Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Day 127: Not So Fast (Sprint Day #2)

Everyone awoke at the same time and pulled it all together. We were all a bit more sore than usual, but I was certain I'd be even more sore later this afternoon. It was a bit cloudy, so the morning view wasn't as nice as the evening one, but still good. Oatmeal and cereal for breakfast. HD Mama took off first, then On The Loose, Boss, Bird and I left about the same time.

Downhill! And it wasn't too steep. Would've been nice to come up this way, actually. A good, quick four miles before we came to water, and we ran into Funk and Trooper. Today would be a collection of ups and downs, but nothing too grand. We climbed up to the highest point of the day at the summit of Cube Mountain and had a nice break. A bit chilly with the breeze on our sweaty shirts, but I keep my jacket easily accessible these days.



Down Cube mountain and onwards until we found a good spot for lunch. A salami sandwich followed by a pbj sandwich, and then cookies and trail mix would do me well. A few swigs of Gatorade and we were off. A quick stop at a shelter where we met a few sobo's and HD Mama was there. I left a note for the pack I left in Hanover and took off to summit Mount Mist.



Not too bad of a climb and a very anti-climactic summit. No view. Just a small sign. Pretty flat. We took a last snack break and Boss called his friend, Amy, who said she'd help us out with getting to the airport on Friday. We flattened out the details with her then began to hike downhill, looking for a camp site. We came to the bottom at NH 25, having found nothing flat enough or big enough for both our tents, so we crossed the road and kept looking. Then we found our spot. Fairly close to the road, but right by a stream.



We set up, Boss made a fire, we cooked dinner and chatted till it was time for bed. We're both feeling a bit exhausted, but with our new plan with Amy, we only have to go 9 miles tomorrow. It would've been too hard to get over Moosilauke this afternoon at the end of the day, and it will be too hard to do Moosilauke and the Kinsman peaks tomorrow, so our sprinting ahead plan may not work out as predicted. We have gained at least a day, though, I think. Hopefully it will all work out when we get back to the trail on Tuesday.

Tomorrow = Moosilauke. We climb from about a thousand feet up to 4800. It will be tough and steep, and it's only a taste of what's to come in the Whites...

Fewer than 400 miles left as of right now.

Congrats to Jess and Cyrus!!!
(20mi 8st)


-- Posted from the trail...

Location:Camp site right past NH 25

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