WOW - the incredible White Mountains

Wow doesn't quite say how incredible the past week has been for me. Just check out the pics. From the bottom, the comedy train at Mt. Moosilauke, view from Lonesome Lake, Stash and Tapeworm relaxing, me on top of a very large mountain, the sunset from Lake of the Clouds Hut, the view from Mt. Washington, and me and the boys after a very long 25 mile day in the whites!

6/13/07 19.6 miles to Hikers Welcome Hostel. Happy hiking from Hanover, NH. A bit cloudy out today but the rain held off for me so that was good. My pack was pretty heavy coming out with full resupply and a new tent to carry - ahh! But thats okay because the Whites are a-callin'! Got to the Hikers Welcome Hostel and caught up with Redo and Tapeworm, two section hikers that I met back in New Jersey and two thru-hikers Stash and Remix who started March 10th and have been chasing me the whole way only to pass me while I was off the trail being sickly. I was thrilled to finally meet them. We all hung out, ate dinner at Calamity Jane's complete with very large icecream cone, and then geared up for our big day tomorrow!

6/14/07 17 miles to Eliza Brook Shelter. What an amazing day. Quite the climb up Mt. Moosilauke but the view was incredible. Got up there in pretty good time. Me, Stash and Remix got to chill up there for a couple hours waiting on the girls to make it up the mountain. It was so much fun getting to know them and enjoying our first mountain above treeline by ourselves for a little bit. A very steep descent down the Moose, probably one of the toughest on the trail. You know its steep when you feel like you could die at any moment with just one wrong step! Ah the challenge of a thru-hike. After descending for an hour and a half, then you get to go back up another mountain and down again. It was awesome though. I got to meet Hans Solo, a section hiker who also passed me while off the trail and hang out with him for a bit. Not bad for my first day in the Whites.

6/15/07 9.8 miles to Franconia Notch and North Woodstock, NH. Good weather yet again this morning. Tapeworm and Redo needed to resupply in North Woodstock and the way I was pounding the snacks, I figured I should go in and grab a few more. So it was actually a pretty easy day to Franconia Notch. The view from Kinsman Mountain was spectacular as the view from Lonsesome Lake. This area is unbelieveable. There are so many take your breath away spots. We couldn't get a ride easily into Woodstock so we called for a shuttle and headed to the Carriage Motel and crammed 5 of us in a hotel room. Spent the afternoon enjoying the town and the pool. As you can see from the picture above, Stash and Tapewom were especially enjoying the town. I am so thankful I caught up with these guys. The group meshes really well and we are just having a blast.

6/16/07 13 miles to Galehead Hut. This day is probably my favorite day on the trail so far. Got on the trail pretty early as we had one heck of a climb. Headed up Little Haysack Mountain (not so little) and then Mt. Lincoln, Mt. Lafayette and later that day Mt. Garfield. The weather was spectacular and allowed for some killer views. I loved the challeng of the hike today. It was intense but being able to see where you came from and where you are going was unbeatable. The joys of being above treeline. Another great point for me was being able to see Mt. Washington in the distance. It is the second tallest point on the entire trail, just short of Clingman's Dome, way back in the Smokies. It is crazy to think it is only a few days away. Made it to Galehead Hut in the afternoon and met the awesome croo there. These huts are like hotels way up in the sky it feels like. The croo hikes in all the food there and everyone who stays there has to hike there. Granted not everybody there hike 1800 miles to get there but at least three. The beauty of being a thru-hiker in the whites is that you can do work-for-stay at the huts. This means you give about an hour or two of work and get fed and get a place to sleep while the paying customers pay about 67 bucks for the same deal. I had the privilege of reaming the fridge aka using a tool to get all of the excess ice off the fridge walls. It was actually nice to work. And the food was pretty good too. We got the luxury of sleeping in the dining area on the floor. Worked out good to be out of the wind of the mountains. What a great day...

6/17/07 14.7 miles to Crawford Notch and the Highland Center

6/18/07 11.2 miles to Lake of the Clouds Hut

6/19/07 20.7 miles + 4 "detour" miles to Carter Notch Hut

6/20/07 15.2 miles to Rt. 2 and Gorham, NH

So I am getting kicked off the computer because someone else needs to use it. Let me just say that this week has probably been the best on the trail for me so far. I had an amazing time. The weather was unreal - I don't think I know anybody that has been this lucky with the weather. Things just worked out. I got to go over some of the most beautiful terrain in the country and met some truly amazing people. Life is so good right now and I have still have more to come. I am heading into Maine tomorrow and have less than 300 miles to go. I am so glad I am feeling better and truly enjoying this last section of the trail. Hope you enjoyed the pics and I will hopefully update again soon. Sorry this one is a bit short!

Miss and love ya,
Ky Blue