Pancakes, Polish, and Precipitation

On Monday, August 19, I woke up at the Notch hostel after a big slack pack day, and I was going to be taking a zero, so I was definitely excited about that. For breakfast at the Notch, they leave out pancake mix, and you’re kind of on your own to cook some up if you decide to.

And when I got down to the kitchen, Salamander was busy making pancakes and frying up some bacon that she’d purchased herself to feed the house. I offered to help out by taking over on pancake duty. So for a while, Salamander and I were side-by-side at the stove, taking orders and making people breakfast.

Most of the hikers at the Notch that day were taking a zero, in part because the weather was just terrible. So we had a pretty full house, and everyone was down in the kitchen, wanting some breakfast. And it was a really nice moment. We were all eating together, and people seemed pretty appreciative of us cooking for them, so it was a good start to the day. And after breakfast, to thank me for helping cook, Ultra initiated me into her group by painting a couple of my nails. [Wife note: I could not possibly approve of this more. I’m now an Ultra fan, whoever she is!]

[Wife note: I love how happy everyone looks in this pic!]

Gin

Once the kitchen had been cleaned up — which I didn't do; other people did — the people running the Notch basically recognized that no one was going out on the trail, so they arranged a bunch of resupply runs for us. I was the first person to sign up for the noon shuttle to the grocery store, but as soon as they announced that it was time to load up, it was totally mobbed, and I didn’t end up getting a seat. So I’m not sure what the point of the sign-up sheet was. I mean, it’s not really a big deal or anything, but one downside of staying at a hostel where you have to rely on a shuttle to go anywhere is definitely being beholden to other people’s schedules and availability.

Anyway, I caught the second shuttle to the supermarket and picked up a few things to make sure I was stocked up for the next couple days. When I got back to the Notch, Doc declared that we needed to drink beer today and invited me to go to the Twin Barns brewery, but I was exhausted and already had beer at the hostel, so I took a nap instead.

Later in the evening, it was a really wonderful scene in the common area of the hostel. Everyone had made their dinner and was just hanging out. And one of the guys there was named Great Day, and he was a pretty good guitar player. He also happens to be kind of the human embodiment of Shaggy from Scooby-Doo. He’s a super nice guy, but he always kind of seems like he’s high, sort of in the way that an actor would portray someone who’s high. You know, his eyes are typically half-closed, and he says things like, “Cool, cool, cool.” He also giggles a lot and talks really slowly.

But anyway, as I said, he’s a great guitar player, and he was sort of holding court and leading a bit of a sing-along. And it was just one of those times when everyone’s hanging out and singing and having a great time and really expressing the whole community aspect of the trail. So I was really happy to have stayed at the Notch, and I had an especially great time that night.

I was going to be hitting the trail again the next morning, so I didn’t hang out too late since I needed to get to bed. And as usual, I was feeling nervous. The hike out of Franconia Notch up to Franconia Ridge is the first really big hike up into elevation. I mean, Moosilauke and the Kinsmans were certainly challenging, but getting up onto Franconia Ridge is kind of a big deal, and the weather up there is very unpredictable, so I was feeling a little anxious about it.

On the morning of the 20th, we got dropped off at the trailhead, and for the first three miles of the trail, I hiked up about 3,000 feet — so, a thousand feet per mile, which is a pretty steep pitch. But it turns out that I really had nothing to worry about. I've hiked this stretch of trail a few times before, and I definitely remember it being strenuous, but you know, I guess after hiking more than 1,800 miles from Georgia, my hiking legs are a bit stronger now. So getting up to Franconia Ridge ended up being much easier and faster than I’d expected. It was one of those things where you don't realize you can do something until you do it, I guess.

When I got up onto the ridge, there was a tiny bit of blue sky that looked like it was going to turn into a nice day, but that ended very quickly. And up on the ridge, there are no trees to offer any sort of protection from the wind, and it was extremely windy and rainy, and there were definitely no views.

And at certain points, hiking over Franconia Ridge and Mount Lafayette can be pretty scary. Lafayette is over 5,000 feet, which objectively isn't really high, but it happens to be in an area with particularly volatile weather. And today, there was just massive wind, no views, tons of rain. People were saying that it was in the 30s up there, and I only had my raincoat for wind protection. It wasn't a very pleasant experience.

I was hiking over the ridge with Swiss and a guy named James, and at one point, we kind of huddled together, and we all agreed that these were the worst conditions we’d hiked in thus far — and we’d hiked through the snow in the Smokies and through some pretty big storms. But getting over Lafayette today was definitely the most challenging.

There were times when I was hiking, and the wind was blowing so hard that I was struggling just to remain upright. And at one point, James lost feeling in his hands. He had to put his trekking poles away, because he couldn't even hold on to them anymore. I made sure to stay close to James after that to make sure he was going to be okay.

Eventually, we all made it down off the ridge and below the tree line. From there, it was just a very, very steep descent. Our goal was to get to the Garfield Ridge shelter. And I have to add that before you get to New Hampshire, hiking 15 or 20 miles in a day is generally pretty achievable. That's not a huge day, you know? But when you’re in the White Mountains in New Hampshire, 15 miles might as well be a thousand. So, we hiked 10 miles today, and it took as long as it would take to hike 20 in other areas.

It was just so slow, so steep, so rocky, and then it was wet and slippery and windy on top of that. It was kind of a wake-up call in terms of what the weather could be like in the Whites from here on out. I mean, not very long ago, I was steaming hot in 90-degree weather, and here it was, winds blowing 50 miles an hour in 30-degree temperatures. It's really difficult to imagine, or to predict, what kind of gear you'll need under those conditions. And I definitely didn't have the right gear today, so that was a big eye-opener for me.

I was fine, in the end. But by the time we got to the Garfield Ridge shelter, we were all just exhausted. There were already plenty of hikers at the shelter, and I knew many more were still on their way, so I decided to put up my tent rather than finding a spot inside the shelter.

The rain was coming in waves at that point, so I waited until I had what I thought was a good window to set up camp, but almost as soon as I started, another wave of rain come through, and everything got wet. I managed to get into my tent without letting in too much water. This was probably around 4:30 in the afternoon, and the first thing I did was take a nap.

I think I’m in for the night now. I just ate lunch for dinner because I never stopped for lunch today. I’m in my sleeping bag and wearing my puffy jacket, and I feel warm enough right now, but if it gets much colder, I’ll probably need to make some adjustments to my gear. Having everything be wet all the time certainly doesn’t help, either.

Anyway, I’m totally wiped out after just 10 miles, but the weather had everything to do with it. Even though I've done this hike multiple times before, and I've hiked all over the Whites, it's just amazing how different the weather can be and how much it can change your hiking experience. It's definitely something that that we’re all going to have to keep in mind as we progress through New Hampshire and into Maine.