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Published: August 5th 2008
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Dave
In the hundred mile wilderness Wow... It's been a long time since I've seen the internet! What is one to do? I've managed to make it all across New Hampshire and not have a single chance to fill you all in. I'm doing well and currently hanging out in the library on the Dartmouth University campus. I'll be spending the night at one of the fraternity houses. I've already stopped in there to shower and drop off my pack.
New Hampshire has been wonderful! As soon as I hit the first town (Gorham) I noticed a difference in the trail. The AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club... AKA... Appalachian Money Collectors) does a great job maintaining the trail. One would hope so, because as far as I know they are the only ones with a paid trail crew. They charge money to stay in their shelters ($8 per person) and they also run the HUT system in the White Mountains. The HUTs are both good and bad. People with large amounts of excess cash have the ability to pay $90 a night (per person) to stay in a cabin above treeline in the Whites. Being a thru-hiker they will allow a few (2 or 3) of us
Gash & Dank
Clearing sticks for some tent placement to work for stay. Basically if you do chores around the place, they let you come inside after all the paid guests are done eating and then sleep in the dining room. They also gave us tons of food for dinner and breakfast. Now I bet your wondering "What on earth could be bad about the HUTs?" well basically they don't always have room for everyone and you're not allowed to camp within a 1/4 mile of the place. So say you're like me and push super hard to get there and then you're told to beat it... and by the way, all the campsites just outside the no camping zone are full! I really enjoyed the good AMC places and really hated the bad ones. Either way, they still have hands down the best trail crew so far!
The Presidentials were amazing! Mt. Madison was one of my favorites. I suppose that's because it was one of the few that didn't have me in a wet windy cloud. There was a slight rain near the summit but it brought out an incredible rainbow! Mt. Washington was poor weather and covered in tourists that drove to the top. I
Purple Iris
I picked and pressed this one in my sketch book think Madison was really the only one I got to enjoy a clear view from.
The rest of the Whites were steep and difficult terrain just like southern Maine. But as soon as I crossed over Mount Moosilauke it was like stepping into a whole new world. The mountains were shorter, the trees were hard woods instead of evergreens, and the trail was a lot less rocky. I made 20 miles before 4 in the afternoon yesterday and I hiked at least 15 into town today before 1pm. Granted I start hiking between 6 and 7am but I felt good about it. I can't wait to cross the 500 mile mark! I'm at about 425 now!
Sorry I've come to far and have a bit of a dislike for the map program so I will not be including one with this update.
I would have taken a ton more photos, but seriously it rained most of the time! There was a day that the rain stopped for a bit and I went into a HUT to eat lunch. I left my rain poncho outside and someone walked off with it! A nice man gave me his
Carniverous Plant!
some how these things eat swamp bugs! "rain coat" because he was only out for a day hike and would be back off the trail the following day. I accepted his rain coat and asked for his address to send him a post card. Well the raincoat turned out to be a lot less than waterproof. In fact after about ten minutes of heavy downpour left me soaked and covered in a cold, wet, and heavy coat. I Stopped in Lincoln NH even though I had enough food to carry on and because I wanted a new poncho. I stopped at Chet's One Step at a Time Hostel. Chet is the most wonderful guy you will ever meet in your life! He told me to check the hiker box. A hiker box is a collection of stuff that other hikers decided was either too heavy or they had too much or they simply didn't want a piece of gear anymore. Sure enough there was a poncho in there. I mailed the raincoat back to the nice man who gifted it to me and took the poncho from the box. Turns out that the poncho isn't waterproof either and the pack cover that I got out of hiker
Snail & Shawncy
I think these two left the trail, but I'm not sure box in Gorham is useless as well! I was hoping to replace all these items here in Hanover but the outfitters here are NFG. There is an EMS in the next town over, but it's a long hitch. I need new shoes too so I might not make it anywhere tomorrow, it might be reserved for shopping!
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Anne
non-member comment
wow
amazing pics! i love the rainy self! :D