Gorham, New Hampshire: Not lost in the White Mountains after all

Fair warning - while prior entries read like chapters, this one has the potential to be a book. It is a compilation of possibly 4 hours of phone calls split between the two hikers. We covered a much longer stretch than any other phone call and we weaved in and out of so many places, events, and issues, I don't feel well grounded in the chronology of the last two weeks, but no matter. They were oblivious to the fact that they had left us hanging for so long. Time takes on a different perspective when hiking. In general, Jonathan says time takes on a very long perspective. He says the span of time just between morning when they set off hiking and afternoon feels enormous. He says when he thinks back to the morning when they set out, he can hardly believe it was the same day. The White Mountains are behind them now. They are currently in White Birches Hostel in Gorham, NH where for $13 a night, you get a bunk, pay showers and cable TV.

The White Mountains were pretty awesome and totally different from any of the other mountains they have experienced thus far. The mountains are huge. The scenery is just so big and magnificent and powerful and to be in this place through the power of your own two feet is indescribable They traveled many miles along ridge lines so high above the tree line. Weather could be unpredictable. Cloud cover at times prevented them from seeing anything; at other times, they could see forever. The Whites are also heavily traveled by day hikers, often in huge groups, which adds a touristy dimension to the mountains and a fair amount of noise in an otherwise serene environment. The highest of the mountains within the chain is Mount Washington; it rises 6,200 feet at its peak. The mountain is both spectacular and tainted. At its peak, you are above the clouds, giving one the sensation of being in an airplane, looking down upon the clouds. There is both a train and a road up to its peak, making it highly accessible to tourists. There is construction equipment up top producing more structures related to tourists. There are mobs of people at the peak, yet few walked a step to be here at the top of the world. I suspect Jonathan is not the only thru hiker to be bothered by this scene.

They spent a night at a hostel in Lincoln, NH after picking up their mail drop in Franconia Notch. This hostel, One Step At A Time, is operated by a former hiker named Chet, on either a donation or work for stay basis. Chet was seriously burned in a camp stove explosion; it was a freak accident that occurred as the result of a static electric charge as he was pumping the stove, prior to it even being lit. He was seriously burned over much of his body as well as internally through the inhalation of inflamed gases. He spent a long time in a drug induced coma as he recovered because it was the only way in which his pain could be managed. He is blind and uses a walker and a wheel chair, yet seems happy and at peace with life. He worked for an outfitter's store prior to this life altering event, and sold the very stove that exploded. Though the manufacturer would not own responsibility, they did alter the design of their stove. It has a feature on it now that prevents the possibility of a static electric charge jumping to the fuel. Our hikers have this redesigned version of the stove. When working for your stay, which they did, he asks that you be his eyes and take care of whatever you see that needs to be done. Jonathan took care of the stove, which needed a very thorough deep cleaning. I don't know what Madeline did.

There are what are known as huts in the Whites. The full service huts are large enclosed lodges that sleep from 36 to 90 people. The cost per night is around $100, which buys you a bunk, bathroom use, (but no showers), family style dinner and breakfast. These huts cater to families, weekend hikers and large group hikers. The huts supposedly let 1-2 thru hikers a night work for their stay. Our hikers visited several of these huts during their trek through the Whites. They found the huts to be far more generous in their nightly allotment of thru hikers than their companion book stated. In each of their stays, they were joined by other thru hikers, upwards to seven. It was nice to have a warm place to stay in the cold of the Whites. Thru hikers sleep in the dining room on the floor or tables. They worked wiping down surfaces, scrubbing bathroom floors and cleaning bunk rooms. At their first hut, they were given a jar of burnt matches, (labeled old fire and lost love), and told to count them which they dutifully did, though they didn't know why; there were 700 some. Only after the count was complete, did they find out that the count was because of a bet amongst the crew.

At all of the huts, the thru hikers must wait outside until dinner is over for the paying guests. Once the paying guests have retired to the bunk rooms, the thru hikers are invited in to finish the leftovers. It is somewhat of a comical (and pathetic) picture to have this group of cold, hungry, tired hikers huddled outside the warmth and light of the hut, looking in at the diners consuming their evening meal, as they patiently wait their turn. The first of the huts was Greenleaf, which had plentiful and delicious vegetarian leftovers. They were treated to rice and noodles with an Asian peanut sauce, chili, lasagna, pot stickers, salad and home made bread. At their second hut, Zealand Falls, there were few leftovers, but the crew made them pasta with pesto sauce to supplement the little bit of soup, salad and bread that was left. The meal at the third hut, Mizpah Spring, would have been killer if they were meat eaters, but they were limited to three bean salad, mixed vegetables and a cookie bar. There were seven thru hikers at this hut and though some were meat eaters, they were all told by the crew that their first job was to finish the bean salad. There was a humongous quantity left; a huge bowl about two feet wide, filled with beans was left over. Because all of the trash has to be packed out, they prefer not to have left overs. At the huts, all of their food and provisions must also be packed in on foot. The food crew carries in packs of up to 80 lbs. of food four times a week. For breakfast, they had pancakes and french toast and at Mizpah, they were given a whole tray of coffee cake and told to have at it. However, before breakfast too, they have to wait outside for their turn to eat.

They also stayed in the emergency shelter at the Lake of the Clouds hut below Mt. Washington. Lake of the Clouds was already closed for the season, but a basement room, called The Dungeon, can be accessed year round for thru hikers or as emergency shelter. That night it was down in the 20's with 50 mph winds. At the peak of Mt. Washington, the gusts reached 90 mph. Though they did not experience snow in the Whites, they saw what is called rime ice. When low hanging clouds cause freezing fog to condense on the trees, they are coated with ice, resembling the appearance after an ice storm has blown through. They stopped at another hut at lunch time one day and were given the leftover pancakes from breakfast. A smaller self service hut, Carter Notch, located on the banks of two lakes offered bunk space for the night in exchange for washing dishes.

The White Mountains are so steep and rocky, there is no good footing. Above tree line, there is no obvious path; it is all rock with larger rock piles (cairns) to mark a path. Madeline's boots are serving her well. Jonathan's are beginning to fall apart and the rocky terrain has caused blistering which popped into some pretty nasty open sores, now on the mend. Jonathan also turned his ankle coming down Mt. Lafayette and had a very painful day with slow deliberate steps. They were separated as is common; Madeline had the first aid supplies. Jonathan also has a wound on his chin, a mishap with his hiking stick and a down hill run. Madeline had a day with a sore back. The soreness led to a change in position which in turn led to blistering on her hips from her pack strap. They feel stiff and sore much of the time; mornings are especially hard, on the knees in particular. In these colder temperatures, Jonathan says he breaks a sweat hiking in his long underwear top, unzipped, sleeves rolled up. Madeline on the other hand was hiking the Whites layered in long underwear, fleece and winter trail coat. Only after considerable time would she shed the coat. They were not supplied with the same internal thermostat.

Jonathan saw a Black Bear a little ahead of him on the trail one day. The bear peeked around at him and then took off through the woods. Madeline encountered a very friendly Grey Jay as she stopped to tie her shoe. As she sat down, she saw about five of them light on a nearby tree and watch her. She held her finger up and was most surprised when one immediately landed on her finger, pecked around for a minute and then took off back to the tree when it realized she had nothing to offer. They are apparently a very people friendly species that are fed all too often along the trail. Madeline has also seen grouse and garter snakes abundant. The mountain trees are evergreens, but in the valleys where deciduous are more common, there is the beginning of leaf color change, primarily the maples.

They ran short of food again on this stretch, and detoured to a general store in Crawford Notch. The store hours were 8-11 and 4-6. They arrived at 10 to find a sign that said, Back in 30 minutes. They waited till noon when a man came by and opened the store up so they could resupply. The selection of food was minimal and overpriced. For $18, they got 2 lbs. of spaghetti, butter, cheese and a dozen eggs. After they were done shopping, the man closed the store and put the Back in 30 minutes sign back on the door. It's an interesting way to run a business. I asked how they transport eggs in a pack and Jonathan said, "carefully". They hard boiled them when they had access to a stove in a hut.

Both hikers got lost when they split routes at Mt. Madison. Jonathan chose to go over; Madeline took the side trail around. Madeline's route was very overgrown and she took a wrong path which eventually got righted. She was sure Jonathan would beat her to camp but he wasn't there when she arrived. She got more and more worried as time crept on and nightfall came. She was too worried to pass the time reading and wasn't sure what to do if he didn't come. She was afraid to strike out on her own mountain search in the dark; he showed up at 8:30. Coming down Mt. Madison, he took a wrong path and eventually realized he was no longer on the AT. Madeline had the map with her; he had the phone. He got reception and called the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) for advise on how to get back on the trail without going all the way back up the mountain. He had to go back up the mountain to reconnect with the trail. On the plus side, he got to see the sun set up above the tree line, though he wished he was in a place where he could fully enjoy it. He felt he had to rush as he as loosing light rapidly and he didn't want to be caught on the rocky terrain above the tree line in the pitch dark. Dinner was hard boiled eggs and trail bars that night.

The next morning, they set out at 6:00 am without breakfast for they planned a detour to a visitor's center off the trail for an all you can eat breakfast; Jonathan was ahead of Madeline. Madeline took a wrong path at a fork where the signage was ambiguous and ended up on some ski trails. Because she had taken several different forks, she wasn't sure where she went wrong. She ended up on a road, asked some construction workers where she was and then hitched a ride to the visitor's center with a guy heading to work (yikes!). When she arrived at 9:00, the all you can eat breakfast was over for the day and Jonathan was still not there. He had come to a point in the trail where a bridge was washed out and waited there for Madeline to help her with the detour. Of course with her wrong paths and alternate route in, she never showed up. He finally went on to the visitor's center, arriving at 10:00. They had lunch instead of breakfast.

They are hiking of late with a man who just turned 60, Swift, and a woman (age unknown) named Dream Catcher. Swift lives in Maine and began last summer by biking to Florida and then back up to Georgia. He set out on foot in Georgia in January and has been on the trail ever since. As fall slips in, there has been concern about reaching the northern point, Mount Katahdin before the trail closes (by October 15th). Therefore, there has been a change in strategy. Our hikers, Swift, and Dream Catcher, are leapfrogging from Gorham, New Hampshire to Monson, Maine to fit the last 115 miles in before it closes. There is someone from the hostel who is going to shuttle them from Gorham to Monson tomorrow morning. They plan to supplement their Gorham mail drop with provisions from the grocery store to take them through this next leg. The mail drop they just picked up was not designed for this last stretch. This last stretch is a wilderness stretch - no detours to towns for refueling. They best have sufficient provisions; we know what the appetites are like.

Once Katahdin is reached, the plans are getting very fuzzy. Life on the trail is getting increasingly harder for Madeline. She is loving all the peripheral experiences - the other people she has met, the shelter community, the towns and hostels, but she is increasingly viewing the hike itself as more of a chore, less of a joy. She's tired of walking, especially up. Serious doubts over wanting to finish the trail are becoming more common. Homesickness is becoming an issue. Jonathan says she seems to need a place to call home. She settles into shelters and hostels as if they are home and is reluctant to push on ahead. He says that always being on the move is seeming harder for her to do. When she feels down, she wants to stay put, while when he feels down, he wants to keep moving, the faster the better. They are cut from a very different cloth. Though she has definitely been tempted to throw in the towel, Madeline is going to continue the journey through this northern most section with a mind open to possibilities. She says she will not make any decisions on a bad day for those aren't decisions you can trust. I have counseled her to make sure that she can live with whatever decision she makes without regret. Jonathan says that although things are not as he had expected, he is not unhappy with the results. Everything is still good. Few things in life turn out exactly as one expects them to.

If you've stuck with me through these lengthy ramblings, I am impressed. Although I have some other trail stories to share, I will save them for another posting. They will help fill the gap during this northern most leg of the journey when phone reception is not expected. Thank you for sharing our journey. ~Amy