|
|
Hiking
the Appalachian Trail
|
|
|
Eleventh
Report |
I am enjoying the hike through the White Mountains. Like I said before, Vermont is beautiful and I love every minute of it.
We came to Zealand Falls Hut and there was only one opening and three of us so we drew high card for the opening. The nine of hearts won me a place to work for stay.
You would not think of the nine of hearts being a high card but it was high enough to get me a bed for the night. The hut master for Zealand Falls is a guy name Jay. He is 25, my age and he was really cool. The rest of the guys there were awesome too.
The next day I caught up with Frito and Hoagie because they only got a couple of miles down the trail to camp out. They were below tree line so it was not so bad.
The next hut - - all these huts are like 8 to 10 miles apart - - so the next one was Mizpah Spring. We got work for stay there also. This is really the only way to go. You have to clean dishes and sweep floors but you don't have to pay to stay in the hut, and for someone like me who planned on being on the trail 5 months and is now at 7 months, it is a good deal. I get out of the cold and the hut master get help with the paying hikers.
We met up with a guy who is a friend of Frito's. He is from Texas. He started in Harpers Ferry and was hiking to Mt. Washington. His name is Justin Stewart, trail name Finger. He plays guitar in a band in Texas. He carries a guitar in his backpack and he jams for all the hikers. Him and another hiker put on one heck of a jam that night. It was really cool.
We went on to Lakes of the Clouds Hut, which is right before Mt. Washington. They don't normally turn down hikers because the weather is usually pretty bad. It gets down right cold at night. We got work for stay there as well. Like I said work for stay usually means breaking down tables, doing kitchen duties and the like. It really is not that bad.
The next day we hiked up Mt. Washington. The day started out pretty bad but then the weather improved. Anyone who has been at the top of Mt. Washington knows that the weather up there can be brutal to say the least. We were hanging out in the lodge, which was so crowded, it felt like a parking lot. We were watching the old Cog Rail Train that brings tourists who do not want to drive to the top. They still use this old coal burning train. I can't believe they let it pollute the air the way it does. I hear it is allowed due to a grandfather clause because it is such an old train.
Anyway the weather broke and it turned out to be a beautiful day. We said goodbye to Finger and his girlfriend Jill who had hiked the White Mountains with us. They got off the trail at Mt. Washington.
Then we went to Madison Springs Hut. This was probably the coolest hut because we really made some good friends there. It was funny because we got there around 4:30 and it was starting to get cold and windy. We came in and they already had two thru hikers to work for stay and we were afraid that this would be our first time that we would not be able to work for stay and would have to "rough it". I was talking to a guy named Moses, who is 76 years old. He is really wonderful. As I was talking to him, Frito and Hoagie went up to see if we could get work for stay. The hut master told them no. When they came back and told us we started looking at our pocket companion (Appalachian Trail Data Book 2000) and the nearest campsite was over a mile away. I don't know what came over me, I just decided to take things into my own hands and told the guys to wait and I would be right back.
I went up, and I guess I just had to work some "magic" but we ended up staying there two days. I went up and talked to them and presented the situation to them. I told them that we were not looking for food, we were willing to work for stay just to be able to sleep under the picnic tables inside the hut. Like I said, they are just doing their job, but they are just kids, 19 to 25 years old so I just worked the magic. For some of them it was the last day of the season so they were leaving the next day. When we got up we noticed that there were only two of left and they were talking about how they would be short handed. We offered to stay and help them as long as they still offered to take in thru hikers if they come along. We did not want to be greedy with space and made sure that others would have a place to stay. They then told us that at that point we were more than thru hikers, we were friends. We had a great time. The hut manager was named Biscuit. Others in the hut were Houser, Heat, Benji, Amy and Cathleen. We even stayed another night. That is how good we got along with them. We even got to eat that night. They had extra food and welcomed us to the table.
We hiked on to Pinkham Notch where we found out that Houser, Amy and Benji had bought us a pizza. We didn't get the pizza because we did not show up till the following day, but they gave it to some other thru hikers. We did get to enjoy an all you can eat lunch in place of the pizza. Then we phoned this place called Dodge Camp. It's just a regular campground that lets hikers work for stay. It was the end of the season so they were not able to feed us but they did have room for us to stay. They had laundry facilities and showers. We took advantage of that!
Of course going into the White's I had 5 days of food and it took us 10 days to get thru the White's because we went hut to hut to hut. I can't believe I was stressing the White's so much. I have always tried to look at this hike a good and I have never been scared of anything or should I say that I have always faced my fears.
From Pinkham Notch we went to Carter Notch Hut. This is the last hut. They did not provide food. It was just a place to sleep. The provided hot chocolate and a bed. We did get work for stay. There were two other hikers there and Dean caught up with us. There were four of us now, me, Frito, Hoagie and Dean. We met these brothers, Poet and High Low. We all got there at the same time. We drew cards to work for stay and our foursome won! Poet had to get back to school so he hiked on. Since he left, we have been hanging out with High Low. His name is Matt and he is from Ohio.
Right now I am in Beantown. We have taken about four days off. I stayed at 7 of the 8 huts in the Whites. We ate at all of them. I managed to get through the White Mountains with no money. I still have the 36 cents in my pocket that I had when I started. I got all stressed out for nothing. I think I even gained weight!
From Carter Notch, after a couple of days hiking we got to Gorham, New Hampshire. We ran into the cashier form Pinkham Notch. Her name is Jill and she invited us to a party of all things. She said there would be beer, food, and a Jacuzzi. It was nice to rest a tired hikers body in a warm Jacuzzi.
The next day went to this all you can eat Chinese place. Me met this woman named Sunny. She had just finished hiking the trail. She had made it to Katahdin, bought a car and was just coming back down to all the towns giving trail magic. She just finished a two-year hike. She was wonderful. From the Chinese place, she ran us back up to where we got on the trail. We did not hike that day. We just rested after our big lunch. The next mornings she brought us coffee and donuts. Just a little trail magic.
Oh - I saw a Moose. Right when I got to Maine. I couldn't believe it. After 14 states and this being the last one. It was cool. The sign said Springer Mountain, Georgia 1,877 miles. We only had 288 miles to go and there was this Moose!
The hike has been great! I am looking forward to climbing Mt. Katahdin around the first week of October.
Talk to you soon.
If you would like to sponsor Perry's quest to hike the Appalachian Trail, please click here