New Hampshire

New Hampshire for damn sure.

Crossing into New Hampshire was exhilarating, "New Hampshire for damn sure! New Hampshire for damn sure!" kept coming out of my mouth as I was bouncing up and down happy to be surrounded by good people and to have made it this far. I was excited to conquer all of the craziness ahead, for the White Mountain range and the fact that reaching Maine was starting to feel so much more attainable. I was entering the hardest stretch of the trail, with unforgiving terrain, taller summits then I had consistently climbed in months, and the most beautiful views of the hike thus far.

Hanover, NH.

Hanover is the first place in New Hampshire. It's home to Dartmouth college, and was impressively hiker friendly. The local breakfast place "Lou's" gives each thru hiker a free doughnut & the local pizza joint "Ramunto's" give every thru hiker a free slice of pizza!

It was time to retire the pair of shoes that lasted from Waynesboro, VA to Hanover, NH. And start fresh for the upcoming rough terrain.

My free doughnut from Lou's.

Chill-a-While, Runs with Beer, (the infamous) Baltimore Jack & Woodchuck eating their free slice.

Dabs & Chill helping out the amazing locals Dave & Ana that let us camp on their property, told us stories, let me play with clay in their studio, taught me a lot about mycology and who's company we enjoyed while in Hanover.

Bill Ackerly is an awesome, happy old man. He's been handing out ice cream and water to hikers for years. He let us camp on his back porch and even told us a goodnight story! If it's good weather out he might even play you in a croquet game.

Bill & me.

This is how you get picked up hitch hiking.

Mt Cube Sugar Farm.

Above is Maple Jim showing me inside the sugar shack.

They're located about a mile off the trail just after Mt. Cube and have been hosting hikers since Grandma Gatewood knocked on their door years and years ago. I arrived to burgers, hot dogs, a fire going and familiar faces, Chill, Juice, Grace, Freebyrd, Freeman & Fat man walking. I slept on the floor of the sugar shack and awoke to fresh blueberry pancakes with real homemade maple syrup that was made in the shack I slept in! Bag of Tricks met my group at the trail head and slack packed us to Hiker's Welcome in Glencliff.

Keychain.

The elusive Woodchuck.

Croc Rocket.

Bag of Tricks & Legion of Hiker's Welcome.

Mt. Moosilauke

Thanks to Bag of Tricks and Legion we slacked packed over Moosilauke the next day. Moosilauke was the first real mountain in the Whites that we went over and is also a 4,000 footer. It was a beautiful hike, the ascent was steep and steady, the summit was clear and mesmerizing, and the descent was literly climbing down a waterfall and was also the beginning of my fight with Shin Splints.

The terrain on the ascent.

Keychain nearing the summit.

Layers upon layers of blue ridge lines. We think we can see Mt.Washington is the distance, the summit covered by haze. The profiles of the Whites are jagged and emense looking.

Sweaty and exhausted is how you should feel at the top of a mountain.

The trail was literally a waterfall, springs gushing out between the rocks making for a beautiful and unique decent.

Yes this is the trail.

Also part of the trail, slippery wooden steps magically attached to big slippery rocks.

Kinsman

Above is a photo of the muddy bogs we often came across and had to get around. Choosing to walk through them instead of around them could lead to being suck up to your nipples is rotten smelling gunky mud, which has happened to fellow hikers, just ask 'Five'.

The last part of the ascent up Kinsman was more rock climbing then hiking (above photo). Hiking poles and sticks become useless and got in the way. Kinsman was the first of many mountains requiring scrambling and climbing in order to ascend or descend.

I summited to Chill laying against a Cairn listening to music, his first words when he noticed my presence were "I love life". The view was amazing, hazy, only the first two rows of mountains were clearly visable. I sat there for a long time thinking about life, about the craziness of it all, how beautiful it is, how happy and lucky I was to be sweating, to have my entire body hurt, to be on top of such a surreal mountain, with good souls and to be living such a fulfilling life.

I love life too.

Franconia Ridge reflected in a lake.

We finished hiking Kinsman way later then expected (probably due to the fact that everything was so darn beautiful so naturally that added more breaks) and had to roadwalk 7 miles into Lincoln, NH to Chet's place. We were not thrilled about road walking 7 miles after a full day of hiking, but that road walk was the first time I saw the milky way.

Fry & Keychain.

The next few photographs accurately depict our attempt to leave Lincoln, NH at 6:30pm to camp at Franconia Notch in order to not be detoured from hiking the next day due to the impending storms. In short we did make it pretty far, but not to the intended destination... this is also a great example of trail magic and trail angels.

Me chugging a coffee monster and packing out a subway sub on our way out of town.

10 minutes later......

Chill making a hitching sign on the interstate *don't try this at home kids*.

5 minutes later.....

Hitch succesful - All three of us in a VW convertible bug on the way not to the trail head, but back to Judy (the kind women who picked us up) & Franks place for the night.

15 minutes and a shower later....

Chill in a swanky bathrobe drinking a cold brew.

Judy & Frank were amazing people, both avid outdoorsmen, Frank just having finished the Long Trail in VT. They let us shower, sleep in their guest bedrooms, treated us to breakfast in the morning, and even put on a puppet show for us. It was some amazing unexpected trail magic!

Attempting to dry out all of our wet belongings.

Franconia Ridge
We summited first thing in the morning to an (according to locals) amazingly lucky clear view. You could see forever ridges upon ridges littering the distance. It looked like Mars or scenery straight out of Lord of the Rings. The Whites are enchanting, visually arresting and unlike any mountains previously. They are also hellish and unforgiving. Each mile seems to take longer than it should and some days it seems as though I'm exhausted before I even get going. - I slipped and landed hard on a rock on both my knees. In that instance my eyes watered and my head became filled with thoughts of anything but hiking. In the moments after I seriously contemplated the idea of quitting. It would be so easy to go home, to crawl into my bed and rest my pounding head. The thought of giving up quickly passed. I can do hard things. The next 300 miles are what separates through hikers from everyone who gave up before.

It's fucking cold. Day three out of what was suppose to be five. It took us two days to do one day. We are behind. The Whites are sucking us in and wearing us out. Time to play catch up. My knees are becoming bloody, crusty because I seem to wipe out multiple times a day. Sometimes the best experiences don't invite you.

The hike after Zealand Falls was extremely easy terrain, I was able to do faster than 3 miles an hour pace again, it felt like I was on a treadmill compared to the previous days. I wiped out pretty bad, rebusting open my bloody knees and taking a trekking pole to my eye, which left me with a black eye for the days to come.

Taradactyle (who will be thru hiking next year) picked me, Croc Rocket, Glacier Swiss, Corn Silk, and Chill-a-While up and took us to his condo for some awesome trail magic. We got to soak our aching bodies in a hot tub, and eat yummy, non dehydrated food.

Lake of the Clouds Hut
Lake of the Clouds is the last stop before Mt.Washington and seeing as you don't want to (and you're not suppose to) camp above tree line on one of the most unpredictable weather wise mountains in North America it's a common sleep option for the night. The ridge before the hut was just as stunning if not more than Franconia Ridge. I did work for stay and got Macaroni dinner at the hut.

Mt. Washington
Is the second highest peak on the Appalachian Trail and has some of the most unpredictable and extreme weather in North America. People die on this mountain yearly (usually from exposure) even in July. The weather turns on a dime and it can snow and become hypothermic conditions in the middle of the summer.

Me with the warning of sign before the ascent to the Mt.Washington Summit.

Mt.Washington held up to the stories. It was frigid, raining, windy and unpredictable. I couldn't feel my fingers.

More black eye photographs.

The group of hiker that spent the night at the Yellow Deli in Lancaster, NH.

Chill-a-While, Autobahn, Paperclip, Axel & Murray, Loose Leaf, Detox, Tunes.
Knots, Spider, Keychain, CindeRella (aka me), Miami Vice, Yogi, Little Giant, Surfer Snow Zombie.

Pinkham Notch
The beginning of the Wildcats. The climb out of Pinkham Notch was intense, I had no idea the Wildcats were categorized as one of the hardest parts of the AT but it soon became apparent.. The first three miles went extremely slow. It was more rock climbing then hiking, full of really steep rock scrambles and a lot of "How in the worlds?" We were in so much pain that soon delirium set in and all we should do was laugh.

Keychain

The sign "Easier Way Down" was placed so that people riding the ski lift up would see it, the sign was pointing towards the Appalachian Trail. Who ever placed that sign there has a fantastic sense of humor!