"We are now in the mountains
And they are in us..."
-John Muir
Start: Kinsman Notch
Finish: Glenncliff, NH
Today: 9.3 mi
Total: 515.8 mi
Even on a trip filled with fantastic experiences, there are some days that stand alone. Today was one of those days. It marked our entrance into the White Mountains with our climb up Mt. Moosilauke. This huge mountain towered in front of us with the upper half under clouds. We made a calculated decision to asend the mountain on the north slope rather than the south. We heard that descending the north slope can be dangerous. I worried about my ankle giving out and me going tumbling down (judging by how tall this mountain is I don't think all the kings horses and all the kings men would be able to put me back together again)!
The trail went, you guessed it, straight up out of Kinsman Notch. The sheer rock walls had wooden blocks and iron rebar bolted to it to aid in our scramble towards the clouds. The first leg of the climb to the shelter was 1850 feet in 1.3 miles (1400 feet per mile)! We were soon in the clouds and I hoped that the afternoon sun would burn them off so we could see Mt Washington from the top.
We took a break at Beaver Brook shelter where we saw "views" of the White Mountains. Heather joked that she finally understood why they were called the White Mountains! After looking at the fog for a half hour, we jumped back on the AT and continued our stone stairmaster another 2.3 miles up to the top. When I paused to wait for Heather on the climbs, you could see steam coming off my body in the cool air. Whenever we got to a ledge with a view, Heather and I pretended we were on Pride Rock and said to each other in a deep, deep voice "Look, Simba. Everything the light touches is our kingdom."
Finally, we made it to the top. I can't quite put my finger on why today was so great. Maybe it was our entrance into the Whites? Maybe it was climbing over tree line? There is nothing like emerging from under the forest canopy and entering the bright alpine zone. All the work you did below was worth it as you pass the cairns and the alpine grasses on your way to the summit sign. I stood there on the summit and took a deep breath. Maybe the land that the light touched wasn't mine but the fantastic feeling I had was!
The descent was long and hard on the knees. We walked down 3800 feet in elevation back to Glenncliff and Phat Chapp. We hung out at the Hiker Welcome hostel there for a while and even got to see Baltimore Jack, a person who has thru hiked 9 times and is something of a trail legend. We hadn't seen him since the fourth of July and he looked exactly the same with a Wall Street Journal tucked under one arm, unkempt hair, and arguing with someone about politics.
As Phat Chapp drove us back around the mountain, I thought about my ankle. It didn't feel perfect, but it was feeling better each day. I'm so happy we stuck it out and didn't go home. There were moments that I really wanted to but we didn't. Now the payoff is here as we get to scramble up the steep slopes of our favorite mountains and see increadible views!
~DADDY LONG LEGS
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