A what got loose?

Day 107 - 8/5/10
I woke up and started packing up around 7. As I was preparing and
eating breakfast I heard a voice say, "Hey, you can't camp here," and
I turn to see Bodacious coming up the trail. He was joking around of
course, and he stopped in to say good morning. He had camped at
Liberty Springs last night, which is where I almost stayed. He told me
before he left that the section coming up, known as the Franconia
Ridge, was one of the best parts of the AT because it's all above
treeline. It was a foggy morning, so I was hoping for it to clear by
the time I was up there.

I left somewhere between 8:15-8:30, and started the climb up to Little
Haystack Mountain. It was steep, rocky, wet, and muddy, but when I
made it above treeline I started to get really excited. I could see
the sky starting to clear, which had my adrenaline pumping. Finally a
view up in the Whites! The farther along I climbed the better the
weather got, and by the time I had made it to Mt. Lincoln the sky was
mostly clear and I could see well on either side. The views were
spectacular, and I wasn't even at the top. I could see Mt. Lafayette
further up (the top at 5249 ft.) and I charged my way to it.

When I made it I found myself in the company of others, hikers who had
come up a different trail, one that goes to/from Greenleaf Hut. It
would have been nice to experience it up there alone, but the Whites
are one of the most heavily used sections of the AT. Coming up the
whole ridgeline though was amazing, probably the closest thing I've
had to a spiritual experience. Now I can see why Mohammed (sp?), the
founder of Islam, had a spiritual vision up on a mountain. I bet lots
of other people have too, it's hard not to with what you're seeing. I
took lots of pictures of my trek up to the top, and you can definitely
see the transition of weather and how the skies just opened up.

As I hiked down from the ridge back under treeline the weather turned
again, and by the time I was under the tree canopy a heavy fog had
again set in, so I hit that ridge at the perfect time. It stayed foggy
the rest of the day until evening too, so it really worked out well
for me. I went downhill for a bit, then a steep climb up and over Mt.
Garfield where I took a break near the top. Bodacious was there so I
hung out with him. After a 15-minute stop I left and went straight
back down Garfield. Then it was small ups and downs to Galehead Hut
where I stopped in for some bread and some dessert thing called a
chocolate mess or something. Basically a brownie. It was good food,
but the bread just made me miss the ones my Mom makes. Will you make
me the dill bread when I'm done, Mom? I love that one.

I left Galehead around 2:30ish and headed straight up South Twin
Mountain. Hardest mile of the day. So steep and rocky. By the time I
reached the top I was dead, so even though the wind was blowing and it
was cold above treeline I had to stop and lay down on the rocks. I was
drenched with sweat and my wet shirt was frigid, but I couldn't move.
About ten minutes later I mustered up the energy to leave, and hiked
an easy 2 miles to Mt. Guyot. I was getting really concerned for a
while because the skies darkened up, and I thought it would start
pouring any minute. Luckily it didn't, and when I came to the trail
intersection of Mt. Guyot I saw Bodacious lounging there. I stopped,
by then it was 4 o'clock, and we talked about where we were thinking
of stopping. He was planning on Guyot Shelter, whereas I was planning
on a few more miles to a stealth spot near Zealand Pond. As we talked
the sky cleared up remarkably fast and pretty soon we had blue skies
and you could see Mt. Lafayette across the way.

Since it cleared up he decided to go to the pond too, so we left
together. Things were going well until all of a sudden I started
feeling weak, dizzy, shaky, and like I was going to pass out. I guess
the tough day finally caught up with me. I told Bodacious I had to
stop and eat something, and that I'd catch up later. I ate some trail
mix, a bunch of m&m's, and a Nature Valley bar smothered in Nutella. I
thought that was plenty, so I threw on my pack and walked on. Not ten
minutes later I was feeling just as tired, staggering down the trail
like I was going to fall down any second. I stopped again and decided
to eat my dinner early. I was planning on mashed potatoes, but I was
too tired to boil water plus I wasn't in a good spot, so I just dumped
cold water into the instant pack, stirred it up, and ate it. I was to
tired to care. Then I had two cookies on top of that. After all that I
finally felt better and was able to make it to the pond side trail
without another stop. When I got there Bodacious was waiting for me,
then showed me the sweet spot he had scoped out. It's definitely a
pretty well known stealth spot, but far enough into the woods where
you wouldn't be able to see it from the trail.

We set up our tents, then he made his dinner while we talked and
stuff. He's a real cool guy, about 40-50's I'd say. Lives in Tennessee
very close to the trail, near some of the balds. A good guy to know
out here I think, seems to very educated in the outdoors. We went into
our tents about 7:30, we were both exhausted, and I started writing
this all out. As I was writing about the part where I was weak and
exhausted I heard a noise in the woods. Very loud, and coming from a
direction that we hadn't come from. I though maybe, just maybe it was
another hiker pulling in from the South, using a different path. Nope.
It was a giant moose, female, that came lumbering past our tents less
than 10 feet away! I was shocked, frightened, amazed, and so much
more. I started shaking, unsure if what I was seeing was real. Did it
even notice us I though. As it walked right past Bodacious's tent I
whispered to him that there was a moose. He was almost asleep, so by
the time he was up and out of his tent it had walked away to the pond.
Unbelievable. What a way to end the day! And now I can hear it
sloshing through the pond. Does it get any better? I love the Whites!

Total miles: 1824.7