Start: Kinsman Notch (AT mi 1803.7). Stop: interstate 93 (AT mi 1820). Today’s miles: 16.3 miles. Total AT mileage: 795.3 miles
I was going to come up with something clever to say about today.. but honestly, I don’t have the brain power to come up with something funny when it comes to such a difficult day. It wasn’t my worst day on trail, but believe me-it still sucked.
I got up at 4:10am and quickly got ready to go. I was pulling into the Kinsman Notch trailhead parking lot at 5:08am-and it was pouring rain in sheets across the boat I’m driving. I waited for the worst of it to subside before getting out and using the bathroom at the trailhead. By 5:30am I was on the trail. By 5:32am my new shoes were soaked through. Awesome. I can’t have nice things.
The trail crossed the road I just drove in on, and literally went up. Rocks and mud galore, and so slippery with the current rainy conditions. The sun was rising, but all it did was light up the white clouds I was walking through.. there wasn’t a single view to be had. And, unlike Moosilauke, there wasn’t a waterfall to distract me from the terrain.
Even still, I felt like I was cruising through it well enough. I wasn’t stopping for breathers, my pack was light (with only a sandwich, Gatorade, and water inside it). This couldn’t be as bad as everyone was saying. At 8am, a whole 2.5 hours after starting, I checked my app. I seriously felt like I was making the miles, so when I saw that I had only gone 3.85 miles total in all that time, I was flabbergasted.
A couple miles later, I made it to the top of Mt. Wolf.. at least I think I did because there was no sign and then I saw a little side trail pointing to a “lookout”— seeing how I wouldn’t actually be able to see anything from a lookout, I carried on without making the side trek. I walked through puddle after puddle, slipping and sliding and completely starting to lose hope that I’d finish this slack pack in any type of decent time. The downhills are so hard when they’re wet and muddy, each step is a guess to whether or not you’ll fall to your butt, or roll and ankle, or break a leg. I am happy to announce I just fell to my butt-a whole lot.
I passed a shelter and then some pretty waterfalls off to my left. This was the nicest section of trail. And it was covered in gnats because the rain was finally letting up some. I stopped at 11:45 to eat my lunch by some water.. during that time, 3 people passed me! The first people of the day! I even knew 2 of them! Jola and Towelie! Towelie stayed and chatted with me a bit. Then I followed him up South Kinsman Mountain, “followed” is a loose term here.. I attempted to keep up with him while we talked-but that didn’t last long. The trail turned back into a rock climbing expedition and caused me to pump my breaks. I truly wish I had the right words for you to feel and see what I felt and saw.
I let out quite a slew of cuss words over the course of the day. Frustration mixed with worry about being able to pick up Andrea on time. Coming down South Kinsman was short lived, less than a mile later I was at the top of North Kinsman. The clouds finally started to dissipate right as I was back into the tree line. I’m sure if I made the effort to find the blue blazed trail to the full summit I would have enjoyed it, but I was too focused on the time it was taking me to get anywhere.. no detouring allowed today!
On that five mile descent, somewhere along the way I ran back in to Towelie, he had stayed at the top and enjoyed it, and then we met up with Trippin, the flip flopper I met at the overlook cabin when I had to call a doctor for the Lyme’s disease. Towelie has definitely recovered from his ailments and was flying down trail. I couldn’t tell if Trippin was really struggling as much as me or if she was just being kind to hike slower to stay at my pace-but either way I was so grateful for her! She completely raised my spirits and we chatted and fussed about the terrain together.
We came across our first Hut of the White Mountains. These are places with bunk rooms and huge common areas that the Appalachian Mountain Club staffs. People pay close to $150 or more a night to stay in a hut. You get breakfast, dinner, a bunk and a toilet. The toilets are nicer style privies but you do get clean running water to wash your hands. Most thru hikers avoid staying at these because of the expense, but they definitely are nice! We filled up water, Trippin and Towelie got some baked goods for $1 each. I wasnt feeling up to eating. I just wanted to be done.
So, I headed out without them, knowing they’d both catch me soon enough. Which they did. Towelie kept going and Tripping stayed with me. I had already updated Cholula so she was going to hang out in the parking lot and read until I got to her. I tell this to Trippin, she mentions that there’s a mile side trail I have to take to get to the parking lot.. ugh.. and that her hubby was picking her up on the side of the highway, so she’d have him take me over to Cholula and save me the non AT mile. SWEET!
Towelie came with us, and we walked up to the side of highway 93 and started walking down the ramp exit. Two cars pull up and over.. Cholula and DeepFried, Tippin’s husband! Cholula had decided to come over to try to catch me before I made the trek to the parking lot! Hahaha it worked out perfectly! She took Towelie to his hostel and me back to my car. Trippin and DeepFried headed back to their hotel. It was 5:30pm. It literally took me the whole 12 hours to complete that hike! Jesus.
I was worn out but on a mission. I headed straight back to the hotel, hung up stuff to dry, took a shower, and then walked down to the Applebee’s for a quick dinner. It was already almost 8pm by this point.. the driving to pick up the car and to get back ate away at time like I didn’t expect. I had some chicken tenders and mashed potatoes. It was so stupid good. Trail life really makes you appreciate any food thats not dehydrated.
Once I finished my meal, I started my road trek to get Andrea. It was a 2 hour drive south to Manchester, New Hampshire. It was a straight shot for the most part and I got there just after 10:30. Lauren talked with me on the phone while I drove to keep me awake. I let Andrea know I was in the cellphone lot and going to close my eyes for a while until she called to say she got her bag from baggage claim. I crawled through to the back seat and laid down, set an alarm for 11:11, and fell into a semi-sleep. I got to snooze my alarm a couple times. I was so nervous I’d fall into one of my deep sleeps if I didn’t set that obnoxious alarm.. so this guaranteed I could rest but not go all the way out.
Andrea called at 11:30, I woke up startled and confused.. and then hopped back in the front seat and drove around to get her. I was SO HAPPY to see her standing there with her pack on.. naturally I squealed lol. Once the boat was in park, I jumped out to hug her. I cannot believe that she is here after all this time! I haven’t seen her in forever, and all of our planning finally has come together and we get to hike the White Mountains! Andrea is an ICU nurse, too, so this is just the kind of reset our brains need with such a physically and emotionally draining career.
We talked and caught up on each other’s lives the whole way back, and time seemed to both slow down and speed up.. we picked up right where we left off, and then suddenly I was pulling into the hotel parking lot. We both agreed that we should rest tomorrow (as it’s already almost 2am), and then start the trail the following day. I think after that brutal hike this morning, my body could use the recovery.
We settled into the hotel room, and the time difference had her much more awake than I was. While she wound down and watched some TV, I drifted right to sleep. What a long day! I was almost awake for 24 hours, which is why it’s taken so long to get this post written and uploaded. It was all worth it though. I have my friend with me 🙂