[Aug. 2nd] - Hiking Day 2

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day." -Emerson

Start: Pinkham Notch
Stop: Wildcat Peak D
Today: 3.0 miles
Total: 16.4 miles

A number of adjectives (and a couple expletives) ran through my head while I climbed Wildcat today: painful, unrelenting, tricky, fun, and underwear soiling (during one especially steep slope with nowhere to go but down). Despite this, Heather and I both had a great time on this punishing climb. We had decided not to push Heather's knee too much by only doing 3 miles up Wildcat peaks E and D. Luckily, her knee felt great and we hike to smell up another day.

Today began when we crossed the street at Pinkham Notch and I set foot the farthest north I had ever been on the AT. The first mile brought with it a maze of trail with no blazes to follow, false turns, overgrown areas and boggy sections to trudge through. If I was a mouse the cheese would not be worth it.

After a mile of that race the trail turned upwards...straight up! This mountain is thought by many to be the hardest on the AT. The never ending stone staircase ascended up towards the sky. Heather's knee was feeling good so we continued climbing around boulders, up sheer rock walls and around narrow ledges.

At one point I was thinking what a beautiful day it turned out to be. "Booom." I looked straight into Heather's eyes and saw a look of dread. "Boooooooom." Thunder! A couple days ago in town we heard the same warning sound right before the sky let loose a deluge of rain. Luckily, we only got about 5 minutes of a light afternoon drizzle before the sun re-emerged.

Three false summits later we reached the peak of Wildcat D to enjoy the well-earned gondola ride down to the valley."

- Daddy Long Legs