Day 68: Mount Moosilauke

Start: Hikers Welcome Hostel (AT mi 1794.2). Stop: Slack pack over Mount Moosilauke (AT mi 1803.7) Today’s miles: 9.5 miles. Total AT mileage: 779 miles


I think today has to go down as one of my favorite trail days.. top 5 for certain. Although, I didn’t sleep well-we’ll stay it’s because of nerves. Haha


It started raining around dusk last night and didn’t stop. Normally I sleep better with the rain, but I couldn’t shut my brain off. I got up before my watch alarm vibrated.. at a lovely 5:35am. I could have “slept” for 20 more minutes, but I was too anxious. So, I got up, grabbed all my stuff as quietly as possible, and tiptoed out the door and down the stairs. I used the outdoor bathroom, literally a toilet and a shower and a sink separated by curtains with a tarp roof lol.. and then I got to work on repacking my stuff so I could slack pack today.

TBird


I put absolutely everything inside the white compactor trash bag that I use as a liner (in my pack) to keep my stuff dry. The only things I carried on the slack pack was the pack itself with its rain cover on, my sandwich and chips from the deli, one full liter of water, a Gatorade, some skittles, my bug net and bug spray, my rain jacket, toilet paper, my wallet, a headlamp, and my garmin GPS tracker for emergencies. Everything else was in the trash bag, left on Cholula’s car.


I ate a quick breakfast of peanut butter mini bagels.. I’m so sick of those bagels already. When I resupply I’ll have to try something new again. And at a beautiful 6:27am, Cholula pulled into the driveway. I grabbed my stuff and headed outside, man I was happy to see her! It had been too long!
Once I was inside, we drove 5 minutes up the road and picked up TBird, TownLegs, and TieDye. Then began the trek to the other side of the mountain. Today, we slack packed the AT south over Mount Moosilauke, which means we basically got driven ahead and hiked back to where we just were.

TieDye


I was a ball of anxious energy on the way there. Excitement mixed with concern, because everyone we’ve recently talked to had said that Moosilauke is a beast and it’s dangerous when wet and the climbs and descents are super steep and not to be taken lightly. Even the sign once we started going warned hikers of this part’s difficultly. Good gracious.


Well, it started off mesmerizing. And while it did rain all night and everything was saturated and soaked, it wasn’t currently raining. And it was cooler. And the bugs were in hiding.. so we were off to a great start! The first mile and a half was uphill and while it was tricky and required careful consideration for foot placement, it was beautiful! There was a huge waterfall that just kept going and going, so it’s beauty easily distracted me from the difficulty of the climb.
It was purposefully cautiously slow going for the whole bit up the waterfall section. Some of the rock faces were so slick that the trail maintenance people put up wooden steps and rebar in areas to safely maneuver. Wood is very slippery when wet, if ya didn’t know lol. Somehow I made it without an all the way fall, although I did trip up a few times.

TownLegs


The four of us made it to the shelter that’s a mile and a half from the summit. We stopped in to have a privy and snack break. Once I was stopped, I got super cold. It was misty and chilly up there. So, I cut my break short and decided to head on up the rest of the way to get warm again. I knew I wasn’t ready to put my jacket on with more climbing to do, so best to keep it moving.


Once I got back on the trail, a hiker I met last night at the hostel, IceBear came barreling up. The man is FAST. When he came up on me he asked if he could hike behind me to help slow up his pace, lol, otherwise he’d “rush through the whole thing.” I made sure he realized that I wasn’t planning on picking up my pace any just because he was behind me, and told him to let me know when he was ready to pass me. He said that’s exactly what he was hoping for. Cool.


We chatted the whole way up. That’s how ya know I wasn’t carrying a full pack! I could talk while hiking uphill with rocks and boulders and mud to dodge, climb, and maneuver around. It was such a free feeling! To be able to move without any restrictions! At a sign we realized we were 0.4 miles from the summit.. and then maybe 0.1 miles later, the trees dropped off and we were on a gorgeous mountain top with fine grasses and a rocky path marked with cairns! It was stunning! I was so overjoyed that I literally felt a flutter of happiness rush up through my chest.


We were in the clouds though, so everything had a white fog around it. Through that dense fog I could see a hiker walking towards us.. the person was far away, but I could make out the thin frame and the trekking poles.. as they got closer, I just KNEW it was Lizard! I squealed a little and IceBear thought I was losing my mind with all the noise I had been making up to this point.. you know, the sounds you make from pure delight. I waited until I was sure before I screamed her name.. once she recognized me back, she screamed mine, and we attempted to “run” towards each other for a hug.. I say attempted because the rock path was anything but smooth.. lol


We stood on that mountain top catching up long enough to where both of us had chattering teeth, IceBear left me, and we dropped our packs to dig out our rain jackets for warmth. It was so worth it! We talked about our plans for the whites, as she has family coming to do the same section with her that Andrea is coming to do with me. And we’re going to start the same day! I hope we all run into each other out there 🙂 maybe we’ll even stay at the same shelter!


Anyway. After we decided it was too cold to stay up there standing still, she headed her way and I continued on to the actual summit.. which is where I ran into DoubleDecker and Smiles! They got a picture of me at the summit marker. We chatted a few minutes, and then went opposite directions, too! Then I was going downhill, and shortly after I reached the tree line I ran back into IceBear and another hiker he knew.


After that chatty session, IceBear followed me down the mountain.. talking the whole way! He’s quite an interesting guy, with a unique but fascinating way of living life in the moment. His girlfriend was back at the hostel we stayed at last night, she flew in to visit him once she was out of school (she’s a teacher in the Bahamas) but didn’t want to hike this crazy of a mountain today. I don’t blame her! They met while he was sailing.. he lives on a sailboat in Key West. The man had me utterly entertained.

Lizard!


I felt like I was slowing him way down, but I still took my time with my foot placement. We’re talking 5 miles of rocky descent. It was definitely way easier to manage it while being this light though, truly. Each downward step didn’t put tons of pressure on my knees the way it does with a full pack.


We talked and talked and then, out of no where we were coming to a field and then a road. Holy crap! I was basically done! We did the road walk to the shelter that we picked up my other slack packing friends from. I used the privy and said bye to IceBear, he headed on to the hostel.. and then I walked back to the main road. Mainly because the bugs were eating me up now that it was warmer and the sun was starting to shine, the other reason being to make up the missed mile from not walking to the shelter last night.


I was walking back when TBird showed up, she walked to the parking lot and then came back to the road I was at. She didn’t want to shorten her hike either lol. We ate our lunches sitting on the side of a road. Maybe 30 minutes later, TieDye and TownLegs appeared. We hung out a bit and waited for Cholula to come get us.


Cholula picked us up and kindly drove us to our destinations.. TownLegs and TBird had a motel right by the post office they were headed to. Then TieDye had a hotel his wife was meeting him at just down the road from there.. and then there was me. Cholula had to trek me almost 30 minutes north by highway to my hotel. Haha
I chose this hotel because I could book it for free with my Hilton points, and it is a close walk to the rental car place I have to go to in the morning. Win win for me and Andrea, not so much for the getting there part. I felt bad for having her drive so far out of the way, but I paid her for gas & time so I do feel a little better about it.


I checked into my hotel and promptly took a long shower. I love it when they have the good shampoos! And it has a tub, too. So I see a bath in my near future. Instead of doing that then, I got out and put on my sports bra and undies and headed directly to the jacuzzi, which happens to be across from my room! Success!

DoubleDecker & Smiles


After soaking in there until the timer went off, I came back to the room, dried off, and headed to get some stuff done. Next door is a strip mall with a Tjmaxx and a store like Sports Authority. I don’t remember what it’s called, but you get the drift. I got a visor from Tjmaxx (I think it’ll be less constricting than a hat-it’s actually the same one TBird has, color and all-we’re twins now lol), and then a lightweight Under Armor long sleeve shirt to hike in that will protect my arms from the sun.. everyone says the White Mountains have so much sun exposure, so better to be safe than sorry. When I finished shopping, I went to the Applebee’s in the same shopping center. Talk about convenience!


I sat at the bar and had a margarita, steak, shrimp, potatoes, and broccoli. It was delicious! It’s amazing how incredible everything in town tastes after you’ve been eating tuna and ramen noodles for days. I updated the blog there, while I was just sitting and trying not to eves drop on the other patrons conversations.. little hard not to when you’re not distracted. I chatted with Andrea and we made sure she was good to go with everything she’ll need for the trip. I came back to the room and was in bed asleep before 8:30pm.


Gotta love it when you can fall right to sleep! Today was such a great day. Now, let’s just pray the next slack pack I do is just as successful!

4 thoughts on “Day 68: Mount Moosilauke”

  1. I remain in awe of you and your adventures. So glad you are loving it. Safe travels!

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