October 6/7 Mixed Bag

We're splitting up the weekend to attack different parts of the Whites and make them pay dearly for giving us two freak shows at Galehead Hut. tMail and the PM are hitting Hale and the Willey Range on Saturday. I'm undecided but may check out Mt. Wolf via the Gordon Pond trail outside of Lincoln.

[Update 10/7, 5am] Apparently St. Francis has arisen and is pounding out the miles on the Willey Range (pic at right, courtesy of the PM). It looks like the bird in question is a Whiskey Jack. I got close to one on Waumbek as well. See tMail's Picasa Slideshow for more details.

tMail's Trip Report: Great Day up in NH...all walks of life were seen today. We had leafpeppers, elderly, young, dogs and the walking cluless. Puppetmaster and I decide to have a nice easy day and hit TFW we threw out Hale for another day. I will send the pics... The count is 15 left...Puppetmaster mentioned he would be up for a Carter Range Traverse next Saturday....

[Update 10/7, 7pm] Ooh rah! I extended my hike from rte 112 (Kinsman Notch), all along the AT (Kinsman Ridge Trail) to tag South Kinsman and returned the same way (20 miles, 9:32). Now I've been on the entire trail from Kinsman Notch to the tram parking lot. The book refers to this section of the AT as rather rugged. No shit. It's got a section like Falling Water (but prettier); a section like Garfield Ridge (slow, rugged, ups and downs); a section like Tom Wiggin (stone, not loose); a section like nothing I've ever seen going up to the summit of South Kinsman - it's like the section between Willey and the AT - or going up the summit of Madison - this has lots of exposure. It's so steep and there's so much of it that a group of through-hikers stopped about 100 ft (vertically) short of the 'top' to have lunch - they were wiped. There are marshes, brooks, birds, cascades, pools, etc. The day started out in cold, windy rain. It evolved into cold breezy fog with dripping trees and finally ended in bright sun and blue sky. How fun is that! I'm trashed - am heading into the hot tub in a bit. Pics posted some other time.

And for the record: I had a 7:26 start, with only one other car in the lot. I only met two groups on the trail - it was basically 9.5 hours of solo peak foliage hiking (lots of leaf litter on the ground). Finished at 4:59.)

MZ's Bad Moves:

• hiking alone
• not bringing a cell phone
  
• starting in the cold rain
• got to summit, took pics, had a snack, looked around, noticed that it didn't look familiar (been there twice), determined I was on southern false summit. found real summit 3 minutes up the trail.
• decided that after my 3rd liter of water that it wasn't worth stopping to pump any more. i get trail hypnosis and make dumb decisions like that. i rationed my last liter but there was no need - there are plenty of water sources if you have a filter.
  

MZ's Good Moves:

• wore my mid-weight leathers
• brought my MSR pump filter - worth it's weight in gold. thanks tyler
  
• used poles for 2/3 of hike - packed them for the big ascent/descent of Kinsman
• gear du jour: gaiters. first gaiter hike of the 07/08 season.
• wore northface light shell pants and ultra light capilene longsleeve patagonia top. never changed. i took my windbreaker off after the rain stopped and the capilene stayed kind of dry and i stayed warm enough. i love that top.
  

PM's Good Moves:

• Hiking in the leaves with TMail and Big Boy
• Getting an early start prior to the rain
• Packing the spam sandwich
• Giving the EMS Ridgeline pack a chance to live
• Opting for leaving Hale out of the mix
• Wearing Vasques over the GoLites

PM's Bad Moves:

• Opting for Nalgene Bottles versus the camelback - I found myself swigging on occassion versus sipping constantly
• Thinking that a pair of REI windblock briefs would create chafing equivalent to being in a knife fight with a midget
• Hanging out with TMail (aka the "Panther Magnet")
• Seeing the mass of humanity on the descent of the hike into Crawford Noth and then the Kanc... what a mess!