Hello, New Hampshire

6/23 Day 112 Happy Hill Shelter to Hanover, NH - 5.8 miles

Yesterday, I made a phone call to Tigger’s Treehouse, a private residence offering a place to crash, to arrange lodging. We made plans to be picked up in Hanover at some point this morning. We wanted to have time to explore town a bit so we woke early to make it to town as early as possible. The hike into Hanover was very easy and the rain had temporarily ceased. We celebrated as we crossed the bridge leaving Vermont behind and entering New Hampshire. Vermont had been our favorite state thus far, but we were excited to see what New Hampshire had in store. Our first stop was a coffeehouse called Dirt Cowboy where we enjoyed a cup of real coffee and a muffin. We then took to the streets to see what Hanover had to offer. We walked up and down the streets of the small college town receiving stares from those who were likely out-of-towners as most locals surely knew what we were up to. One couple began to question us as we looked quite out of place compared to most of the clean, well-dressed, fresh-smelling pedestrians. After satisfying their curiosities, they offered us their leftover French toast. Having no shame, we sat down on a bench and enjoyed the food that had been gifted to us. More than ever I felt like a vagrant. As we finished our meal I received a phone call from Ralph of Tigger’s Treehouse. Ralph was in town and could take us back to the “Treehouse” at this time. We walked down Main Street once more to meet Ralph. Ralph took us to a grocery store to resupply before heading to his residence just outside of town.

We pulled up to Tigger’s Treehouse to find it wasn’t a treehouse at all. Just a house with a couple RV’s parked outside. We met Karen and she showed us around. Karen and Ralph offer hikers lodging at their home asking only for donation or work for stay. Karen showed us to our “room,” a lovely early 1990’s RV. I was pretty stoked about our sleeping arrangements for the night. We quickly settled in taking advantage of the shower and laundry. We were happy to be resting indoors when the rain began. Later in the afternoon Karen left and came back with Giuseppe; he would also spend the night here. We napped and relaxed all afternoon. We ordered pizza for dinner in the evening and watched TV. It was a nice, restful day.

6/25 Day 114 Hanover, NH to Trapper John Shelter – 16.6 miles

Karen shuttled us back to town this morning where we would pick up the trail where we had left off. There were many tasty breakfast options but we opted for the inexpensive option and made a stop at Dunkin Donuts. It was hot and humid early this morning, I was just happy it wasn't raining. The hiking was mostly easy as we left town. We had some minor climbing as we approached Moose Mountain Shelter where we would break for lunch. The rain began soon after we left the shelter and didn't stop the rest of the day. We hiked the remaining five miles soaked from the rain; it was far too hot to bother with rain gear. As any thru hiker will tell you, you’re going to get wet regardless.

We found Giuseppe at Trapper John Shelter, the place we would call home for the night. We rested under the roof of the shelter and watched the rain fall without slowing. We cooked our dinner in the shelter and went to sleep at dark. It was only the three of us in the shelter.

6/26 Day 115 Trapper John Shelter to Hexacuba Shelter – 12 miles

We took our time packing up this morning as we had planned a short 12 mile day. The rain had once again passed at some point while we slept but the fog and mist remained. Less than a mile into our hike we made a stop at Bill Ackerly’s house. We had been hearing of this Bill, also known as “The Ice Cream Man,” for a few days now. There is a sign directing hikers to Bill’s place offering free water, ice cream, and croquet. We made the short side trip only to find Bill was out of town. We were bummed to not meet the famous “Ice Cream Man” but we were happy he had left instructions to help ourselves to an ice cream bar and a Coke. Our spirits were high as we left the Ackerly residence but rain began once more, quickly pulling my morale to the ground. The rain is really beginning to get to me at this point. Nevertheless, we hiked on. We met an interesting Russian couple as we climbed Smarts Mountain. The man gave us each a five hour energy shot and preceded to assess our energy levels. He told us he was a “physical energy massage therapist.” He quickly concluded that Wide Load had more energy than me and kindly transferred some of her energy to me through a series of stare downs with me and then her and finally between me and her. He finally concluded we would make it to Katahdin and wished us well as we continued our trudge through the rain.

We sought refuge in the Fire Wardens Cabin, a fully enclosed shelter atop Smarts Mountain. There we met another thru hiker called Howbout. We had briefly met Howbout long ago in Virginia but had never hiked with him. We learned he had been hiking mostly alone for the last several days. As we rested in the cabin we met two SOBOs who had skipped the White Mountains due to the gnarly weather we had been experiencing. After a couple of hours waiting for the rain to pass, we decided this was an unlikely wish. We left the shelter and hiked the remaining five miles through the rain. Howbout left with us asking if we minded him tagging along. The three of us hiked the remaining miles to Hexacuba Shelter where Giuseppe had already settled in. The rain let up momentarily for the rest of the evening. The four of us discussed our plans for the White Mountains. The more difficult terrain, unpredictable weather, and different camping regulations make logistics slightly more taxing in the Whites. As NOBOs approach this highly anticipated section there is much talk regarding plans. It’s easy to fall into the nervous, worrying, ways of thinking about the Whites, but this is the way I see things--it can’t be that difficult if thousands of thru hikers before us have done it. Regardless, thoughts and words were mostly revolving around the Whites this evening.

6/27 Hexacuba Shelter to Jeffer’s Brook Shelter – 15.7 miles

We hiked all day with Howbout and Giuseppe. This was the first time in a long while we have hiked an entire day with others. We had a good time with good company. Thought it was raining at the start of the day, the weather cleared by late morning. At a road crossing, we again met the Russian couple and learned their names were Leo and Anna. Leo was pleased to see that my energy level had increased from yesterday. He gave us all energy shots and even gave Howbout a complimentary chiropractic adjustment. We hiked on and saw Leo and Anna again while we finished our lunch. We chatted with them for a while answering questions about our journey. Before we left Leo administered some sort of Shiatsu maneuver on my shoulders. I’m not sure what the goal of the short massage was but it certainly didn’t hurt.

As we hiked we considered the option of extending our day and hiking over Mt. Moosilauke while the weather was clear. It was a very tempting idea but it would all depend on what time we could get to our next landmark. We eventually decided we would likely be hiking in the dark to make it in time so we would stick to our original plan. Howbout had a mail drop in Glencliff and the possibility of cold pop at the Hiker’s Welcome Hostel was enough to coax us into walking the half mile. We arrived and met Legion, the caretaker. He pointed us in the direction of the refrigerator where we found an enormous selection of soft drinks and the freezer filled with Klondike Bars and frozen pizzas. Legion tried his best to talk us into staying but we decided we should push on to the next shelter only a mile away as we had all planned on going into Lincoln, NH the next day. In the meantime, Wide Load and I each drank two pops and a Klondike bar, Howbout ate three pizzas, and Giuseppe ate five Klondike bars. The only thing that stopped Giuseppe from eating more was that they ran out of Klondike bars. In Howbout’s mail drop was a bag a marshmallows; he nearly tossed them in the hiker box but I quickly convinced him we would build a fire and roast the marshmallows.

We left Hiker’s Welcome Hostel happy none of us had allowed Legion to talk us into staying as we learned we were all right on the verge. We saved a few bucks by walking just one more mile to the next shelter. There was one section hiker with a tent pitched in the shelter but there was room for us all regardless. Upon our arrival we scavenged the area for wood to build our fire for marshmallow roasting. Many people believe as thru hikers we have a campfire every night but I must say we have only had fires a couple nights before. Howbout ate two marshmallows, Wideload ate one marshmallow and I was given the task of finishing the rest of the bag. I was up well past hiker midnight forcing down the fluffy white sugar globs. Rain and heavy winds are forecast for our trek over Moosilauke in the morning.

6/28 Day 117 Jeffers Brook Shelter to Lincoln, NH (via Kinsman Notch) – 8.4 miles

The forecast today called for gale force winds. I didn't really know what a gale force wind was but I would soon find out. The rain fell all night and continued through the morning as we packed and began walking. Today we enter the Whites as we climb Moosilauke. The climb was long and steep, but not as difficult as I expected from studying the elevation profile. The rain was only a sprinkle as we neared the tree line and the wind was nothing more than normal. I thought to myself, “this isn’t so bad, I guess we lucked out.” The trees shrunk as we continued to climb and the winds grew. Soon we reached what I thought was the summit and the wind was very strong. We continued to climb eventually leaving the trees behind us. The fog was thick and the winds made walking difficult. Fighting the powerful winds, we carefully made our way to the summit blasted with cold, stinging rain. Wide Load kept attempting to walk to the summit sign for a picture but to no avail; the winds kept knocking her down. Hats and pack covers had to be stuffed down shirts to keep them from blowing away. Fighting the gusts, we slowly hiked hoping to make it to tree line as quickly as possible. As soon as we reached the trees the blowing winds died down to a manageable level. Though we were in no immediate danger our adrenaline was rushing. We’ve been warned of severe weather on Mt. Washington and the rest of the Presidential Range but have heard nothing of Mt. Moosilauke. We wondered what the taller mountains and ridges in our future would hold.

The wind continued to dwindle as we made our way down the mountain and we felt as if we were out of the woods, no pun intended. What we didn't know was the decent from Moosilauke includes the steepest terrain in the White Mountains. Much of the decent was down smooth slabs of wet rock made possible only by wooden steps and metal bars installed in the rock face. We meticulously made our way down the mountain paralleling a beautifully swollen, rushing cascade. As the trail leveled a bit we met a day hiker who told us he had a cooler full of chocolate milk in his car. Despite childhood warnings not to follow a stranger to his vehicle for treats such as this, we tailed him all the way to the parking lot where he opened a cooler and allowed us to help ourselves to the rich, chocolaty, cold dairy refreshment. Right behind us were Giuseppe and Howbout. Eventually, the day hiker (whose name I forgot) offered to drive us to Lincoln. The four of us squeezed into a Jeep with no backseat and away we went. He dropped us off at the McDonalds from where we proceeded to Dunkin Donuts to plan our next move. While scouring the web for hotels we remembered Legion had suggested we stay at “Chet’s place,” a supposed hostel not listed in our guide book. Prior to this we hadn’t heard of Chet’s place, a word of mouth hiker hostel, but we were willing to entertain the option. Howbout made a phone call and was asked to answer a series of questions to be sure we were actually hikers. Eventually we were given permission to come stay at Chet’s place and we were given directions. Chet was very welcoming and we were happy to be there. We dried off, showered, did laundry, and then hit the town for dinner. While the rain continued to fall, we eventually decided to take a zero day tomorrow. The rain poured all night; we were happy we were indoors.

(false summit photo)

Sorry, no real summit photo :-(

6/29 Day 118 Zero in Lincoln, NH

We started our zero day with a tasty pancake breakfast. From there we roamed aimlessly around town before finally going to the grocery store to resupply. We took our groceries back to Chet’s and sorted through them and relaxed for most of the afternoon. It was a pretty uneventful day, but that’s nice for a zero day. Our zero days are often busier and less relaxing than a day on trail. For dinner the four of us went to Gypsy Café; the food was decent but the portions were small for the price. We headed back to the grocery store for ice cream before walking back to Chet’s. When we arrived at Chet’s, the place was nearly full. While looking over our options Wideload and Howbout schemed a way to slackpack in which we would leave most of our gear at Chet’s and return for a third night. Hiking 16.3 miles we would come to Franconia Notch where we would hitch back to Lincoln. We had planned on hiking to near Franconia Notch anyway so it only made sense. With Chet’s permission, we decided we would rise early the next morning and return in the evening.