the hike this morning because I was (1) afraid we were pushing ourselves too hard on the most difficult part of the trail (we hadn’t taken a zero since Vermont) and (2) we had a deadline to make it back, which always adds to the stress. We couldn’t create our own destiny by getting up early and starting the hike at 5 AM to be back for pickup by 7:30 PM. Instead, we had to abide by the shuttle times. I don’t remember exactly when we were dropped off in the morning, but I recall the logic not making sense. I think they dropped off the slack-packers around 8:00 AM, even though we had a deadline, and everyone else was dropped off earlier. I think the owner really wanted us to be late and not have to pick us up.

We did crush the morning section of the trail that included most of the steep ups and downs over the Wildcats and Carter Dome. We’re talking about a few 1,000 ft – 2,000 ft inclines up rocky terrain in under a mile. I went ahead of Gator for a bit during the morning and was greeted by a hiker I had met previously at the VT/NH border. He was a traveling nurse trying to complete the trail before his wedding date. Although he wasn’t staying at the Barn, he was still attempting the same slack-pack as us to meet his fiancée (or fiancée’s family) on the other side of Mt. Moriah. Once again, it’s a small world on the trail, and it’s crazy to think I crossed paths with this guy again even though I hadn’t seen him in weeks.

I met back up with Gator at a trail crossing that led to Carter Notch Hut, one of the last huts we’d be crossing on trail. It was at least a quarter-mile off trail, so Gator and I decided that he would keep hiking onwards (to meet the deadline) while I stopped at the hut to refill our water and see if they had any snacks. When I got to the hut, it was fairly quiet with only a few thru-hikers walking around. I don’t think this is a popular hut for people to stay at during the year. They did have morning oatmeal for a dollar that wasn’t worth eating or packing out, so I refilled our waters and headed back on trail.

Carter Dome was a very steep climb, and I was exhausted trying to catch up to Gator. Unfortunately, Carter Dome was followed by some PUDs, including South, Middle, and North Carter Mountains. All of which, except North Carter Mountain, are considered 4,000 footers, so that’s three more for the tally. Luckily, I knew the Carters were the last legit mountains before we hit Maine, so it was a small victory at the end of the day. We still had Mt. Moriah, but that was just looking like an anthill at this point and would mostly consist of a gradual 5-mile downhill. I vividly remember reaching the top of Mt. Moriah and thinking, “We did it!” implying that we had just completed the hardest section of the trail. I truly did not know what Southern Maine had in store. I honestly thought, “How hard could Southern Maine be?” but I was quickly reminded when we passed a southbounder who said the next 200 miles were still some of the toughest on the trail. At this point, I was hoping that the fact we would only have one state left (tomorrow) would negate any dread of hiking the difficult terrain in Maine.

Also, I recall learning that a “notch” is the North’s way of indicating a “gap.” I have never had a great vocabulary, and I don’t know how I didn’t piece this together earlier, especially hitting Pinkham Notch yesterday, but I didn’t know a notch was a low point. I was trying to find Mahoosuc Notch in the distance of mountains, and the same guy from above mentioned, “You probably won’t see it because it’s a notch and below the trees.” Of course, Gator came to my defense, saying it was understandable to mix up notch and peak.

As mentioned above, the last 5 miles of downhill were fantastic, probably because I was thinking of grabbing Subway for dinner and then rubbing it in to Beast Mode that we “easily” completed the slack-pack. I would never verbally confront her, but the mere presence of Gator and me coming back earlier than her would be enough. Unfortunately, I don’t think she was staying at the Barn tonight. I did read above that Gator asked if I was singing, and I responded, “Nah.” Most likely because I was still stuck on the trail and not sitting in the AC of a hotel drinking a beer.

We did, fortunately, make it to the rendezvous point before the deadline, which Gator mentioned probably pissed Paul off, even though he was our biggest supporter for the slack-pack. He reluctantly dropped us off at Subway, which was no more than 0.25 miles away from the Barn. He mentioned, “Aren’t you hikers? Isn’t that an easy walk?” and we responded, “Yeah, but we just hiked 21 miles. Isn’t it an easy drive?”

We grabbed our subs and headed back to the hostel to enjoy them in the kitchen. It was a bad idea because literally every other hiker was circling us like vultures as we ate, even though they could all easily walk down the road for more food. We had an encounter with the guy I met at Osgood Campsite a few days before (the one who said he didn’t see Gator while hiking down Madison and then proceeded to tell me his hiking plans). He continued on a rant about his scheduled zeroes and future hiking schedule. I think Gator and I just nodded and didn’t really listen.

I hilariously walked upstairs to see the bed-bound gentleman still lying in bed in the same position. Who knows if he moved at all. After the normal nightly duties, I jumped into bed excited for tomorrow and potentially hitting Maine. My sleep was cut short when the carbon monoxide detector went off in the middle of the night, but everyone was so tired that we all just immediately went back to sleep. In hindsight, probably not the best decision, but we all survived.