Day 86: Imp Shelter

Start: Pinkham Notch Visitor’s Center (AT mi 1873.7). Stop: Imp Shelter (AT mi 1886.8) Today’s miles: 13.1 miles. Total AT mileage: 862.1 miles

We both woke up earlier than we technically had to. I slept so good that when I heard a crick and rolled over to see what it was and realized Poptart was already awake-I happily went ahead and got up, too. Holy crap, there is a first for everything. Poptart said I didn’t even move last night, and I believe it. I fell asleep listening to the rain.. I briefly woke around 5am and had the fleeting thought of feeling chilly (I forgot the blanket Uncle Eddie got me downstairs and was so comfortable I didn’t think about it), but I was back to sleep before I knew it. It was the best night of sleep I’ve had in a while.

We packed up and headed downstairs with all of our stuff. I had a chocolate chip muffin and a monster energy drink: breakfast of champions. Uncle Eddie told us about a ski slope trail that also takes you up to the top of Wildcat D Mountain, which is what we had to go up today anyway. We thought on it and decided to “ski blaze” (Poptart’s term) our way up the mountain and not go up the AT, which is known to be difficult hand over hand climbing for 3 miles.

He dropped us off and we followed his directions to the far ski lift area and started looking for our way up. We were pretty sure we spotted the gravel ish looking “road” but to be sure, since this wouldn’t be on our app at all and neither of us had service, we asked the woman at the ski patrol hut to verify our plan.

We headed up PoleCat ski slope. Parts were very gradual and other parts were stair master steep, but the whole way I was just thrilled I wasn’t climbing up the way the AT intended me to. This insider information felt like a sweet gift during all the difficulty this section of trail has given me. Poptart spotted raspberries on the way up and we stopped to eat a few that were ripe, which only added to my delight.

When we got to the top of the mountain, we immediately saw two hikers coming out of the woods. They carried on and we stopped to put on our rain jackets because it was drizzling a little but already super cold and extremely windy. Our views were stunning and I was thrilled to find out the ski slope we came up was the same mileage (3 miles) as the part of the AT we skipped. And clearly the elevation was the same or very close. So, I don’t really feel like I cheated myself out of anything-besides a lot of irritation.

From there we had a bit more of a climb, which was rocky and ridiculous like the stuff we’re sadly starting to expect of this area. However, before we knew it, we reached the top of Wildcat Mountain. Then it was downhill to get to the Carter Hut, where we ended up eating lunch.
The Chick-fil-A sauce is a total game changer. It makes me actually excited for lunch time! I smothered my salmon with the sauce and ate every bite-happily. Normally I’m forcing myself to eat it. We sat and enjoyed the warmth of the hut and even got to have a free piece of cornbread, which was actually pretty good too.

The climb up to Carter Dome from the hut was long but the rocks were stepping rocks instead of climbing rocks, so I enjoyed it a lot. We also got some views before the clouds rolled in. The trail from Carter Dome all the way up and down the other peaks to North Carter Mountain was enjoyable. I stopped to take tons of pictures and just took in my surroundings. Poptart kept me laughing all day long. It was a great time.

And then we started going down North Carter Mountain. It just never seemed to end. We weren’t hiking quick to begin with, but it definitely got so much slower on that descent. We were once again sitting on the rocks to scooch down safely. Then the rain started coming down, so it became a slip and slide mixed with wet rocks and thick mud. Originally we were thinking of finding a stealth spot close-ish to to the shelter, to avoid both people and paying the $5 to stay. However, with the wind howling and attempting to blow us off the mountain and the fact that we were getting more and more drenched by the second-the shelter started sounding real nice.

It was just after 7:30pm when we made it to the shelter. To our surprise, no one else was in it! The caretaker came down to show us around and take our money.. while there were other hikers tenting there, the shelter was all ours for now! Holy cow! Could we have gotten any more lucky? We never actually saw anyone’s tent. One guy with a cute pup running around was in the cooking area, but that was the only other person we saw.

We unpacked and quickly got on our dry clothes. I was shivering so hard and the wind was chilling me to my bones. My hands felt numb, but they’ve been super sensitive ever since getting burnt on Mount Washington. We ate our dinner and chatted with the guy and his dog. He was just out for a weekend hike and was very nice. His stove wasn’t working with the wind, so I let him boil his water with mine. Hot food was the only thing keeping me semi warm, so I knew he had to have been cold. He was out there trying to get his stove to work since before we showed up at the shelter. Yikes.

We put up our food (bear box) and settled in for the night in the loft part of the shelter. It seemed clean and the caretaker said there haven’t been rodents.. so that put me at ease. It was so cold that it took awhile to get warm enough to fall asleep. I couldn’t type again because of it, so I didn’t get to type this blog post out until the following day-it feels safe to say that once I did fall asleep, I slept well. I did wake up when I’d roll over because of the quilt shifting and the coldness sneaking in. But it was still good sleep!

Anyway, another day down and another day closer to Katahdin, before the flip down to hike south. Thanks for reading along!