Pinkham Notch – Joe Dodge Lodge – Day 27 -6mi

We woke up with aching muscles this morning. It was hard to lay down and lie still in our sleeping bags as our muscles were aching so much last night. It felt as if we had restless legs. They were still in the mode of walking, climbing up and down the rocks on Osgood Ridge. The pain was especially in the soles of our feet and in our knee caps. The descent was harsh and unforgiving. We were sore and yet, we had to get out of bed, put on our clothes, go get water, get food from the bear box to make breakfast and take down our tent.

Every single step was PAINFUL. Nevertheless, we still had to hike down the mountain for 4 miles to get to Pinkham Notch. After leaving the campsite, we entered the Great Gulf Wilderness area – the only area in New England where there is no white blaze nor cairn to lead us on the right trail. Hikers follow the natural terrain of the path and their instinct. Finding our way reminded me that by choosing to camp the night before was the best option: finding the way was at times, tricky. “Bri” had a hard time going down as every step was excruciating – her knees were terribly painful (from the days before in the White mountains). We finally arrived in Pinkham Notch at noon. We had soup and veggie mushroom burgers for lunch. We looked at different options for lodging. Wild Flower & Ranger who were still with us – they decided to find a hostel in Gorham while the children & I chose to go to the hostel owned by “Marni”. Marni is new in the business of owning a hostel and being part of the community of hiking but she has done a great job at making herself known and liked in the community. A lot of hikers referred her to us when it came to finding a hostel with clean sheets, a shower, a restful place with great breakfast. I have to say – she was all of that and more to some of us – she is a confidant and she acts like a “mother goose,” looking out for her guest hikers. She has been quite an amazing and caring host! So, this is how we ended our day: by getting a shuttle to the White Mountain Hostel & Lodge in Sherburne, NH whose property is right on the trail, 2 miles East of Gorham. A great place to rest and meet some wonderful people…

 

Osgood Campsite – Day 26 – 11mi

I barely slept – anticipating the difficult hike the next day.
Woke up at 4:55am to watch the sunrise over the mountains of the Presidential range. It was peaceful and beautiful! Slept a little.
Started the day @5:30am. Prepared my bag. Woke up the kids @ 6:30am. Went to wake up Ranger & Wild Flower in the ‘dungeon’. I promised them I would check on them since they don’t have an alarm clock or a phone.

Breakfast @7am sharp. Pancakes and eggs. We were the first ones out of the room to get ready. Brought cinnamon buns to the girls. I discreetly asked the staff to charge my phone. They exceptionally charged it b/c I had a family on a long hiking day – 12 hour hike!
Weather report on the summits: Blue and clear sky – no clouds – 110-mile visibility. Perfect weather!
We started @7:30am by climbing the Westside trail of Mount Washington. Was windy and in the shade on the west side! Took pix of the sign. Most dangerous weather alert! Half way on the trail, we met Quaker. He was lost on the Westside trail. He thought he was on the AT but we had to redirect him – he needed to go over Mount Washington. He turned around and went up the mountain. I had decided not to go on Mt Washington that morning to save time. Turned out to be a great decision! Went on to Mt Clay, Mt Jefferson ( Marc-Aurele fell around the “6 husbands”trail, which is a sharp steep climb down the ravine). His head fell on a rock with   the heaviness of his pack. I was afraid of a possible concussion. I kept on talking to him to see if he seemed ok. He responded well. It was a long hike. Few people on the trail. Beautiful view! Mt Adams and view of Madison Springs Hut. Stopped there for late lunch @2pm. Thai rice soup! Bri took some time to treat her bad blisters before the next hard climb. Shared some sausages with Jeff the baker. Long discussion with WF and R too. Went back on the trail @3pm. The hut is situated at the bottom of Mt Madison. Right after the hut, we started the steep and rocky climb – .5mi to the Summit – It took us 45minutes. Beautiful but windy at the top . Top of Mt Madison is a bit scary! Rocks everywhere. It was hard to stand on top. I wanted to hold on to Raccoon but he kept on climbing. As soon as we reached the summit, we took a picture and started our descent. 3 mi of rocks – giant boulders. Very hard on our knees. We constantly have to pay attention – every detail counts: where we put our feet, what we step on, where our hiking poles land…It is not the time to keep our pole straps on because if we fall and our poles get stuck into the rocks, it could cause our fall. After Mt Madison, the ridge is known as Osgood ridge, it is well exposed on each side. The view is majestic but The ravine is scary to see. The length of the ridge is about 2mi. but it takes a very long time to go down on those big rocks. We were down the ridge by 7pm and arrived at Osgood Campsite by 7:30pm. I had a difficult decision to make: either we keep on going to Pinkham Notch / Joe Dodge* Lodge where we had  a nice bunk bed waiting for us OR we could tent at the campsite for the night. It was hard to decide for 2 reasons (Bri and Spoons wanted to go on and sleep in a bed AND I told Patrice that if he does not hear from us by 10pm, he should call a rescue team so I could not leave him without any communication that we were ok ( I did not take into account that maybe I would not have any connection once we were below treeline and deep into the woods – it was a bit naïve of me to give a deadline but I was afraid that if something would happen I would not be able to contact anyone)).

I knew we were all exhausted: I really wanted to push to Pinkham but there were 2 things that held me: we were 1 hour away from night time and we were entering the Great Gulf Wilderness where there are no white blazes in this section of the trail (for political reasons as always – the Great Gulf Wilderness is its own entity and therefore, is not managed by the AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club)). We met 2 hikers that afternoon who got lost in this section. I felt that moving on was taking a big risk of getting lost in the dark. I tried to call Patrice but could not get connection although my phone had still 70%battery. Thankfully, Wild Flower had 3% left phone battery but since she had Verizon, she was able to send a text message to Patrice (all is OK). I will later find out, especially in Maine that, although connection is limited, Verizon is the best phone carrier to have. Anyway, we got to the Campsite – there was a sign that said: please put your food in the bear box provided otherwise you could be fined $5,000. This campsite had had several bear encounters these past 2 years. I knew then we made the right decision. Not only we could have been lost in the Great Gulf wilderness, but we probably would have had to camp there before dark and could have been in the company of bears…

*Joe Dodge is an institution in The White Mountains. He is known as “the father of the Appalachian Mountains Club’s hut system”.

Lakes of the Clouds Hut – Day 25 – 10.1mi

The Croo prepared a little graduation ceremony for Raccoon. He earned the title of Junior Naturalist by completing the hut activity book about the hut’s and AMC’s history. Raccoon was proud!

The weather report this morning was not quite reassuring once again: in and out of clouds and a chance of thunderstorms. We left the hut around 8:30am. We met with Wild Flower and Ranger and started the hike together. We hiked along the ridge crossing over Mt Eisenhower and Mt Monroe. There were some menacing dark clouds but we made it to the hut in 4 hours before the rain. We were thankful! The ridge is so exposed above the treeline that if there are any signs of thunderstorms and lightning, we need to retreat and go below the treeline. Needless to say: sometimes it takes a couple of hours to go down in bad weather…

We settled in a room of 15 bunk beds at the hut. We paid $2 for our bowl of soup for lunch (pea soup). We met Jeff, baker from King Arthur Flour Bakery in Norwich, VT. He shared his lunch with us: rye bread, a piece of “tome” cheese and some slices of chorizo. The boys loved the sausages especially. Jeff took some time off from the bakery to come and hike in the Whites for 10 days.

It was a cold and windy afternoon. I put my shoes and socks outside hoping the sun’s rays would warm them up. We left around 3:30pm and slack packed to Mount Washington : a 2mi hike in the rocks. It is much easier to do without a 40lbs backpack on the back! It took us 45 minutes to get there from the hut. The climb is known to be dangerous especially in bad weather.

We finally made it. We were on the top of the world at 6288ft. It was even colder and windier there! Few people were actually there due to the weather and the later hour in the day. We were trying to do as much as we could and cover the whole lookout. I did not want to stay long. I know too well that the weather changes quickly and going back on the rocks could be treacherous in bad condition. I kept on watching the sky and looking at the clouds. We took some pictures of the beautiful view around the mountain. There was some civilization there with a snack bar on top. Although Mt Washington is the tallest mountain on the East coast, it is also accessible by the auto road. It has a parking lot, an overlook, a restaurant and a snack bar. I was more interested in getting the weather report from the ranger and getting snacks there. The ranger said the weather seemed to clear up for a beautiful clear sky the next day.

We took tons of pictures and went back down the mountain, the same way we went up. Back at the hut, we were ready for a hiker’s dinner. We had a beef or corn stew, house salad, Anamade bread, Mexican fajitas with beans and ice cream with brownie. We told our next day plan to hike the Presidential range to one of the day hikers who was sitting at our table. He looked at us and then to Raccoon and said: no way you’ll make it! He then turn to another hiker and said: “do you see this family – there is no way they will be able to handle the hike through the Presidential Range in one day – I do it in 2 days”. The through hiker, whose trail name is “Quaker” turned discreetly to Bri and whispered to her: ” you know you can do anything as long as you put your mind to it”. Quaker is a Vietnam veteran who has been hiking the A.T. He is in his 80’s and has been diagnosed with TBI. He is a very sweet man – he often gets lost on the trail. Jeff whom we met earlier in the day does some “work for stay” for him which means Jeff works at the hut for Quaker to be able to sleep inside between tables so he has a warm place to stay for the night. Neat way to help other hikers!  Work for stay is very limited in the huts and not available for everyone. Wild Flower and Ranger are staying in “the dungeon” – the emergency shelter below the foundations of the hut. It is open all year round and serves as a place to retreat for hikers in case of bad weather in the winter time (as all the huts close for the season). It is cold and dark but a better place than trying to tent in the area! We ended the day by watching the beautiful sunset.

 

Mizpah Spring Hut – Day 24 – 6.5mi

We left the hut after a copious breakfast (pancakes, oatmeal, bacon, orange juice and coffee). We hiked down to the valley and waited for a shuttle to take us to Crawford Notch. It was pouring rain! We took refuge at the park ranger’s station. I asked the ranger what weather we should expect on the ridge this afternoon and for the rest of the week. In and out clouds, chance of thunderstorms. My idea was in good weather, I wanted to hike up to the ridge via Mt Webster, Mt Jackson and on to Mizpah Spring Hut. But in case of bad weather, we needed to hike directly to the hut via the Crawford Path (the oldest and most continuous trail on the A.T). After about an hour of shuttling, we got to the AMC Highland Center. We unloaded our backpacks under the rain. It happened that my phone fell while I was unloading the bags from the shuttle and broke the screen. I was miserable!

We stayed at the center for lunch and waited out the rain. We had a bowl of soup. It was a cold and rainy day! We decided there was no way the ridge could be clearer and better so we hiked to the hut directly. We hiked 6 miles up an easy trail.

Later that afternoon, I heard from other hikers we met. The Flip Flop Honeymooners were stuck on top of Mt Washington with 80mph wind and hail. Wild Flower and Ranger had a hard time hiking the ridge between Mt Webster and Mt Jackson. They could barely seem the cairns on the ridge. The girls had the scare of their life. We joined them at the hut where we were all going that night. Although I was sad we had to skip the Webster trail, I knew it was a good decision!

We arrived at the hut for dinner. We got lucky to have a room for us (5 bunk beds). We had dinner. I kept asking questions about the weather: it was troubling to see clouds and chance of thunderstorms on the weather report because we did not have any other way than hiking on the ridge for the next 2 to 3 days. Chance of thunderstorms is an easy answer from the weather crew at Mt Washington Observatory ( the place where all the weather reports are observed and dispatched to the huts). At dinner, we met another family who came from Hanover for a 2 day hike in the Whites. The father was a volunteer for one of the rescue teams. Interesting conversation! I asked him if the fact that nowadays hikers having more and more satellite phones like Spot or Acr helped to lessen the rescues on the mountains. He said it does not make a difference in the need to go and find them. They usually track them with their last pin location on their phone.

We did not spend much time after dinner. I wanted us to rest for an early rise and hike to our next destination.

Lonesome Lake Hut – Day 23 – 7.9mi

We are hiking to our first reserved hut in the Whites today. It is pretty exciting! Kids are excited and I am really impatient to get there! We have a smooth hike up to Lonesome Lake about 3mi from Franconia Notch. Another beautiful day in the Whites! It is an easy climb going up – there stands a “lonesome” lake in the middle of the boreal forest in between Kinsman peak and Cannon Mountain. A breathtaking view!

We get to the hut around 3:30pm. We get into our quarters, leave our packs and go out for another climb: Cannon Mountain. It is not on the  Appalachian Trail but it was a short trail we could hike and come back in time for dinner at 6pm.

The hike to Cannon was actually very hard and unexpectedly steep. We really had to climb with our hands. We went on The Kinsman Ridge Trail and The South Side Trail of Cannon Mountain. I was concerned for Raccoon – we were alone on this trail that day and we did not tell anyone at the hut where we were going. It did take us 2 hours and a half to go up and come back to the hut. The boys ran to make sure they would be on time for lasagna. They were excited to get a warm meal.

The hut crew (“croo”) was welcoming and quite funny. The dinner was a hiker’s dinner (green pea soup, house salad, home made bread, lasagna, and peach and blueberry cobbler). Delicious!

Franconia Notch – Day 22 – 4.5mi

As we got into town early, we have to wait one more day. We used that to rest and go play mini-golf.

We have to wait one more day as I reserved some bunk beds in the huts to cross the White Mountains about 4 months ago. At the time, I had to rework our hiking schedule because one of the huts (Lakes of the Clouds) was already full at the time. When I talked to people from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy at the time, they had advised me to skip a section of the mountains due to the difficulty of the hike for a child. I was told there was a steep section near the summit of Mt Garfield leading to the Zealand hut which could be extremely difficult for a 6year old. I usually take advice with a grain of salt but this time, I paid attention so I would not put the children in danger. The White Mountain ridges are famous for some quick and dramatic weather changes and often trap hikers on top whether it is the month of January or July. 4 days ago, 2 hikers, whose trail names are Rocketman and Princess, were on the ridge of Mt Lafayette (where we actually were yesterday). They were slackpacking for the day. By the time they got on the exposed ridge, the weather became extremely windy and started to sleet. It was so cold, their glasses and phones froze on them. They could not tell where the trail was. They got disoriented and could not move. The woman was in hypothermic shock despite having a survival blanket but because of the wind, it could not cover them well. Since they were Slackpacking, they did not have their tent. They were rescued by a thru hiker who had a tent with him. He led them below treeline, put up his tent and started to warm them up. They pushed their satellite button to call for help. 4 hours later, the rescue team found them and brought them down the mountain. They told the hiker, “Wolf Man”, that he clearly saved their life. He went on to hike…

What I did not know is that I would meet “Rocket man” and “Princess” a week later in a hiker’s hostel and they recounted the story. They both are experienced hikers, NASA scientists who slackpack the trail to  write a book about how to slackpack the Appalachian Trail. They have section-hiked the AT many times. Again, when they slackpack, they have food, water, windbreaker, puff jacket, survival blanket, gloves, hat, and a satellite phone in case of emergency. This is far more gear than most hikers who slackpack for the day. They are extremely knowledgeable about mountaineering but the lesson is that the weather can change at any time. It is important to know the weather in the valley and know the weather on the summits. I think this is the only mistake they may have made which could happen to anyone, they misread the weather report that day. They confused the weather report on the summits with the one in the huts. It was much different that day.

Since 2014, the state of New Hampshire passed a law to authorize the NH fish and game department to sell a hike safe card ($25/person) to responsibilize hikers. It costs about $5,000 for a rescue team to rescue a hiker and costs about $300k a year to the state of NH so having the card could help the state to dilute the rescue costs.

Mt Lafayette – Day 21 – 13.5mi

A beautiful blue sky – no clouds! This is the day we are going to slackpack from Franconia Notch to to the ridge of Mt Lafayette.

Woke up at 6:30am. Kids out of bed and on the trail by 7:15am. Found a place to have breakfast before getting on the trail. Bri had a bagel with eggs/sausage, Spoons had a chocolate scone and Raccoon a blueberry muffin. Shuttle took us to the trailhead. We were ready and excited to ascent by 8:20am. Rangers were at the trailhead – for a busy weekend. I gave my coffee to one of the Rangers and I made his day. I figured it was hard for me to handle a cup of coffee and 2 hiking poles. I had to choose. The coffee cup had to go…

We passed everyone on the way and we filled water at the water fall. Long ascent to summit above tree line. About a mile before the summit, we got out of the woods and there we were… on the exposed ridge. We arrived to Mt Little Haystack at 11:45am: we had snack and water. We continued on the ridge to Mt Liberty. Got on top at 12:20pm. Then we went on to Mt Lafayette. There were some windy parts on the ridge but it was a beautiful day! Raccoon was the youngest of all the hikers there that day. We had lunch at the summit @1pm.
We started our descent to Greenleaf hut 45min later. A beautiful hut along the ridge about 2 miles down Lafayette. We had a snack and drank herbal tea and lemonade. Talked to a day hiker from CA. She tells me tonight is the NBA finals. “The Warriors are going to win”. I don’t follow sports in general but I especially don’t follow the news since we hv been on the trail. She tells me the Cavaliens are far behind for a comeback (will later learn that the Cavaliers won the finals and stop the 52 year curse that Cleveland had in sports. It is a victory for Lebron James, for the Cavaliers but most of all, for the city of Cleveland). Final descent: We get back to trailhead early around 4:30pm. Less than 2 hrs. Great slackpacking hike! Shuttle takes us back. We take down our tent, farewell to Chet and go to dinner in town: One Love brewery.
We finally settle in a cabin @Riverbank Motel. We go to the pool to refresh ourselves and relax our sore muscles. We all fall asleep on the bed by 8pm – lights out.

Lincoln, NH – Day 20 – 3.78mi

We took a NERO day! In the hiking world, it means taking almost a zero day. We had someone from the hostel’s staff who took us to a swimming hole near Glencliff. The weather was warm and sunny! It was a perfect time to go swimming and jumping from rocks in the waters. Bri, Spoons & Raccoon loved the day. Then, we moved on to Lincoln, our next stop before the Whites. Mouse left us at the Visitor’s Center in Lincoln. We had to look for a place to sleep that night. I called several places but the price in a hostel or motel was $200 for the night. The price was particularly high due to Harley Davidson bike festival this week. We had no choice but to go to Chet’s house : a hikers place. Chet is a local hiker who loved to hike in the Whites. He had an accident 15 years ago and he is now in a wheelchair. He has made some phenomenal progress since – he has taken some unassisted steps for the first time this year and it is exceptional. Doctors at the Boston Trauma Center where he was treated 15 years had told him he would never walk.

We tented in his yard for the night. We went to bed early. Next day will be a long day in the Whites…

Hiker’s Welcome Hostel, NH – Day 19 – 13.5mi

We have decided to slack pack our next hiking trip: Mt Moosilauke.

Mt Moosilauke is a monster – it is a good preparation for the White Mountains. It is a difficult climb especially along the waterfalls if you go southbound but it is the best way to do it. If northbound, the descent along the waterfalls can take 3 to 4 hours.

We unloaded Spoons’backpack since he has the smallest one and put what we needed for the day: bug repellent, sunscreen, hats, windbreakers and snacks for the day. Legion took us to Kinsman Notch and left us at the parking lot.

It was a beautiful sunny day! We started the climb and it truly is what the sign says: it is a dangerous climb! Glad we slack packed this section. We met the Flip Flop Honeymooners, Wild Flower & Ranger, C-Moore who were going northbound.

It was our first climb over alpine vegetation/ tree line. Once we got at the top, it was as beautiful as everybody had described it. We saw a moose who was sitting right on the Appalachian Trail. Bri wanted to get closer to take pictures. Never   trust a moose, right? So never get close to it. We had lunch at the top. It was the best sardines and tuna in the world as Spoons remembers… We were back at the hostel by 6pm.

Glencliff, NH – Day 18 – 4mi

We left camp around 8:45am this morning. We spent some time talking to C-Moore who had just taken a break from his journey and hiked in the Whites with his girlfriend. He went up Mt Little Haystack and Mt Lincoln but could not get to Mt Lafayette as the weather was bad (cold, windy and foggy). This area on the ridge is very exposed at 5000 feet. I asked him for some advice. He gave me some good ideas.

Before we left, Raccoon was complaining of a bad bite under his upper left arm. I looked at it and saw a big red swollen bite. I was a bit concerned about the bite thinking it could be a deer tick bite. With this in mind, I decided to cut short on the hiking for the afternoon and as soon as we got on a road, I chose to hitch hike to the closest town, Glencliff. It was about  1pm. I wanted to make sure we could get to a hostel where I could call his pediatrician and/or the nearest hospital and see what should be the course of action. Of course hitch-hiking alone is relatively easy, but 4 people with 3 heavy backpacks is not as easy as previously thought. It took us about 40min before a nice soul, a teacher from the Plymouth University, picked us up with his pick up. He told us “I always pick up hikers when I see them on the road”. It was so hot that day! It was a blessing although we had almost made it into town. He drove to Hiker’s Welcome Hostel in Glencliff.

We took off our bags – our dwelling for the night was the new barn they had just built. It still smelled of fresh pinewood. We went for a shower and there I notice, Raccoon had a tick on his back. This worsens my fear. I took it from his back, crushed it and applied some alcohol where the tick was. In the meantime, the bite he had on his arm got bigger. At times, it looked like a bullseye bite. I called our doctor and talked to nurses at the hospital here and said we should have him seen. I had an antibiotic treatment with me (in case of a deer tick bite within the first 72 hours) but I did not know if I could give it to a 6 year old. His doctor firmly said no and the only thing I could do is take him to the ER. It is one thing to go to the ER when you have a car, but it is another story when you are a hiker and the nearest hospital is 40min away in Plymouth. The hostel manager, Legion, did not blink one eye when I told him about the ER and said: “give me 30min and I will take you and your son”. Legion was a thru hiker himself and on his journey, he developed a staph infection. He could not find anyone to help him go to the ER except one couple who out of pure generosity, took him under their care, took him to the ER and L et him spend some days recovering at their house. He understands what a medical urgency is. In the case of Lyme disease, hours matter for someone to receive an antibiotic treatment to avoid the disease to flow into the bloodstream. Once the disease is in the body, there is nothing else you can do. The disease will develop in your body. It may be dormant for years, Lyme disease tests can be negative but eventually, it will resurface. Anyway, coincidence or not, we were seen by a Hungarian doctor, Dr Danosi. He was surprised to meet Raccoon whose real first name was also the 1st leader of Hungary: the Arpad dynasty. He looked at his arm and did not think the bite was the sign of the deer tick. I had also brought the tick itself that I picked up from the shower floor after having crushed it. He definitely said this is a wood tick and not a white-tailed-deer so there is no worry to have. Because I was also bitten by a tick but I could not bring the tick to the hospital he advised me to take the antibiotics (the side effects are minimal compared to the consequences of having Lyme disease). We stopped at the pharmacy on our way back to the hostel and refilled the Lyme disease antibiotic treatment in case we needed it again. This time, I had asked to renew the treatment for all of us except Raccoon. Better be safe than sorry! Since we were about to go on to the Whites where it is difficult to get to a medical facility fast as we are hiking on ridges at 5ooofeet, I wanted to make sure we would not develop any symptoms at that time.

We returned to the hostel around 9pm.Bri and Fox had an interesting conversation with a hiker SoBo, Teddy & his nice dog Baxter from California. He was very easy to talk to and young enough to relate to teenagers. They had a good time! The end of the day turned out to be better than the beginning.