Waffles and factory made pastries for breakfast. I hit the road at 7:30. I tried hitching but no luck. However the motel was far enough north that I only had to walk for an hour on the road before I reached the side trail that connects to the AT.
I had blood in my urine the first time I peed, probably because on the road I hadn’t restrained my pace, so I decided to change my approach. First, I drank a ton. Second, I hummed an eight bar tune and took two steps per bar, but rested on bars seven and eight. Steps one through six were also smaller than they used to be, and I had no further problems after that. So I think I can get through the Whites in good health. I’m just going to have to take it slow.
I met another SOBO today, Canonball, up on one of the ridges. He told me he did a work for stay at one of the huts, and his work consisted of telling people about thru hiking for about twenty minutes, and he ate dinner at 7:30. So I will try to get a work for stay if I can.
There was lots of climbing today, but some of it was out in the open on ridges. The trail passed Little Haystack Mountain, Mount Lincoln, Mount Lafayette, and Mount Garfield. You could see the trail leading from one to the next because at that altitude there are very few trees. The weather was cool up there but these were some of the most stunning views I’ve seen on the whole trail.
As usual the campsite always seemed to be just within reach, but the last two miles felt like they took two hours. I arrived around 6. The site was packed because a boys’ camp that does hiking trips had claimed at least three of the seven tent platforms. I’m sharing mine with a section hiker who pulled in around 8:30. We’re right next to two platforms with campers, so there might be some noise past hiker midnight, but I’m sure with my hearing aids out and my earplugs in, I’ll sleep right through it.
On the subject of tent platforms, I thought I couldn’t set my tent up on one because I have to use pegs for the corners. But I’ve done it twice now by jamming the pegs in the spaces between the boards. I now understand why all the tentsites in the Whites are platforms – because flat ground just doesn’t exist here.
Mile 1827.5 (Liberty Springs campsite( to mile 1834.9 = 7.4 miles of AT advancement. But I actually hiked 13.5 miles if you count the highway, side trail, and the AT section I’d already done.
The beard grows ever bushier
Ridge trail between peaks
The Francinia ridge in the distance. I hiked the whole thing today
It looks daunting. Take it easy.