Total Miles: 324.1
Oh, to wake up warm while the wind tries to sneak through all the cracks and crevices of the windows and the doorway is a beautiful thing. Waiting in a cold shed with the door tied shut while everyone else eats their breakfast isn't so great, but at least there were pancakes after to make that part a little bit more tolerable. I guess that's all a part of being a thru hiker. I hung around the hut far longer than I should have this morning, but it was so cold I had no motivation to leave any sooner. The NOBOs staying there offered to do the morning chores of cleaning the bunkhouses, but I felt bad bailing so I stayed to help. I was seriously contemplating going back into town for the night because it's supposed to get pretty cold, but I resisted the temptation. It really would have messed up the mileage I had planned for the next few days too. There, it's supposed to be in the 40s, and since we're almost 2000 feet higher in elevation, I would be surprised if it's much above freezing in the morning. I can't believe I'm saying that at the beginning of August. It just doesn't seem right. Today was a tough day. I averaged about a mile an hour for the first half of the day. It started off with a climb up to the Wildcat Range. It was one of those days where it was perfect weather if you were moving, but too cold if you stopped. I called Payce at the observation tower on top of one of peaks since I was in a weird mood and couldn't figure out which trail to take down. My body just didn't feel like hiking today. It seemed like it was taking forever to get anywhere. I had an incredibly steep descent not too far ahead that I was dreading. I'm learning that heading down into the notches is terrible, and the going back up isn't very fun either. The last mile heading into Pinkham Notch wasn't too bad. It leveled out and began following around some ponds for some time. I met a family that was out for a few days, and they were very interested in the hike. It was nice to talk to them about it for a little while. It made me feel better after I was scoffed at by a NOBO for wearing earrings today. I stayed at the Pinkham Notch Visitor Center for about an hour and enjoyed a good meal before deciding to move on. I think I still had about 4.5 miles left and was able to get through them in about 2 hours. They were nice miles. Some parts reminded me a lot of the 100 Mile Wilderness. It got frustrating a few times when I was trying to figure out where I was because there were at least 10 stream crossings, whereas the book only showed 2. Since it was already pushing 7:00 and I was trying to race the setting sun, I had no way of pinpointing where I was. There were also no blazes anywhere on the trail for the last few miles. It became very frustrating and a little unnerving, especially since the trail right out of Pinkham Notch was marked exceptionally well. I finally found the tent site, which turned out to be already full. I found a small level spot that I could squeeze into, which ended up being near Icepack. I didn't know it was him until I asked if he minded if I put my tent nearby (he was in his hammock at the time). It looks like most of the others here are NOBOs. I'm all ready to be curled up in my warm sleeping bag and hunkered down for a chilly night. I do have to add that today was the first time I didn't have to bandage any blisters, and I was still blister free at the end of the day. Hopefully the pain persisting in my hips right now will be gone by the morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment