Day 109 - 118 (The White Mountains of NH)

Day 109

Paul, Ward, and I walked about a mile to Velvet Rocks Shelter, located just outside Hanover. At the shelter the mosquitoes were absolutely horrible. We declared war and actually tried to kill them all. An impossible task. Despite killing an estimated 100 mosquitoes, they never stopped coming. Anyway, it's nice to be in New Hampshire!

Day 110

21.9 miles brought us to Smarts Mountain Shelter/Cabin. It was here that we finally caught up with Trail Blazer. His real name is James. He's another thru-hiker who started hiking before us, and we've been hearing (and reading) about his legendary feats for months. Apparently he eats minnows, wears a camouflage snuggie, doesn't use a sleeping bag, sleeps in caves, wipes his ass with smooth rocks, and has a little canary bird that hikes with him. It turns out that this is all true. I thought this guy was going to be some crazy weirdo. I couldn't be more wrong. James is the man. And he is the fire making master. Naturally we all became friends and he joined our "hiker group."

Day 111

19.9 miles into the Hikers Welcome Hostel. The hostel caretaker shuttled us into town for a very expensive resupply. The caretaker also informed us about the Green House Restaurant's food challenge known as the Moosilauke Monster. The Monster is a large pizza loaded with toppings. If you and your buddy eat it all within one hour and thirty minutes it's free. Ward and I decided to do it. I wish you could see how big this pizza was. HUGE! The Monster defeats most.In fact, we're told six people eating it causally typically do not finish it. Well, Ward and I did it! And with five minutes to spare! It was rough. Ward couldn't keep it in, and I had to lay down. Later that night we watched Pulp Fiction. I love this movie! "Say what again!"

Day 112

We walked 17 miles into the White Mountains and stayed at the Eliza Brook Shelter. In the process we tackled Mt Moosilauke. WOW. Mt Moosilauke is incredible. It's also a big climb up and a super steep climb down. On top is a massive alpine grassy meadow. The White Mountains are magical.

Day 113

19.1 miles to Garfield Ridge Shelter. This is the day we walked along the Franconian Ridge. My words cannot describe how amazing this ridge line is. If you enjoy hiking mountains then I highly recommend going to New Hampshire and hiking the Franconian Ridge. So magnificent! I love the White Mountains.

Day 114

14.5 miles to Ethan Pond Shelter.

Day 115

14 miles to Lake if the Clouds Hut. Our plan was to push over Mt Washington and continue along the presidential range. But then it started snowing. Luckily the super nice people at the Lake of the Clouds Hut gave us "work for stay." They even fed us. All we had to do was wash dishes. It was unexpectedly awesome!

Day 116

Well, we attempted to summit Mt Washington in the morning. Epic fail. After five minutes we made a life-saving decision to turn back and take further refuge at the hut. The temperature was well below freezing, with 65mph average wind speeds, 100+ peak wind speeds. The trail, being all rocks, was entirely iced over, making foot travel near impossible. Furthermore, after five minutes everyone was completely soaked from a low lying cloud. Mt Washington is known for having the worst weather in the world. Over 100 people have died up here. We took a zero day.

The weather actually improved dramatically during the day. I actually summited solo. It was the first time I hiked in all my layers. Visability was still poor at the top, but I didn't mind. It was an awesome experience.

Day 117

After waiting two days, we were awarded with some of the best weather possible on Mt Washington. From the summit there was 360 degrees of world class views. I can't believe how incredibly lucky we were. I'm told Mt Washington has only 30 good weather days a year. Anyway, 14.9 miles brought us to Pinkham Notch. And then we hitched to the town Gorham.

On top of Mt Washington we met a badass hiker named "Ice Axe." He got his trail name from hiking with his ice axe in the desert (you need an ice axe for the sierra mtns and he didn't want to mail it ahead). This guy is amazing. At this point he had already thru-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) and the Continental Divide Trail (CDT). I learned sooooo much from Ice Axe. His base weight was 10 lbs! Ice Axe, you are a badass! Although he got ahead of us, we all linked up in Straton Maine and basically finished the trail together.

Day 118

Zero Day in Gorham. The Whites are tough and we needed some R&R.