Total Miles: 267.2
Today was the day my brother would be picking me up from Grafton Notch so I could head to New Hampshire for a bridal shower this weekend. Ideally, I would have already made it to Gorham, but it didn't work out that way. I'm so thankful my brother was willing to make the trip up.
I left The Cabin before breakfast so I would have plenty of time to hike the 10 miles before 3:00, when he was expected to be there. I started a little after 7:00 and took advantage of the time, a little too much apparently. There was a lengthy ascent for about 3 miles that seemed never ending, especially since my calf muscles have been cramping quite a bit the last 2 days. I stopped at the first lean-to for a snack, and it decided at that point that it would start raining. This made for a slick and slow climb up Baldpate, more so when I reached the open rock face near the top. I made a call to my brother at the top since the rain put me a little behind schedule. I had just over 2 hours to go 4 miles. There was a small sliver of a view on top of the east peak, but the clouds were moving in to cover it quickly. Soon enough, I was engulfed in a rain cloud and sliding my way down towards the west peak. I made a quick descent and still made it the Grafton Notch parking lot just before 3:00. Still on time! The descent wasn't too challenging - there were a lot of rocks steps, and I couldn't even fathom the manpower that went into their construction. I was happy to see it become a gradual, easy descent after the number so steps declined. I talked with Cool Blue, Sherpa, and Google for a little while before they moved on to Speck Mountain. My brother made it, and we made the trip back home. Goodbye for a few days, trail! See you again on Tuesday.
Some of the climb up Baldpate
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