Day 59 on the Trail

Dave is in Gorham, NH.

As of 08/14/11:
Miles today - 7.8
Miles to date - 653

Dave and Rich had to do their work before leaving the Madison Springs Hut, and since they wanted to get an early start they were fortunate the overnight guests had gotten out of their beds for breakfast.  Their job was to shake out the blankets and sweep the floors of three bunkrooms.  There were 4 sets of bunks stacked 4 high in each room.  They quickly shook 48 blankets, cleaned the floors and were on their way by 8:30 AM.

Mt. Madison

7 hours later they had hiked a total of 7.8 miles.

They had to go up and over Mt. Madison, which Dave said was straight up for half a mile, climbing 800' in elevation.  He said it was like climbing over a rock dunce cap with boulders strewn around.  There was no 'path', you just picked you way up and over a jumble of rocks, then down the other side.

The rocky road

The next section was a descending ridge that reminded him of a dragon tail with smaller spikes to climb over.  This was all above the tree line.

Once they got to the trees the trail was not quite as steep but Dave had the sensation of descending a staircase of rocks.  And yes, his knees were hurting by the time he got to the bottom - Pinkham Notch.

The rock staircase in the trees

He said the only interesting thing he saw, since he was concentrating on finding footholds in the rocks, was a big pile of bear poop.

Dave and Rich caught a shuttle that took them from Pinkham Notch to the White Mountain Hostel in Gorham.  When Dave called, he was sitting in loaner clothes - black cotton shorts and a grey long sleeved shirt, while the hostel crew was doing the laundry of all the hikers that came in that day.  He ate dinner out of his backpack.  He had carried enough food to get him through the Whites but since he was able to work-for-stay four nights, which included dinners, he had plenty of food left over.  There is another box waiting for him at the Post Office.

My dinner was delicious chicken parmesan at Molly and Chad's.  They had just gotten home from a ten-day vacation.  It was fun to have dinner with them and the boys, hearing about their adventures and seeing pictures on Chad's iPhone. They had spent a few days at Wild Dunes, then flew to NYC and stayed at the Ritz. (This was a combination anniversary trip for Molly and Chad and early birthday trip for the boys.)  They went to FAO Schwartz, Dylan's Candy Bar, Central Park, a Yankees game, the Empire State Building (the Vampire state building, as Coleman calls it) and saw Mary Poppins on Broadway.  Whew!  Then it was back to Wild Dunes and the beach for a few more days.  Now they are home. Coleman starts back to school on Monday (3-4 year old class) and Chase on Tuesday (1st grade).  We've all had great vacations this summer, some with more comfortable beds than others.