7/26 A Nice Spot to Camp

14.8 hiked today, 1857.7 miles N, 316.3 miles left
Wildcat Mountain Ski Lift

This morning was better as I hoped. Sitting in the shelter was a bit like a nature program on tv with a bold red squirrel dashing within inches of me all morning. I made loud noises and banged things to try to scare him off but he persisted. I even threw a pebble towards him as a
threatning gesture and though I aimed to miss but he reacted by accidentally running right into the path of the rock. I felt bad but he seemed unhurt and even persisted bugging me for some time yet. Finally he went away and I think I know why as I got a look at a beatiful Pine Marren. He looked a lot like a weasel with dark brown fur and a cute face. Pine marrens eat red squirrel and I am sure he decided to avoid this.
The climb out of the shelter and back to the trail was much easier than I recall the descent being, I'm sure due to the good nights rest. However the trail was just as tricky with it really was sucking a lot out of me. Just 3.3 miles into my day I was at Madison Srings Hut where I took a long break. The Hut us unquie in the there is literally a spring right under it with water bubbling up through it's foundation on the downhill side. I spent about an hour relaxing getting my energy up for a side hike up Mt. Adams. This time I left the pack at the hut. I took the Star Lake Trail which is rockier and steeper than the usually Airline Trail to the top but I am glad I did. Without the pack on I was light on my feet and the trail passed around the edge of Star Lake. It was surronded in soft grasses with occasional boulders. The climb up went well but at the summit I did not linger as there were swams of all sorts of bugs. Not any that seemed to be biteing but still rather unplease!
nt. The descent was uneventful and I had a snack before pushing on.
The trail upcomming was another abusive segment like last night going up and over Mt. Madison before starting a long rocky descent. Finally I made it to treeline and the trail softened greatly to my delight. The views may not be as good but I have developed a great apprecation for dirt in the trail. The descent was long to Pinkham Notch. On the way through I passed the Osgood Tentsite provided by the USFS, not AMC. That seemed the place to be because I proceded to pass about 10 sobo hikers all headed into there for the night.
At the Notch I checked in the with AMC lodge there to see if there was a place to spend the night. The clerk was exceptionally helpful but unfourtunatly there was not much he could do for me. On the up side he let me use one of the office computers to check my email. Thank you Charles.
After that I made my way north which ment climbing out of the notch. It looked like an easy climb on paper but when I did it turned out to be very bad. The trail spent the first mile putzing around by a pond making the last 1.7 very steep hand over hand type terran.
On the way up I heared a party of women ahead of me. After a while I caught up with them, a trio of maybe 18-19 year old women who worked in the AMC lodge. They were planning on hiking through to the next next notch to spend the night before they got back up to go to work at 7 AM. I passed them easily and made it to the top of Wildcat Mountain E. On the top was a ski lift for the Wildcat Ski Mountain. It was just as I hoped providing me with a grassy place to throw down and the lift itself provided good coverage if it should rain.
I fired up the stove and started dinner enjoying the dimming sky and outline of the mountains in brillant hues. The three I had run into before finally caught up and were rather rambuncious. First they climbed over a barricade to get to the closed roof top observation deck on the lodge up top of the mountain. Then two of three looked around for a sign to steal and finally one literally ripped on off a doorframe before noiseiy heading north and leaveing me in peace.
Tonight is quiet and the ski slopes give a great vantage to see the towns below and cars moving on unseen roads. The outlines of the mountains are visable in the glow of moonlight and then temp is very nice.

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7/25 "Highly" Ugly

14.1 hiked today, 1845 miles N, 329 miles left
The Perch Shelter

Todays weather was about as good as one could hope climbing Mt. Washington. They brag they have someting like 3 days of warm weatjer a year and 311 days of rain. There was certainly mist in the air but it was patchy and the temps were in the high 50s-60s.
I am getting ahead of myself. The day started at Mizpah, a shelter whose name I can't help to think is Yiddish. I made a lot of friends during my talk last night and this morning and while walking the ridgeline I was talking to many of the same people.
When I climbed above treeline the winds were brisk cooling me quickly inspite of the 60 degrees temps.
The vision of the AT is a trail that follows the ridgeline of the Eastern mountains. Here however, where every summit holds among the best views of the entire AT, the trail frustratingly only goes over about half the summits chosing to get within half a mile of several without going up. What is even more frustrating is that there are several loop trails where one can climb the south face of the mountain and come down the north face and rejoin the AT a mile or so later. I, however, hiking as a purest can't bear to miss that mile of the AT so if I was to summit all the Presidental mountains near the AT I would end up having to hike along a side trail for .4-.5 miles and then turn around a go back along the same trail to pick up where I left off. This ended up causing to side trip 3.4 miles today as I peak bagged Mts Eisenhower, Monroe, Clay, and Jefferson.
The middle of the day I arrived at Lake of The Clouds Hut also know by hikers as Lake of the Crowds as it is the largest, busiest Hut. There I caught up with Big Muddy whom I had mistakenly waited for on Monroe summit as he hiked by. He had decided to spend the night at the hut and I decided to push on as there was still plenty of daylight left.
Still we climbed together Big Muddy sans pack.
The weather on top, as I mentioed earlier, was great. For the last week I have been able to spot Mt Washington easily. For one it is the tallest summmit around. Another reason is the top has numerous radio towers. Finally there is the black smoke rising up from it due to the caol fired cog train that runs up and down its side.
Mt. Washinton is home to the first cog railroad ever and it still runs the same way it used to, via coal fired steam engine.
With the combination of the attenias and the trail with its whistel the top of the mountain was a huge disappointment. It was covered in ugly buildings, noisey, packed with tourist, and sported over priced gifts shops and cafe. Very very tacky. It is a shame the most imposeing peak in NH has to be so tastless.
I took advantage of what I could. I sent a couple postcards from the post office up there. The clerk turned out to be exceptionly unpleasent almost snearing at me and making a note to give me 19 dollars in change in singles and quarters. Fortunatly the cafe operator was very farmilar with his habit of trying to weigh down hikers and was happy to trade my change up when I bought a couple egg sandwitchs. The clouds cleared up and I got some pretty pictures of the presidental range streatching to the north and south.
As this part of the trail is above the treeline it ran up and down over sharp rocky terran making it one of the toughest days of hiking yet. The rocks here are metamorphic which means they are sedamentary rocks that have been heated until they melt into a solid lump. As a result they are not very homogenious and there are small lumps of various minerals such as quartz, feldspar, mica, and so on. The rocks have wonderful appearances with shiny, matt, rough, smooth, hard and crumbbly details. However this also leads to uneven wear where some mineral components weather faster than others. As a result many of the surfaces have very very sharp crystaline protustions of some of the sharper and harder minerals. This makes brushing them a very uncomfortable thing to do. In my case I managed well not falling and never dragging anything across the sharp surface. Unfortunatly at one point I leaned my right calf into a rock for balance and I ended up with a row of small punctures from t!
he razor sharp protrssions of rock. Still I fared better the many who had bloody lacerations from brushing or falling in the rock.
On the way north from Washington I first came across Monticello Lawn so named, I assume, as it lies just shy of the summit of Mt. Jefferson. It was an inexplicable grassy medow amongst a massive area where only scrubby pines can normaly survive. It was nice to again see green after spending so much of the days in rocks. After that I took the .5 mile side trail to the summit of Mt. Jefferson where I was rewarded with yet another stuning view.
The rocks of the day being both difficult to cross and stressful along with the sun served to slow and tire me. I was hoping to push on to Madison Spring Hut tonight but I decided to take a 1.1 mile side trail to a shelter called The Perch. James had spoken highly of it yesterday and after spending so much time in the increasingly unpleasent AMC run trail system I welcomed the break to be in RMC territory. I can rant about why I hate the AMC for hours but for now I will hold my tounge.
The shelter is very nice and I am enjoying hitting the sack early. Looking through my journal here I always tried to make a note of the positive but I can not help but feel it is largely negative. That unfortunately reflects how I feel today anyhow. I left James behind and McGyver is ahead so I am certainly lonely. I think it is more than that. I am exhusted which always makes me a touch cranky. In the end though I think it is Katahdin Fever. I have gotten so close but the trail is slowing me down here. Also being away from my friends, family, and Dana is wearing me down. With so much happening at home; Dana's defence and our moving to Tucson; I can not help feeling a little detached from the trail and the home all at once. I just want to be done but I am torn as I know Maine is just around the corner and is said to be a place worth savoring. I resolve I will not miss my oppertunity and I am sure I will enjoy it but just as firmly I know my emotions will always remain confus!
ed. I hope I feel better tomorrow.

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My Last Resupply

Here is my last mail stop.

People who want to send or coordinate care packages, if you set the first line of your comments to "Tim don't read" I will erase the
comment before reading any more.

Again thank you to anyone sending or even thinking of sending a care package.

A couple hints.
Bubble wrap seems to be the trick for unbroken cookies if you are thinking of sending those.
Less is more, I have to carry everthing on my back so 10 cookies are much more appreceated that 30.

Mom and Dad, there should be a Chicago Backpackers MeetUp shirt you received. Can you please send it to this mail drop.

Dana, could you please send me my Rusty's shirt.

Finally, anyone who wants to get karma points, this is your last chance. As always "Thank You".

Below is the addressing information. Please send packages at least
7-10 days in advance. Also people seem to like my last name
"Laurence" written on all sides of the box.

--Grasshopper

Ashley Laurence
Exspected Arrival Date 8/13/07
C/O Shaw Lodging
17 Pleasent St.
P.O. Box 72
Monson, ME 04464

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7/24 Easy, Sunny, Senic

6.4 hiked today, 1835.4 miles N, 338.6 miles left
Mizpah Hut

Today started out well. I was warned about the Webster Cliffs Trail which climbs out of Crawford Notch and up to the summit of Mt. Webster. In the end the trail turned out to be well built and elevation gains very manageable. What was really great about it though was after the first 1500' the trail opened up every 100-200' to give a view over the Crawford Notch and up toward Mt. Webster and Jackson.
Again the weather turned out great. The predictions included chances of rain and to my delight none came.
Flyaway, who I first met in Harpers Ferry, also was climbing the cliffs and we chated at the various lookouts. He gave me some bad news, Ranger had thrown in the towel. He had tried to thru-hike seven times and this was the farthest north he had gotten. However after a couple days in the Whites he had enough. He so close to being done.
At the top of Webster I spent about 20 minutes chilling before going through a saddle and up to Mt. Jackson. In the saddle there were small but totally stunning medows of grasses and wild flowers ringed by minature spruce and fir. Simply breathtaking. These are the little surprises I hike for.
I spent a couple hours on top of Jackson waiting for James to catch up. A sobo hiker name Honey Mustard stopped there too and we spent the better part of an hour chatting trading our knowledge of the trail ahead. After he left I enjoyed the views and warmth of the sun. Finally however I was getting too much sun and risked getting burned.
It was an easy 1.7 miles to Mizpah hut where I settled in to jounral. Chips and "Vitamin I" arrived followed by James/Big Muddy a little while later. They all annouced they were done for the day when they arrived. I had more in me but decided to hang out with everyone else and have an easy day.
We all got work for stay. I got a great chore, I was the evening program. That consisted of me talking and answering questions for about and hour and half about hiking the AT. It was chore I rather enjoyed.
Also tonight I got a matress to sleep on. :)

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more photos

Okay everyone; here is everything from 6/10 to 6/26.... The next roll of film may take me a while to do; something funny about the dates; I will need to do some guessing on when they were taken. It has been fun seeing everything from the birds to the bees. I will continue to add posts as I can; but sorting through 300+ photos will go a little slower.

Update: Figured it out.... Photos should keep rolling in at a good pace!

7/23 Getting Better 2: Better Harder

7.7 hiked today, 1829 miles N, miles 345 left
Crawford Notch Campground in Harts Location, NH

The Stay at Zeeland Falls Hut has been great. Today we were treated to a very nice breakfast and more good conversation with the friendly Canadian couple. The trail was also very agreeable being the easiest we had seen in all the Whites. It was yet another beautiful. What more could ask for?
Well the sights could start just down the hill from the hut at Zealand Falls. It was a wonderful display of water flowing though retangular blocks of stone that taken together looked kind of like and art deco sculpture. From the hut we got on the Ethan Pond Trail. The remarkable thing about this trail was that it is built on a old logging railroad bed. As a result it was a dream to walk on and Big Muddy and I spent most of our time admeiring the view. There was a pond to our left in a region of blocky boulders with tanic yellow/brown water. We could see Zealand Mountain and Franconia Ridge too.
We passed Throu Falls and there was another sight to be seen. The river alternated between wide flat rock and bolder fields. The water in turn went from smooth wide sheets to rapid slots of turbulance.
We took a luch break at Ethan Pond which was a worthy break as the pond was lovely as well as the frog swiming near its shore.
After that it was a easy walk the rest of the way to the road by 1PM.
The campground where we are spending the night is 3 miles off trail and took us about an hour to get there.
While we waited for our hitch nearly 10 southbounders passed through. It looks like the rush has started back up!
One last of good news, I am pleased to annouce that Dana sucessfuly defended her disertation. She is now a Dr!

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7/22 Getting Better

14.6 hiked today, 1821.3 miles N, 352.7 miles left
Zealand Falls Hut

I got up early today as I had to clear out before the Croo set the tables for the breakfast rush. During breakfast a lot happened. They first demostrated how to fold the blankets that are on each bunk. However they did this as a short play in the style of Star Wars. Luke defeats Vader by folding his blanket correctly and packing out his trash. Then it turns out the hutmasters birthday was today so the other Croo members baked her a cake....and fed it to her face while she was busy addressing the guests. Fortunately they had baked two and celibrated later. After all the guest were done eating I got all I could eat of the pancakes and oatmeal.
I had been having a good converation with a biochemist named Neal last night but he this morning he wouldn't stop. In the end I managed to break myself free at 9 AM and started the 1 mile 1000' climb up the mountain. It was an easy and senic mile. On the way I could observe the changes in the trees and plants. Behind me I was treated lto a beatiful view of Greenleaf Pond and Cannon Mountain.
Once back up on the ridge line I was again treated to clear skyes and beautiful horizon of mountains. The ridge continued to undulate for a while before going through a deep gap before Garfield Mountain. On the downhill I came across a bold chipmonk who was bounceing around right next to me almost poseing for me. I took advantage of it to take many cute pictures. Suddenly while I was taking pictures he jumped onto my leg and then jumped off. I jumped in shock of being attacked by a chipmonk but it didn't hurt me. At the botom of the gap was a small pond, Garfield Pond. There was a small overgrown trail to the shore and I managed to push myself through dense trees and found some rocks on the marshy shore to relax on as I took a break. Back on the trail and I realized I was moving slower than I had anticipated. This was a problem becase I agreed to meet James at the Galehead Hut but by the time I would get there it would be too late to make it to the next campsite or hut. Fina!
lly I got to Galehead a little before 3. James had left a note for me telling me he had already set off for Zealand Hut 7 miles away. I feared I was not going to be able to make it there before dark but when talking with the croo I found out that the next patch of trail much easier. Right they were as I made it in a little less than 3 hours. I didn't have to skimp on the views though. Along the way taking a few minutes to savor the tops of Garfield Mnt, South Twin Peak, and taking the side trail to Zeacliff outlook. All of these were stunning making this one of the most senic days thus far on the trail. The only thing I skipped was Bond Cliffs which I had been hearing loads about from people who had been there but it was over a mile off trail and I wanted to make it to Zealand before dark.
Finally at Zealand I caught up with James. It turns out this was the perfect night to be at hut as there were only two guest in a building for 38. As a result we got a private bunk room. The only downside was my chore was sifting the compost heap which was a very stinky job and I got several blackfly bites. Still it was an awesome night and again I was feed very well. This night they had lots of left over food in the forms of a very tastey salad, falafal, coscos, vegi sushi, and roasted tempeh.
The guest were a very friendly Canadian couple who I enjoyed talking with until bed time.
Today was a blissful day, one of the best yet with the views, pond, trees, people, food, and weather all contributing.

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