Spring to Summer

It has been awhile and a lot has gone on since the last post and it has been quite a ride since my last entry so here we go.

Matt and I ended up heading for New Hampshire three weeks before the caretaking season began. Our goal was to hike around and just check out a lot of places. This turned into a good thing, bad thing kinda deal. We wanted to be in the woods the whole time and we actually bought food for 21 days without resupply. What was funny about this was that Matt had never purchased food as a thru-hiker and he was totally amazed that you could feed yourself for three weeks on $70.00 dollars.

It didn't end up like what we wanted. There had been a late spring storm and the snow was deep on the higher elevations. Two days in , it was so deep we couldn't even figure where the trail was much less get to our destination so e turned back and decided to do a bunch of day hikes. We headed to the Dry River Wilderness area, much lower elevation and much warmer. We hiked around there for a couple of days, decided against a river crossing that probably would have killed us both and ended up at the OC,

One thing about the AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club), our employers, they take care of you .... The OC is a cabin where employees can go for a very small fee. We went there for one night and then we went to Mizpah.

Ash, a dear friend of mine, was the spring caretaker there. Mizpah Hut is about 6 miles from Mt. Washington, the mountain that is synuomous with the Whites. We ended up hanging there for a few dats and did some hiking from there. Since I am writing this much later than we were there I wish we didn't go there. A lot of future pain evolved from those days .. not on my part .. it is a story that will not be told.

After Mizpah, Matt and I cruised around other areas of the Whites and then it was time for the season to begin. The season means caretaking at a site. I have chosen Liberty Springs as my site of choice ever since I started working for the AMC. I love that mountain! I love how close I am to Franconia Ridge! If any of you ever have a chance to get to New Hampshire make a point to hike up to Franconia Ridge .. trust me on this , you will love it (make sure it is a good day!)

I headed up to Liberty on Memorial Day weekend to begin my season in the Whites, I hiked 3.2 miles, all uphill with a damn heavy pack. I was bringing supplies in for the few holiday days and also for the summer. As someone told me later that summer, "The hike up this mountain is relentless!" I actually laughed at this but it is so true. Once you start the climb it doesn't end .. at least for the 2 miles to the campsite. Once you reach the cutoff to the Flume Slide Trail it is all uphill! There were a couple of times I just wanted to turn into a puddle of DNA when I reached my tent! I have hiked up and down this mountain many times in my three season here and there are days it kicked my butt, big time!

Enough for now .. In the next post I will bring everything up to date. Be well all.