START LOCATION: Ore Hill Shelter
FINISH LOCATION: Beaver Brook Shelter
TODAY'S MILEAGE: 15.2
TRIP MILEAGE: 1,788.5
MILES TO GO: 390.6
I'll start today's post by explaining my temporary departure from the trail I've been hinting at. Tomorrow... Tuesday, July 27, I'll be getting off the trail at Kinsman Notch in the White Mountains. I'm heading west for a road trip chock full of various activities. Thursday, July 29, I fly to Boulder, CO to attend my friend Gene's bachelor party. After that, I have a rental car reserved in Denver where I will be making a 5 day trek to Portland, OR where I will be attending my friends Amber and Nick's wedding on August 7. During the trek to Oregon I plan to stop in a national park, probably Yellowstone, to do some day hiking. I also want to check out Multnomah Falls in Oregon. The west coast tour continues south for an evening in San Francisco where I will see Gene again and his fiancée Sarah on August 8 or 9. I'm then cruising down the Pacific Coast Highway and/or the 101 freeway to my west coast home in Huntington Beach where I will meet my new nephew, Connor, born July 17. There I'll see my Mom, my sister, my brother-in-law and other family and friends. After a few days there, I'm heading to Flagstaff, AZ to my friends Steph and Jay's wedding on August 14. Then, I head back to the OC where I will catch my flight back to Boston. If all goes well, I'll be back on the trail Tuesday, August 17. I know... it's nuts, but I'm ready for it and so excited about it. The very unfortunate thing about all this is that Smokestack and all my other good hiker friends will be continuing on and nearly completing their thru-hikes while I'm away. Anyway, this background info will give you some perspective on the significance of today's hike.
It was an awesome night last night... Big moon, clear sky, cool and breezy. I love the breezy part... It dries out the sweaty hiking clothes. Many of the shelterers were out early and Smoke and I kicked it with Bumper and Breeze as the late departure crew. But late this morning was early for us... On the trail at ten after 8. We blew through the first 7 miles to Oliverian Brook. Our guidebooks said we'd have to ford this river, but it was an easy rock hop. What wasn't easy was the next 5 miles. Having entered the White Mountain National Forest, we would tackle our first major climb in it... Mt. Moosilauke at elevation 4,800'. From the brook, this was a 3,800' climb, our single biggest yet on the northbound AT. It would also mark the first 4,000' peak I've summitted since The Priest in Virginia on May 23... 950 miles ago.
We spent an hour at the brook in the warm 75 degree sunshine. It was about 75 degrees out and we dried various pieces of hiking apparel while we ate a big lunch and hydrated up. Around 1:15 we started our push up Moosilauke. We climbed about 900' through woods, confusing road walking and meadows before running into some cool southbounders named Stump and Super Guide. We exchanged trail info and stories with them for awhile and continued up around 2:30. The hike was steep but relatively smooth up. I took it very slowly, as I really wanted to enjoy my last full day of AT hiking for awhile. The climb went by quickly and before we knew it, we were approaching treeline at 4,500'. The winds were really starting to pick up and the temperature was dropping with each step. Smoke and I donned our windbreakers, got above the trees and as the summit unfolded before us the wind came unleashed. The last 300' to the summit found us leaning into the wind sideways as it cut perpendicular to the trail. The winds were estimated by one of our sailing-enthusiast thru-hikers, Popeye, to be about 50 miles per hour. There was no doubt.
Smoke and I hooted and hollered our excitement as we finally began what we've been waiting so long to experience... The White Mountains. The grandeur of the scenery, the magnitude of the climb, the ferocity of the weather and the uniqueness of the rocky terrain made the excitement so compelling. As I approached the peak and watched Smoke summit himself, I started feeling the emotions well up. This was our last summit we'd experience together. This was our last full day of hiking. Tonight would be our last camp time spent goofing off. Smoke has become such a good friend and complementary hiking partner that I will miss his company greatly when I return to the AT in mid-August. It won't be the same without him. Sure, I've spent lots of time on this trail hiking solo since I've met him back in Tennessee, but even when he was off-trail, we'd stay in touch and I knew I'd see him soon. But, this time, it's for good. Its a real bummer for me, and I was feeling it big time this afternoon on Moosilauke.
We made our way down to Beaver Brook Shelter, which at 3,650' has a breathtaking view of the Presidential Range. Theres no great tent or hammock spots, so Smoke and I are doing the rare sheltering gig. The winds are howling tonight but, it's generally clear weather. From my sleeping bag here I can see Mt. Washington reaching into the clouds. It's a great scene to behold before I take this long break.
-natedog
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