Oh, the Whites

I've just about made it all the way across New Hampshire. I finished up the Whites a couple of days ago. I'm a little bruised up, but it was worth every bit of pain. The Whites are mostly above treeline, and there are views out the wahzoo. Also, I've been hiking with some great guys and having a blast! I ran into one guy I met during my first section in MD, and he's doing really well. Two others got Lyme disease and are a few weeks behind, but I'm sure they'll catch up soon. The huts in NH have had some great left overs for hikers (pancakes, soup, ham, mashed potatoes), and I've been doing work-for-stay as much as possible. Last week, a girl working at one of the huts fell down the stairs pretty hard, so we had to do a "carry out", which meant we had to strap her to a board and carry her down the trail in the middle of a rainstorm. We didn't get back to the hut until about 2:30am, so the hut workers gave us hot chocolate chip and walnut pancakes in the morning, in addition to all the leftovers.


Wildlife update: I've seen 2 bears. One mom and 3 cubs, and one by himself. They didn't really do much, and they were actually very cute and non-threatening looking. The moose count is up to 4. The first was a young guy who ran away as soon as he saw me. Another was huge and right next to me in the woods, but I didn't see him until he got spooked and ran away. The other 2 were a mom and baby that cornered me in my campsite and wouldn't let me leave. They kept coming toward me, so I had to get behind a rock - I've heard they can kick pretty hard.


Well, I'm doing great. I have a little less than 300 miles to go before climbing Katahdin in Maine. From there, I'm not sure where I'll go. All I know now is I'm ready for Maine.