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New Hampshire 1997
Thursday, July 10—Gentian Pond Shelter.
KNEE!
Monday, July 21,
1997—Hiker’s Paradise.
I can’t believe that it’s been 11 days since I
blew out my knee. On Thursday 7/10, I tore up my knee
pretty bad. I was heading down a fairly easy hill after
Success Mtn., when my right foot slid in some mud, and
the stuck, with all my weight on that leg. It felt like
it dislocated sideways, and then popped back in place. In
mid-air I thought, "Aw, fuck!" It was about an
8 to 10 foot drop off the trail, but luckily, my pack’s
so heavy, that gravity caught it, and spun me, so that I
landed mostly on my pack, instead of on my face. I was
pissed! I had to stop my self from destroying all of my
gear, but after calming down, I realized that my first
concern was to get my ass to safety. Gentian Pond Shelter
was only about a mile away, so I gathered up my stuff,
and limped there. Unfortunately, I have a lot of
experience hobbling around, so the 1 mile wasn’t
that rough. At the shelter, I saw a hiker (Falling Leaf?)
I met last year in Erwin, TN, small world. The Gentian
Pond Shelter area Is so beautiful, and I was able to
relax and enjoy it, especially after T-Bone showed up and
we partook a 420 down by the pond. I also took a massive
dose of Vitamin I , plus I didn’t let my knee
tighten up by resting it. Sleeping was hard, cuz my knee
just kept me up. In the morning, my knee was swollen and
locked up, there was a 4 mile blue-blazed trail from the
shelter to Route 2 (via a couple of short roads) so I
made it to Hiker’s Paradise pretty quickly after
getting a hitch into town. Hiker’s Paradise is a
cool place. Bruno & Maryann own the place, and are a
lot of fun. Their son Adam is a bit hyperactive, and is
teased a lot, but is a lot of laughs.. Bruce pretty much
handles all the hikers. His knowledge of the area is
encyclopedic plus he is so mellow, and he goes way out of
his way to help us hikers. Great dude! I had some
playmates for the first 5 days, a section hiking couple,
Hansel & Gretel (not the graffiti writers,) and
Leprechaun, a flip-flopper who started at the MA/VT
border. There were also a lot of northbounders staying
here, but for the most part, their smile’s had left
them. When the swelling in my knee subsided, I took a
couple of day hikes to test out my knee. I was very
cautious, and took at least a day of rest after each one.
My knee is definitely not 100%, but I can almost walk
without a limp, so tomorrow afternoon, I’m hitting
the trail, and I have "faith" that my knee will
hold up. (My definition of the word "faith" is
the ability to fool one’s self.)
Tuesday, July 22—Rattle River Shelter.
On the road again. Yee Ha! This morning I dealt with my
mail, and bought my niece a stuffed moose for her 3rd
birthday. Hope she likes it. Bruno, Maryann, Adam, &
Bruce gave me a surprise going away present, a big
strawberry angel food cake with a candle. I was so
embarrassed, but I felt so good that they went out of
their way for me, and care that much about me. I guess I’ve
finally figured out why I hike the AT. It’s the
People , Stupid! For the first time in 9 years, I shaved
off my beard, and boy was I shacked when I saw my
reflection in the mirror. It was like looking at a
stranger that reminded you of someone, that you couldn’t
quite place. Pretty freaky! Bruce had started calling me
"The Old Man of the Porch," because I was
always out on the 2nd floor back porch,
sitting in a lounge chair, but after I shaved my beard, I
told him that he would have to start calling me the
"young man of the porch. A newly arrived
northbounder, comes up the stairs, so I sez, "Hi,"
and he replied, " How ya’ doin’, babe?"
I turned to Bruce and said aside, "I didn’t
shave that close, did I?" This guy's trail name was
Babe, because that what he calls everyone. Irritated me a
bit, like when that kid in the Wilderness kept calling me
"Sir." Babe even called me "darlin’"
once when he saw me from behind, and mistook me for
Sister Smiles (a southbounding babe). Should have kept at
least my moustache! Today’s short hike was easy, and
now I’m sitting around a fire, getting ready for a
peaceful nights sleep in the woods.
Wednesday, July 23—Imp Shelter.
My knee held up, so I’m happy! I’m totally out
of shape & fat, but I move well. Short day today, but
I stopped a lot, and even took a short side trip to the
summit of Mt. Moriah. Watched the clouds try to lift off
Mt. Washington. The finally did, but it was a better
picture with the clouds. Hoping for a good sunset from
here.
Thursday, July 24—Carter Notch Hut.
Just like starting over. My knee is surprisingly strong,
I’m quite amazed. Took me most of the day to get
over the Carter’s (North, Middle, South, Mt. Hight,
and Dome). I’m really enjoy going slow, and hanging
out on mountain tops. Traded 2 Marlboro’s for a
blueberry muffin with the Invisible Woman. Good trade.
Carter Hut is more laid back than I thought it was going
to be, probably because it is just a self service hut.
Gonna try to get an early start tomorrow, cuz I want to
get to Pnkham Notch by lunch. May hitch back to Gorham,
if I can’t get reservations in the Presidential huts
this weekend. Forgot about getting attacked by 2 dogs
today. Actually, I was walking up a small rise, listening
to my radio, when suddenly this bear-like dog comes
running towards me real fast. I know what the ‘smell
of fear’ smells like, it smells like you shitting
your pants. I didn’t have time to react, I just put
my sticks out in front of me, and hoped for the best. It
slowed and moved behind me, as the other dog came
charging at me, nearly knocking me over the other dog.
The owner finally showed up, as the dogs circled tightly
around me, and began apologizing, but I really didn’t
want to hear it. I wanted to yell at him that if he
couldn’t control his dogs, they shouldn’t be
out here, and that he should be apologizing for being
such a shitty master to his dogs, and that he’s
lucky that I didn’t try to defend myself , and
shoved my sticks down his dogs throat’s. But I didn’t
say any of that, just kept walking, and said, "Have
a good one." Today, while listening to the radio,
this song called "Butterfly Kisses" comes on.
It’s a cheap rip-off of "Cat’s in the
Cradle," except instead about being about a father
& son, It’s about a father & daughter. Very
corny song, but I started to think about my choice not to
have children. So there I am, standing on top of a big
rock that’s in the middle of the trail, crying about
the daughter that I’ll never have. I still won’t
change my mind about having children, the effects of over-population
will probably occur towards the end of my life, but I
still felt the pain of that decision, that I made as a
younger man.
Friday, July 25—Hiker’s Paradise.
Yep, back in Gorham again. When I arrived at Pinkham
Notch, I knew I wasn’t going to stay in Yuppieland,
so I hitched to Heaven. Today’s hike was HARD! The
climb up Wildcat wasn’t easy, but the downhill was
killer. Passed numerous Day hikers, including a past thru-hiker
Grandma "something". I’m so bad with names,
self inflicted Alzheimer’s. Pulled a nasty trick on
Adam, when I got back to Hiker’s Paradise. When I
was here last, played catch with a footballl, 1 point for
each catch, and I let him win. So when he first saw me,
he asked me why I’m back, and I replied that I came
back for a rematch. We played again,and I was ahead,
needing only one more catch to win, but Adam decided not
to throw me a ball that was catchable. Well one of his
tosses ende up in the pool, and I pretende not to be able
to reach it. He came and got it. Meanwhile, I sat down on
the deck of the pool, and after he recovered it, I raised
my arm, and he threw me the ball. I caught it and won!
That will teach him not to trust any one over thirty. I
just remembered another obnoxious thing I did today. This
morning, I passed this guy, packing up his tent, just
outside of the forest protection zone around Carter Notch.
I noticed that he was wearing black boxer’s with red
hearts on them, when he asked me, "How are ya’
doin’?" I replied, At least I’m not
wearing those shorts!" "Aw, my girlfriend gave
me these to wear. You won’t tell anyone?" I
told him that I was going to write about it in the next
register, have a good hike!" Then I hiked on and
giggled my way up Wildcat.
Saturday, July 26—Osgood Tentsite.
Breakfast was great, an omelet with everything. I’m
still full, and it’s 6:30 pm. It’s good to see
that ai can hit a town for only one night. I’m glad
that Gorham is behind me, but Hiker’s Paradise will
be with me for a long time. Bruce gave me one of the new
Hiker’s Paradise tee-shirts, which I proudly wore
hiking today. It’s neon yellow, and I have to wear
my shades to cut down the glare of this tee-shirt. Bruce
was a bit later than he said he was going to be coming
back from shuttling a hiker & his dog, to Grafton
Notch. (This story was told to me by Bruce, but any
inaccuracies are mine.) He heard someone call his name,
when he was in the Grafton Notch parking lot. It was
Poombah, a hiker whose on-line journal I had been reading
before I left for this hike, and she was in pain.
Apparently, she has a muscle injury to her thigh. So
Bruce told her to get off the trail for a while to rest
up, before she does some serious damage, but he was only
able to convince her to slackpack the rest of the way to
Andover. Bruce shuttled her pack to Pine Ellis, hopefully
Paul & Ilene can talk some sense into her. I have to
say that I admire her determination, she can almost taste
Katahdin, and nothings gonna stop her. Bruce told her
that she’s crazy, but that comes from being a thru-hiker.
I can’t say that I’ve ever met a sane thru-hiker,
and it will be a scary day if I ever do! Now about me. Me,
glorious me! Somebody called me crazy too! Chef Scott’s
girlfriend, who I met at Hiker’s Paradise, has been
reading my journal on the Internet. ME? Crazy? Couldn’t
be. After Bruce dropped me off at Pinkham Notch, I
eventually went waddling down the trail.. I’m so fat
that I waddle, and with the short days I’ve got
planned for the Whites, I’ll probably gain more
weight.
Sunday, July 27—Madison Springs Hut.
2 suggestions to improve the AMC’s handling of the
hut’s in the Presidentials: 1.) Burn them down , and
make level campsites in their place, or, 2.) Let Disney
take over, and build a roller coaster that runs the
length of the ridge :^) The climb up Madison . . . . (interrupted
by sunset) . . . . was hard, rocky, and I’m glad it’s
behind me. After settling in to Madison hut, I did a
boulder scramble up to the top of Quincy, in my teva’s.
Okay, I am Crazy, but I did have them on tight. The food
was great for dinner, but I think that I’d rather
have Lipton’s and no hut, than have a crowded hut,
and a great meal. I can’t explain exactly why I’m
so down on the hut system, maybe it’s because they
give me a false sense of security that I know that I
shouldn’t feel, or maybe some of the thrill is
missing by having a B & B on the Mountains. Of course,
tomorrow, I’m staying in the Dungeon at the Lakes of
the Clouds Hut, maybe the dreary conditions of staying in
a cold cellar will brighten up my opinion.
Wednesday, July 30—Mizpah Springs Hut.
Stopped in here for lunch, and to catch up on my journal.
The last 2 nights I stayed at Lakes of the Crowds Hut as
a full service customer. After leaving Madison Hut on
Monday, I passed this group of gay guys, and I overheard
one guy saying why didn’t anyone wake him up to tell
him that there was someone working the gloryhole last
night. It was all I could do, not to fall down in a
hysterical fit. Definitely, not the normal overheard
trail conversation. I controlled my laughter, but couldn’t
suppress my smile as I passed. It was difficult staying
on the trail, hiking up and over Mt. Washington.
Visibility was 20 to 50 feet, the clouds were so thick.
It was challenging to hike away from a cairn in a boulder
and rock field without being able to see the next cairn.
I was only able to stay on the trail by following of the
Leki scratch marks on the rocks on the trail. When I got
to the Tip Top House near the summit, was the only time I
lost the trail. Had a couple of chili dogs, and caught up
writing postcards to friends & family, since the post
office & the card shop were in the same building with
the chili dogs. Lakes of the Crowds lived up to it’s
trail name, and I’m slightly softening my view of
the huts, but not the AMC. On the bulletin board at Lakes
Hut, there was some information posted about the cost of
the hut system. The AMC takes in approximately 3 million
dollars from the huts each year, but costs were 4 million
dollars, with the difference being made up by donations
& membership dues. This info help me to decide not to
renew my membership in the AMC, cuz I don’t want to
subsidize vacations for people that could pay their way,
any way. Tuesday saw sustained winds of 50 mph with gusts
up into the 90’s, and the morning low temp was 39°. So I decided to stay another night. Wimp!
Yes, I wimped out, with the wind chill, I wasn’t
certain I had enough clothes, and I also didn’t want
to risk hurting my knee. Excuses, excuses! The cloud
cover broke around noon, but not the winds. Sunset was
great, and then the stars came out. What a view of the
Milky Way! Even saw a shooting star streak horizontally
across the sky. Living most of my life less than 20 miles
from NYC, stars amaze me the most. I didn’t live far
from woods & mountains of sorts, but I was lucky if I
could see the Big Dipper & Venus. I’ve got to
take more time to star gaze.
Wednesday, July 30—Ethan Pond Shelter.
What a day! My longest since blowing out my knee, but I
still feel the the bad things in my knee sometimes. The
walk from Lakes Hut to Mizpah was easy, cuz I didn’t
do any loop trails to peaks, except for Mt. Franklin,
which was really short & easy. Such a clear day, had
near 100 mile views. Took 4 long breaks today. I loved
the Presidential Range, but something must be done about
the Hut System. It’s just too dangerous up there to
let anyone that can drive, or take the train up Mt.
Washington, with the ability to pay for a night’s
stay to be up there. I’m surprised that more people
don’t die up there each year. I did like certain
aspects of my stay at the Huts. I learned a little about
alpine flora, some of the history of hiking in the
Presidentials, and met some nice people along the way. I’m
the only one staying in the shelter tonite, but there are
some people staying at the tent platforms. Two smoking
stories: As I was packing up at Lakes, this 50ish woman
comes into the bunkroom & says that it smells like
someone was smoking. She was insistent. I knew I only
smoked outside, but I didn’t want her to get a
member of the croo, and make a big stink about it, so I
volunteered that I’m a smoker, and that I just had
one outside. She said, "Isn’t it amazing that I
can smell that." I kept my mouth shut, but thought,
" Yes it’s amazing, cuz all I can smell is my
smelly socks!" Later I was stuck behind 4 ‘tourists’
on a narrow path just below tree line, but going back
uphill. The guy right in front of me, turned and almost
fell on his face, asking if I wanted to get around them.
I told him not to worry about it, that I would pass them
when I was ready. As we neared tree line, the trail widen
into a boulder & rock field, so I turned it into
overdrive. I ran passed them, and as I was leaving them
in my dust, I heard one of the ‘tourists’ say,
"And I thought I was doing good." So I yelled
back, "and I smoke, too!" I heard some faint
laughter, as I kept on truckin’. It’s almost 10,
time for bed. It’s been a long good one.
Thursday, July 31—Guyot Campsite.
I’m beat. Had no motivation, drive, or strength
today. By the time I gat to Zealand Falls Hut, I had
nothing left. Got 15 free sausages from one of the croo,
plus I bought 2 big chocolate chip bars, but this didn’t
give me any more energy. It just made me a heavier load
to carry uphill. I’m not looking forward to hiking
back up to the trail, cuz I’m .7 of a mile downhill
from it. The Presidentials are a high energy place, which
I really picked up on, but now that I’m passed it, I’m
a bit depressed, physically & emotionally. Tomorrow
is another day.
Friday, August 1—Garfield Ridge Shelter.
Still no energy, except to pig out at Galehead Hut. But
before that I stayed up on South Twin for a long break. I
was listening to a Dead bootleg, specifically to the tune
"The Wheel", and was singing along, loudly.
When the tune ended, I stood to begin packing up my gear,
and on the other side of the boulder, there was a
nouthbounder sitting there. I apologized, and laughed as
I packed up. Tomorrow, Franconia Ridge. Hope I’m
ready.
Saturday, August 2—Cascade Bed &
Breakfast.
Last night, got to hang out with some southbounders for a
change, Pedro & Sister Smiles. Two really cool girls
from Florida. I heard Sister Smile before I saw her. She
was complaining to the AMC caretaker for Garfield Shelter,
about the climb up to the shelter form the AT. So I
yelled " Quit your bitchin’!" "Kurt,
is that you?" she asked, and I replied, "Damn
Straight!" We both laughed. Today’s hike was
hard. Getting up Mt. Garfield was hard, but I like hard
climbs in the morning. Then came Freanconia Ridge. Just
as I reached tree line, it drizzled for 5 minutes, and
then the winds picked up. The higher I climbed, the
windier it got. I slipped on some loose rocks, and was
balancing on my good (left) leg, when a gust hit me on my
right side. I fought the wind & my balance, but lost.
My head slammed into a rock, and I laid on the trail for
a minute, trying to collect my composure, and tried to
assess the damage done. I didn’t seem to be bleeding,
my head hurt, and I wasn’t thinking too clearly at
first, but once I came to my senses, I continued hiking.
Had a headache until I reached the North Peak of
Lafayette, then I forgot my troubles as I watched the
clouds race by the main peak of Lafayette. The winds were
blowing me all around, and seemed to get stronger the
higher I went, but I kept my balance the rest of the way.
As a matter of fact, I was movin’ pretty good.
Except for when I bruised my skull, I was hiking like my
old self. Even as I was descending to Franconia Notch, I
moved well, passing tourists left & right, with day
packs, or no packs at all. The sun came out, and I even
did a little trail running. After 2 days in the hiking
doldrums, I felt great, alive, & free. In 5 minutes
of hitching on Interstate 93, I was picked up by these
two older dudes, and they went out of their way to drop
me off right in front of the Cascade B & B. This is a
dangerous place for me to be. Right across the street is
the Woodstock Brewing Co. & brew Pub. I’ve
already been ther once, and started drinking before
eating. After having their Stout & their Pale Ale, I
knew I was getting trashed, so I finally orded food. I
couldn’t finish my Quesadilla’s, and worse, I
got uncontrollable hiccups. Almost forgot, as I was
coming down Mt. Lincoln, I met Just Harry. Nice old guy,
on his 3rd thru-hike. He gave me some advise
on where to stay in town, and we just shot the breeze for
a few. Meeting northbounder’s is strange. Some
barely acknowledge my existence, some at least give a
friendly greeting before blowing by me, and some are real
cool, and introduce themselves & stop for a little
conversation. So now I’m a bit drunk. Sister Smiles
& Pedro went shopping, and bought those long flowing
hippie dresses, and they looked hot in them. It was much
easier thinking of them as smelly thru-hikers, than as
beautiful young women in hippie dresses.
Monday, August 4—Kinsman Pond Shelter.
Yesterday, went to a Bob Dylan concert at Loon Mountain.
Great, rockin’ show. Danced all night long, which
wasn’t a real wise thing to do. As I walked back to
N. Woodstock, I felt my knee readjust to it’s
walking spot. Scary, but worth the release I felt by
dancing. I really didn’t like the Cascade B & B,
nothing real concrete, just a vibe. Didn’t start
hiking till 12:30, so I just went to Kinsman Pond Shelter,
which is almost full up with hikers, and it’s Monday!
Tuesday, August 5—Eliza Brook Shelter.
Took a short hike today. Almost out of the Whites, and I
want to take it easy. Built a fire but was lazy tending
it. Mostly listened to, and sang along with my walkman.
The few mile I did hike were rough, and slightly slick
from last night’s rain. Only drizzled for a while
today, but that wasn’t the reason for my short hike.
I just wanted some time alone to chill. Nice peaceful day,
listening to Eliza Brook. I feel like I’m the White
Mountains’ Information Center for AT northbounders,
that’s if they stop and talk to me. 2 northbounders
stop at the shelter, one for a break, and Two Winds stay
the night. I feel pretty battered up by this stretch of
trail, though I loved it!
Wednesday, August 6—Beaver Brook Shelter.
Great day! Started early, hiked like a madman, (no
offence to Ward) then came the Dily Trail. I knew it was
steep from the contour map, but there was food at the
other end, so a-blueblazin’ I will go. 3 slices of
pizza, a ham and cheese sandwich, and a medium coke cost
over $9. When I asked the pretty little cashier if there
was a place to stash my pack, so that I could tour the
Lost River Reservation, she let me go through for free
& watched my pack for me. Trail Magic, I love it. And
it was a cool tour, except for all the Boy Scouts.
Basically, you follow a boardwalk through caves &
crevices where the Lost River gets lost. The road walk
back to the trail wasn’t even long enough to start
bitchin’ about. Then came the uphill that follows
Beaver Brook upstream, these scenic cascades were hard to
follow uphill. I was fat & bloated which didn’t
help. When I asked a day hiker how far it was to the
shelter, she hemmed & hawed, then guessed that it was
an hour away. I nearly fell to my knees, but a half hour
later, I found the shelter, which had almost the prefect
view of Franconia Ridge. Can’t someone cut some
trees down for my viewing pleasure? Just kidding :^)
Saturday, August 9—Hexacuba Shelter.
I’m in kind of a bad mood right now. Sharing the
shelter with a couple of weekend warriors, who can’t
stop their dog from violently barking at me. I’m
shunning them. Why waste my breath on idiots! So what
have I been doing the past couple of days. Thursday 8/7,
caught sunrise through the trees from my sleeping bag.
"bout an hour later everyone woke up. I had a
competition with a northbounder to see who could leave
last. I won. Off to Moosilauke, not a bad climb up. I
loved the view of Franconia Ridge and the Presidentials.
It was a bit windy, but there plenty of places to hide
from it amongst the ruins of Prospect House. There were
over 30 people on top of Moosilauke, but I stayed there
for over 2 hours, watching people trample the alpine
vegetation, talking to other hikers, and soaking in the
spirit of Moosilauke. Taking the Carriage Road down was
an easy hike, but eventually the trail came to a 3 prong
fork. The Carriage Road continued to the left, the AT to
the right, and an unmarked trail in the middle. I was
curious, so up the middle trail I went. It continued
along the ridge to this bald spot. I was alone with a
view of Moosilauke, and next to it’s right shoulder
was Mt. Washington. I was filled with joy, I felt I was a
part of everything. I had but one regret, that I didn’t
have someone I loved there to share this moment with. Met
2 female northbounders about half way down, the
Condiments. They were trying to escape another hiker who
had called one of them immoral, cuz she hike topless on
Nude Hiking Day. I laughed at the absurdity of the whole
situation, and enjoyed their company for a bit. Next stop
Jeffers Brook Shelter. A lot of northbounders tented
around, plus me & 2 northbounders in the shelter. I
was the youngest guy in camp, boy did that feel food for
a change. Had a great night of bullshitting &
laughing. On Friday 8/8, I needed to resupply in Warren,
and got an easy hitch from another hiker, Brubaker. She
hurt her hip, and against the advise of her doctor, she
hikes 5 days, takes 2 off, and slacks her husband, Jimbo.
She’s upset that she can’t hike the whole trail,
but I think that she more a thru-hiker than some of the
sad sacks that I’ve passed. She’s enjoying
herself, and is doing what she wants. Freedom & Joy,
2 of the best attributes of a thru-hikers. Took a picture
of the rocket in Warren, when these 3 guys asked if I
needed a ride anywhere. Said yes & thanks, I didn’t
even need to stick out my thumb for a ride back to the
trail! They had a cool black Lab puppy that sat on my lap
for the whole ride. Aw! The Magic continues . . . .
Stopped hiking at Atwell Hill Road to see Dizzy B, the
coolest Trail Angel. She leaves gallon jugs of H20
on both sides of the road, then she shows up at the
Atwell Hilton with a cooler full of sodas & beers.
She even brought hotdogs! I’ve met her twice before,
Trail Daze 96, and at Home Brew’s party, this last
March. She’s great to talk to, and loves us hikers.
I drank a little too much beer, because I didn’t
have the energy to hike today, but I did it anyway. I was
originally going to Smarts Mountain, but changed my mind
pretty early on in my hike today. When I finally got to
the col between the north & south peaks of Mt. Cube,
I took the side trail to the north peak for a hazy view
of Moosilauke. I hung out for quite a while, singing
tunes with a Boston radio station, on my walkman. The
clouds seemed to be building, so I packed up and headed
to Hexacuba Shelter, where I met up with the weekend
warriors, and their dog.
Saturday, August 23—Moose Mountain Shelter.
Big gap in my journal. On Sunday 8/10, I stayed at
Trapper John Shelter. Earlier that day, I met up with
Sister Smiles, slackpacking this section, on top of
Smarts Mountain. I was in a bit of a funk all day, cuz of
that dog, who tried to attack me when I came back to the
shelter after taking a middle of the night piss. The
morning after, I calmly told the owner that I’ve
torn cartilage in my knee, during this hike, but last
night was the worse experience that I’ve had on the
trail. He, then apologized for his dog, which really
pissed me off, but I stayed calm, and told him that he
was the problem, not his dog, cuz the dog was just being
the dog that he (the dog’s supposed master) trained
him to be. I don’t think I got my point across, but
it was worth a try, so maybe there won’t be other
hikers terrorized by that dog. On Monday 8/11, I didn’t
feel like hiking. It was hot, humid, & I felt blah,
so when I got to Goose Pond Road, I decided to hitch to
Hanover. It was a surprisingly easy hitch thanks to the
Brown Family. They told me that they never picked up a
hitch-hiker before, and only picked me up cuz I looked
like such an All-American boy. I stopped myself from
replying, only if Charles Manson is their idea of a
preppie! They drove me all the way into the middle of
town. Thanks! Ben & Jerry’s wasn’t open yet,
so I went and found a place to stay (Alpha Theta), and
then went to get my mail. I blew off going to Ben &
Jerry’s, cuz Murphy’s Pub had Guiness on tap!
Ordered 2 pints, and got a funny look, but I like Guiness
warmer than it’s served, and I wasn’t gonna
wait to drink my first one till it got warm. Didn’t
do much, but read and eat all week long, but one night a
northbounding couple started to have sex a few feet away
from me at Alpha Theta. How rude! I tried to sleep, but
couldn’t, so I got up and turned on the lights, and
read a book, and effectively throwing cold water on their
merriment. I made a half-hearted attempt to go to the
Great Went, but alas, that was not meant to be. On Friday
8/16, I met Baltimore Jack, and he tells me that there’s
gonna be a hiker party tomorrow. I was planning to leave,
but what the hell, a hiker party and an ultimate frisbee
game was just what I needed, one more day in town wouldn’t
kill me. The ultimate frisbee game was a kind of a
rematch of the Civil War, hikers from the North vs. those
from the South. Early on, I dove for the frisbee. I
caught it, but I trapped my elbow between the ground
& my ribs, and severely bruised them. Later on, I was
throwing a bomb, but I twisted my knee. I took my self
out for a while, but the South started to catch up, cuz
the North was playing 2 men down, so I went back into the
game, but limped the rest of the game, and the next one.
The North won both! The party afterwards was pretty cool
with burgers, dogs, beer, & porch crawlers. There was
even a wrestling match between Baltimore Jack & C-Cat.
The next day I was pretty screwed up, my ribs felt busted
& my knee was swollen. I had moved to Tabard House on
Friday 8/15, so that’s where I convalesced. My knee
responded faster than my ribs, as a matter of fact, as my
knee got better, my ribs got more painful. Luckily, I
love to read, cuz it was my only solace. Yesterday 8/22,
I finally left Hanover, heading north, to make up the
section I skipped when I hitched into town. I made it to
Velvet Rock Shelter, and called it a day. I didn’t
want to over do it. Rained last night, but I didn’t
know it until I woke up this morning. Was planning to
make it to Goose Pond Road today, and hitch back to
Hanover, but my knee & ribs are still achy, so I
stopped here at Moose Mountain Shelter. Easy hike today,
took it easy and enjoyed being in the woods again.
Kurtis Kirsch.
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