#28 Rutland to Glencliff

8/23: We drove back to the trail and thanked Joseph for helping us out so much. I barely got any rest the day before, so I took a nap after 1.7 miles at a shelter. Then I ate a caffeinated Clif Bar. I can’t tell if the mountains have been getting steeper or if I’m just getting weaker. I blame the mountains. I went straight up and straight back down for the entirety of the trail today. It was exhausting. I ran into No Collar and he told me that there was a little farm stand at the road we were about to cross! We split half of a homemade blueberry and sour cherry pie, which was delicious! I also ate an ice cream sandwich. This was against my better judgement to eat the food I already had because my pack was HEAVY. But alas; pie. Anyway, I climbed and went down a few more mountains. On top of an exposed one, I found a ton of blackberry bushes that were ripe! Even though I was getting to camp late, I stopped and picked blackberries.

At the top, I got a nice view, and I would’ve stayed up there, but I needed water for cooking and walking tomorrow. I finally made it to the shelter around 7:30 and instead of setting up my tent, I laid it down and put my sleeping stuff on top so I could try cowboy camping for the first time! It’s really too bad that I didn’t have enough water to do it on the top of that mountain, because I would’ve gotten an excellent view of the stars. Anyway, I ate a ginormous dinner of a tuna in olive oil in a ramen bomb and then ate a 400 calorie protein cookie, and then went to bed up close and personal with the great outdoors. Hopefully I won’t end up with a snake in my sleeping bag when I wake up!

8/24: Cowboy camping was a success! I slept well and, to my knowledge, I wasn’t joined by any critters overnight. It was discouraging as I hiked and realized that even though what I was doing was hard, it was only going to get worse as I got into New Hampshire. The trail went straight up and straight back down all day. At the top of the mountain after the shelter, there were a ton of blackberry bushes, and they were starting to get ripe. I stopped every few feet to eat more blackberries, until I had to cut myself off because I was going nowhere and it is not a good idea to eat copious amounts of any fruit. Anyway, I tried to cut myself off. The stray blackberry may have snuck in here or there. I had a road walk through West Hartford, which is good and bad, because road walks will often be flatter than the mountains, but also the hard ground is tougher on joints. I was grateful to be back in the woods afterwards, and I took a snack break after the cars weren’t so loud anymore. I ran into a hiker named Maker because she makes some of her own gear, and we hiked together and talked for quite a few miles. Then I had a road walk into Norwich, and the people living right by the trail were super nice and had little coolers of trail magic for hikers. It was a long road walk, but I finally crossed over the White River into Hanover, New Hampshire! A trail angel let Otter, Sunshine, and I stay in the basement at her place, so we dropped off our stuff, took showers, and then got Indian food and then gelato! Both were super delicious! Overall, Dartmouth seems like a great school just based on gelato rankings. We got back to the room and promptly went to sleep. Another 14 miles down!

8/25: We slept in! After some great sleep, we made our way over to brunch at a crepe place and ordered poutine as an appetizer because we are hiker trash and it’s the law. Anyway, afterwards, we hiked out of town and back into the woods. The first mountain was called Velvet Rocks, and it was steep at first, so much that there was a rope tied to a tree to pull yourself up with. But then it got better and I took a break at the top and finished the rest of my book. I continued to mosey on and I listened to the new Taylor Swift album that I downloaded in town, and it was pretty good! I wasn’t a big fan of the singles released beforehand, but the album was a fun listen. I also saw a toad that was hopping away from me on the trail, but then suddenly froze in the middle of the trail and peed. Sorry little guy! Because I had eaten such a big brunch, I only had a small snack break. When I got to the shelter, my hunger had caught up with me and I made couscous with tuna in olive oil and a little bit of hot sauce. Then I hung up my food and went back in my tent because it’s starting to get chilly at night.

8/26: I almost got up early and left camp by 7, but I did not quite succeed and instead left camp at about 8. It was 47 degrees when I woke up! Winter is coming and apparently it starts in August. I delayered after I hiked for a bit, but I was feeling sluggish. I stopped for a snack break at Holt’s Ledges, which was a ledge with some great views of the mountains. I continued to trudge up and down the hills until I got to a brook where I filled up on water for the big climb of the day. Smarts Mountain was about a 2,000 foot climb, but the grade at certain points was over 1,000 ft/mi- which is over a 45 degree angle. Has anyone ever heard of switchbacks? I climbed up the first half and even though I’m fairly fit at this point, I had to take a lot of breaks because I was so out of breath. At the midpoint, there was a view where I could see the top of the mountain in the distance. And it looked so far away. I didn’t think it was possible, but the trail got steeper. At one point, I checked to see how far I had left, and I only had .6 of a mile! That was the slowest .6 I’ve ever hiked. I turned a corner, expecting to see the top, and instead looking at more rock slabs reaching up above me.

It was maddening. I finally got to the top, and Sunshine was there too. We complained together about the climb and agreed to hike down the mountain to a brook where we could find some stealth spots. For all of that hard climbing, it was hard to feel accomplished. New Hampshire is the hardest state on the AT, and we have more climbs like Smarts coming up, but longer and more frequent in the whites.

I checked out the fire tower, which had some gorgeous views, and then zombied my way back down the mountain. I remember being tired and hungry, and I must’ve gotten myself down the 4 miles, but I couldn’t tell you how. Sunshine and I got to camp, pitched our tents, ate dinner, and then got warm in our sleeping quilts and went right to sleep.

8/27: After that long day, we slept as much as we could and ended up on trail at about 9:15. But that was fine by us! We immediately had a climb, so I trudged up the mountain until I got about half way and took a break at a nice viewpoint on the rocks. I could see the top of Smarts Mountain! It was a great place to relax in the sun. I started hiking again and eventually made it to the top which had a similar view. Then I went back down and ended up at a brook where I took a lunch break on a boulder and then filtered water. I had been craving a hot meal like pizza or pasta or Taco Bell, but I made do with an English muffin with tuna. It wasn’t even close to Taco Bell. Anyway, after my lunch break, I held a more sustained pace for the rest of my hike. I took another small break at a beaver bog.

I ran into Sunshine who was sitting by a stream and she said that she found some campsites close by and mentioned that she was ok with staying here instead of the pond 2 and a half miles ahead. That was ok with me! We would still get to town on the same day. So we set up camp and cooked dinner while we chatted and hung out. It was nice having a slightly shorter day and having some time to relax before the sun went down.

8/29: We made it to the extremely small town of Glencliff and took a Nero on the 28th. Then we slackpacked Mt. Moosilauke today. We got dropped off at the trail, and the trail was immediately steep. I was so grateful that I didn’t have to hike down this side of the mountain, because I was going southbound for that day, and also glad I didn’t have my full pack weight. The rocks were wet and slick from the night before, so I climbed up real carefully. The cascades ran right by the trail so I got to see some awesome waterfalls! I inched along until I got to the summit and was disappointed. I had heard all about the gorgeous views at the top, but all I saw were clouds. But then after a few minutes, the clouds parted and I got some amazing views of the mountains.

It was super windy and I joined Otter and Sunshine sitting behind a small rock barrier wall to block the wind. We stayed there for a while and ate a lot of snacks. It was so cool to look around and only see majestic mountain peaks. After a while, I went back down and inched my way down the slick rocks. I have a feeling that my pace is going to be woefully slow through the Whites. Anyway, the trail flattened out and I was able to cruise back to the hostel where I got some laundry started and ate an ice cream sandwich :)

Whew! Into the White Mountains! This is an incredibly beautiful yet challenging part of the trail. I only did about 10 miles today, and I probably won’t be able to push my usual 14-16 a day until I’m out of the Wildcats. Here’s to hoping for good weather and lots of work for stay opportunities at the huts!

Happy trails!