Total Miles: 274.2
It feels great to be back out here on the trail, even though it felt like everything was trying to keep me from making it back out yesterday. I left New Hampshire with my brother around 12:30 and had to stop at EMS for a new spoon since mine grew legs and walked away sometime over the weekend. About halfway through the 3 hour drive, I realized I had left my rain jacket. It was too late to turn back at that point so I asked my brother if he minded stopping at the outfitter in Bethel since we drove that way anyway. He agreed, so we stopped and I got another jacket. My original plan was to hike to Speck Pond and camp there for the night, but it was almost 5 miles away and already past 5:00. I called The Cabin and decided to stay there for the night instead. After being there for a few hours, I had another revelation. I forgot my spoon in my brother's car. I couldn't believe it. So now I'm rocking a normal spoon until Gorham, where I hope to trade it back in for a new one.
I started today with another great Cabin breakfast and was even able to take some blueberry pancakes for lunch. I waited for the other hikers heading to East B to get ready and was shuttled back to Grafton Notch. It was a later start, but I knew it would be a short day so I thought I still had plenty of time. I thought it started off nicely, but the ascent got annoying since it was hard to determine where the summit would be, and the trail in this area is poorly marked. At some point on the climb up one of my shoelace loops broke off, so It looks like I will now be sending those back in Gorham. I've been through 2 pairs of shoes and haven't even hit 300 miles yet. I stopped for lunch before reaching the point where the trail split for Old Speck Mountain. It was a nice viewpoint, so I called Payce, ate my pancakes, and enjoyed how the sun felt. I was sitting there when Dr. Evil walked up, which I was very surprised to see. He had taken a few zero days in Andover, and it was nice to see a familiar face. Two other gentlemen came up shortly after with their yellow lab. He was such a happy puppy, and I wish I could have taken him with me! It made me miss my Dexter more. Dr. Evil and one of the other men started to debate about the Civil War, the government power, states' rights... They asked if I learned anything from their discussion. I told them I learned never to stick two attorneys on the top of a mountain together. Dr. Evil and I continued to hike together for the rest of the day. There were some very tricky descents, and we were making very slow miles for the rest of the day. We stopped at Speck Pond for a break, which was a beautiful spot, and then had to go up and over Mahoosuc Arm. I realized then that I had lost my Nalgene bottle somewhere in the downhill. I'm glad I brought a small Gatorade bottle back out with me, or I'd have had no means of treating my water. I passed some NOBOs earlier who said the water at the campsite wasn't very good, so we ended up getting water at a source that was very brown, thinking it was our last chance. So wrong. There was another stream a short way up from the campsite, and the water was fine. I had carried 3 liters of water that whole way for nothing. I got to camp a little after 5:00, set up, talked to Dr. Evil for a while, and ate dinner. He wanted to see what music I had on my phone, so we conversed about that for a while. It looks like I'm back to my 8:00 bedtime, as it will be just past that when i finish this and turn in for the night. We start off tomorrow with the Mahoosuc Notch, which will set the tone for the rest of the day.
I just want to send out a BIG thank you to my brother for carting me back and forth this weekend. I really can't thank him enough. Also, one goes out to the friends who take me in whenever I randomly drop in, which has been a lot lately! The trip back to NH this weekend would not have been possible without them.
Also, I unfortunately had to hear about the missing hiker, Geraldine "Inchworm" Largay while I was in NH. If anyone has any information, please do what you can to help!
Speck Pond
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