Hi everyone.
It has been a while since I was last able to post and all I can say is we have just about had our fill of wet weather. This is supposed to be the wetest July and Aug in 50 years for VT and NH. We have also had some very tough hiking.
We left the Hikers Welcome hostel after a great steak dinner with a group of other hikers. We did our first big climb in the White Mtn's on Aug 2 and climbed up and over Mt Moosilauke. We actually had a pretty good view from the top and after hiking straight down a waterfall on the north side of the mountain we decided to call it a day. We set up camp and the ski opened up. We actually had to move the tent to a side hill as everything was flooding around us. On the way up the mountain we met the group of skiers we had met at Dartmouth who were doing a 24 hour run. Their support crew gave us blueberry pie. One of the crew was a pretty good skier from MN named Kati Bono.
On Aug 3 we hiked a super hard 8 miles up to a shelter and the rain started again so we decided to stay as did a number of other hikers who all thought the hiking was very hard.
Aug 4th saw us starting our hike with a bootless river crossing in Crocks. The river really came up. The highlight of the day was stopping for lunch at the first Appalachian Mountain Club hut and having soup for lunch. In the state of NH the AMC maintains the trails and has a series of huts along the trail, that I can discuss in length when I have more time.
Aug 5 saw another rainy day and was extremly disappointed after hiking up a number of very high mountains without the benefit of being able to see anything because of the clouds and fog. We stayed at the AMC Galehead Hut on a work for stay basis and our work was telling other guests about our "thru hike" experience. We were filmed by a lady who was going to post our presentation to U Tube under "mary's potpourri" or something like that. I have not found it yet.
On Aug 6 we left the nice warm and dry hut and hiked in the rain all morning. We had a stream crossing just before lunch and it was really roaring. There was a rope tied to a tree on one side and to a small bush on the other. To make a long story short, Patty just about went over a falls. If I could post a picture of this I would, but the library I am at does not allow uploads. She came out fine after getting a little wet up to here waist. After this we decided we were not having quite as much fun as we could have and decided we needed a vacation. We hiked out to Crawford Notch and stayed the next 3 nights at the Mountain House Cabins in Bartlet NH. It was a great break and we just read and watched a little TV to include the opening ceremonies of the olympics. The owner is a skier and grooms 40K of ski trails.
On Aug 9, we hiked up to Lake of the Clouds Hut just below mt Washington. We had a great sunset.
Aug 10th saw us climbing Mt Washington. We were on top by 7:30 am and had a beautiful clear view. We then hiked around the rest of the presidential range and had a very scarry afternoon while coming down off of Mt Madison in a thunder storm.
Aug 11th and more rain. We hiked down from a wet campsite to the Pinkham Notch Visitors center and decided we needed another day off or at least half a day. This area is way too tough to hike without having to be wet constantly. We just stop to wring out our socks every now and then.
Yesterday we hiked over the Wildcat mountains and today we came into Gorham to pick up our mail drop. We also met a guy who is trying to trail run the entire trail in 40 days. Check out www.whereskarl.com
I only have a half hour of computer time so I am going to sign off for now. Others waiting. If I can find another computer to get on I will add a few things and also some photo's.
Take care
Red Dog and Lucky Dog
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