Day #52-And then there were tacos; Miles hiked: 17.8

For the Whites, today was a huge day. But I needed to make it to Lincoln to meet one of my dearest friends, Esther. So off Hard Hat and I went at the break of dawn.

Before 7 am, I had already descended 2000 ft in 1.5 miles down a cascading waterfall. Treachery in the morning? Bring it on!After running into Ms. Janet and Half Slow in the parking lot at the bottom of the waterfall, it was off for 16 more miles of slow-going White Mtn terrain. For the second day in a row, I stepped knee deep in a bog before 9 am. It’s becoming a tradition.

After a crazy steep climb up and over the two Kinsman’s, I can safely say I’ve checked off my 4th 4K peak in New England.The final attraction of the day when my body was already quite weary was Lonesome Lake Hut where I almost crashed. However, there were both friends and tacos waiting in Lincoln, so off I went down the mountain once more. That ridge in the background is where we’re headed tomorrow–gonna be a blast!

Finally, enjoy this picture of the tree line on Moosilauke provided by Hard Hat.

Day #51-Moosing around on Moosilauke; Miles hiked: 8.0

Today was the official beginning of my journey through the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Yesterday’s rain was still hanging on, so I spent the morning lingering at Hikers Welcome while it finished raining.Around lunchtime, Hard Hat and I started up the first climb of the Whites-a healthy 3800 ft climb in about 3 miles. While the rain had mainly stopped, it was still pretty cloudy. Amazingly, right as we summited, it cleared off for a few minutes and we got good views! These two pictures were taken about 1 minute apart to show how quickly things change up here:This is my obligatory summit picture:After hanging out for a little bit (it was cold!), we ventured on down to a shelter and called it a night early with a great view of the peaks to come.

Day #50-Mountains and downpours and hostels, oh my!; Miles hiked: 19.9

Today was the second big day in our march towards the Whites and good weather. For the first time on my whole hike, I got to walk all day with another hiker-my friend Hard Hat. It was actually super nice to have company through 20 soggy miles.

Before the rain started, we got a few views of Smarts Mtn from atop Mt Cube.It was also lunch time so we decided to eat on the summit. When it started raining during lunch, I didn’t want soggy bagels and I also didn’t want to keep walking. With that, up went my tarp and Hard Hat and I escaped the rain and continued our eating. No pictures from the rest of the day because of bad phone weather, but I can tell you it was 13 miles of constant rain and some mountains. Tonight I’m back at an AT classic-Hikers Welcome Hostel. For those of you who have hiked before, they built a new bunk house and have sheets now! What an amazing upgrade!

Day #49-Get Smarts; Miles hiked: 23.4

Today was a long haul out of Hanover, but after a sleepless night at the frat it was time to get back into the woods. There are about 44 miles between here and the start of the Whites and a window of good weather starting Sunday. With that in mind, Crush and I decided to push miles for good weather in the Whites.

Check out my lunch spot on Moose Mtn. It might be hard to pick out, but the bare summits of some of the Whites are visible. Here I also met back up with some other hikers I haven’t seen in quite awhile-Melt Down, Bean, and Revenant.The rough part of my day came when it was time to climb a massive mountain right around dinner time. My body staged a rebellion when I was pushing it up a hill instead of feeding it, so I had my dinner on the way up.I made it just in time to catch the last of the sunset at the Smarts Mtn fire tower. The stars are out now, but more rain and storms are headed our way tomorrow!

Day #48-A Dartmouth day; Miles hiked: 9.6

Today was a short walk out of Vermont and and a feeding frenzy at Dartmouth. We took a slow morning at the Hart’s place, the trail angels who graciously hosted us in their yard last night. She even made us breakfast!Not even 10 miles later, we crossed the border and entered the great state of New Hampshire-famous for the hardest and most beautiful stretch of mountains on the whole trail.But first, it was time to experience Hanover like a college student! I was blessed by another UMC connection that led to an all you can eat buffet at the Dartmouth dining hall. I just graduated a few months ago, and had an absolute blast destroying a dining hall with zero inhibitions this time. Thank you to Don for the meal and the company! This afternoon we resupplied and explored Hanover. Jack has also scored some unique housing-the couch at his old fraternity house. With that, I bid thee goodnight from academia.

Day #47-Farmland rollercoaster; Miles hiked: 19.8

Wow, today was a roller coaster! We didn’t get to camp until almost 11 pm last night because we got distracted by the Inn, but this morning the views at our campsite were amazing! We stayed at a private cabin that is open to thru hikers with a ladder to a viewing platform on top. I slept on the porch to not make too much noise when we came in and watched the sunrise this morning.The hiking today was deceivingly challenging with a roller coaster worth of abrupt ups and downs. This was kind of rough on both body and spirit, but there were plenty of wildflowers to see in the fields.I ate my body weight in both raspberries and blackberries!

The final excitement of the day was “the back porch.” A couple that hiked the trail in 2016 has converted their porch into a hiker haven with homemade ice cream sandwiches for sale. What a treat!Tonight we’re crashing in a lady’s back yard who also cares for hikers. New Hampshire tomorrow!

Day #46-Headed east; Miles hiked: 17.3

Today was full of distractions, but they were all culinary in nature! I had breakfast with the other hikers at the Yellow Deli this morning and had a blast using their industrial dishwasher-wish we had one of those at home!

After only 2 miles of hiking (first picture is of hikers that don’t want to move after filling up on farm fresh omelettes), we took a 1/2 mile detour to the Inn at the Long Trail. This hiker favorite has an Irish pub where we burned a solid 3 hours enjoying the atmosphere.A few miles later, I passed the first big waterfall of my hike so far. There are a plenty of these in the South, but this was my first glimpse of one that wasn’t bone dry.Today we left the Long Trail behind and started heading east to New Hampshire. The split is called Maine Junction for obvious reasons.At Maine Junction, one of my hiking friends who is walking the Long Trail decided to continue on with me and my friend Crush to revisit Dartmouth, his alma mater. Here is Jack climbing down a ladder on a steep rock:Looking forward to hanging out with Jack and Crush for the next few days!

Day #45-Up and over the top of Vermont; Miles hiked: 16.7

Today was my last full day on the Long Trail before the AT makes a break for Nee Hampshire. I’m also passing a SOBO bubble which has been pretty fun; there’s something really special about passing people out doing the same thing in the opposite direction. I’m taking names so I can remember if I ever end up with them again on the flop section of my flip flop.

As for my NOBO friends, today was a big day as we are all within 500 miles of Katahdin now. For me, this means 1,524 miles to go, but for them it means real life is incredibly close to starting again. Please pray as there is plenty of anxiety for many about going back and having to face all of the things we get to leave behind on the trail. I also climbed over Vermont’s biggest peak and a popular ski area, Killington Peak.For the evening, I stayed at a famous hostel in Rutland, VT. It’s run by the Twelve Tribes spiritual community, a Christian spin-off that believes in living in total community with one another. Their hostel, the Yellow Deli, has been taking in hikers for years. While the organization is considered by many to be a cult, I sure did enjoy getting to meet their members and learn about their way of life.

Ps-anyone know what plant this is?

Day #44-The hiking family is real; Miles hiked: 18.6

Today the sun finally came out! However, Vermud still lives up to its name and my feet were still just as wet.

Today I caught up with quite a few of my hiking friends. For anyone that thinks that hiking the AT is about a solo journey through the wilderness, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Just this morning, I found Half Slow in his camper again, sat down, and started quite a congregation in the parking lot.Notice we could definitely use some more chicks out here–ladies, apply for the 2019 chaplaincy!

Later in the morning, I got to stop by Little Rock Pond and take a quick dip in the crystal clear water. Lunch was spent with yet another group of hikers at White Rocks Junction where rumor has it that forest gnomes have built all of these cairns (piles of rocks).My feed did finally stage a blister rebellion today after 7 days in wet socks, but I’m hoping drying them out and some more sunshine will help them recover. More adventures to come!Ps-passed the Rutland Airport, an interesting sight for sure.

Day #43-Storm dodging and hiker hangouts; Miles hiked: 14.8

Today, the weather forecast was calling for severe thunderstorms and hail. I do not really want to walk in that kind of weather, so some of my hiker buddies and I made a plan to miss out.

But first, foreshadowing for my after-trail employment. I’ve gotten a job as a ski instructor for the winter at a mountain in Utah, but I spent this morning climbing over Bromley Mtn in Vermont!After Bromley, it was time to start cranking miles to get ahead of the hail. Check out this thunder cell building while I ate lunch: The severe weather did show up and I just made it into a shelter before it got really bad. I put down my bag and took a nap while a dozen other hikers rolled in who had gotten caught in the weather.

After the first storm, I set off with and got to learn about my new friend Crush. We passed over Baker Peak before it started rumbling again.Even though I was under my mileage goal for the day, I decided to duck into a shelter just in time to avoid the second storm. It kept going all night long, but all is well.