"Don't let hiking get in the way of your trail experience."
-Phat Chapp
Start: Hexacuba Shelter
Finish: Glenncliff, NH
Today: 15.7 mi
Total: 506.5 mi
We started off the day with a steep climb down the blue blazed trail back to the A.T. I guess that's better than climbing the .3 mi steep trail up to the shelter last night at the end of a long day! I filtered water at the stream when we got to the A.T. Even though the water was a bit stagnant with dead mosquitos floating in it, it tasted far better than any faucet water we've drank on the trail.
The climb up Cube Mountain was more annoying than hard. We passed 4 false summits and made it to the fifth and final summit by 10am. The morning sun felt great as we sat on the summit and enjoyed the views. After Cube Mt we had another 10 miles or so and then met Phat Chapp. He runs a hiker hostel in Glenncliff and gave us a ride to the Carriage Motel in North Woodstock. Phat Chapp told us stories about his hiking down south and the 120 lb pack he carried (record breaking and back breaking weight). He was a completely unassuming, cool, and big hearted man. We mentioned to him that it was a bummer that we were section hikers and couldn't do the whole trail in one go. He helped us see that even thru hikers are section hikers until they finish at Katahdin. "As long as your happy and healthy, you've got it all" he told us. When we arrived at the Carriage hotel, he even got out with us and bargained the hotel owner down in price. So many people didn't understand why we would want to hike for so long this summer. But hiking the trail isn't just getting up, walking and going to bed. You meet so many amazing people and have such increadible conversations. I wouldn't change this experience for anything!
At 6pm, Heather and I walked the 1.5 mile round trip to McDonalds. We were beeped at and vigorously waved at by 3 cars. I was really excited about their support and enthusiasm but an offer for a ride would have been much better!
~DADDY LONG LEGS
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