Daily Journal
Pre-Trip Journal
Caroline:
June 2nd, 2021
8 days until Day 1
Hi! Caroline here. A little over a week is left until Darcy and I will embark out on the trail. Our initial plan entailed hiking Mount Washington on the very first day, but we've since thought twice and revised this ambitious plan, so instead we will only descend Mount Washington to begin our hike. We're open to keeping our plans flexible, and while we often set high goals for ourselves, we want to keep in perspective our limits. We're finalizing our gear list and gear planning, the main item we will need to figure out between now and Day 1 is our food.
Day 1 Journal Entries
Wednesday June 10th
Today was our first day hiking! Backpacking was a bit of a rude awakening for me and I admit I slowed us down a lot. To be honest, after today, I am a little scared for the rest of our journey. We began the day with breakfast at my house and then a 2.5 hour car ride to the Edmund trail junction, an AT side trail. The incline was rough and within the first mile or so we were really feeling the weight of our packs, just that was 2.9 miles took us about 3 hours. After that, we summited Mt. Eisenhower, elevation 4,780 (and trust me we felt all of it), but the view from the top made the 40lbs bag worth it. I had forgotten how gorgeous the panoramic view from the summit is. The weather was absolutely perfect, clear and warm with just the right amount of wind. After resting for a bit on Eisenhower we began our descent, moving much faster than before. We took a quick snack break then summited Mount Pierce. The descent from Pierce was steep; with more than 1000' of elevation change in .8 miles. Yikes! Caroline and I passed the time by talking about the ethics of having kids. We spent the night at Nauman Campsites, an Appalachian Mountain Club run campground. Personal pizzas for dinner and an early night for us. Total mileage 5.8, total hike 5 hours.
-Darcy
Day 1
… is done! Darcy and I have arrived at the Nauman campsites, complete with our 40 lb + backpacks (mine was 44 lbs, more than ⅓ my body weight :)) I compared myself to a pregnant mountain goat, both nimble and incredibly clumsy at the same time. The hike in the beginning was quite brutal, but after about 2.5 miles it was much more comfortable. Darcy and I have decided we must convince at least one hiker our true purpose in the woods lies as scouts for the NSW (National Sasquatch Watch). I wish us luck there. We’ve become a bit less optimistic about our hiking speeds after today, so we’ll probably switch up the itinerary a bit, hopefully that goes well.
-Caroline
Day 2 Journal Entries
Thursday June 11th
We had a late start to the morning today. We woke up to another beautiful day in the White Mountains and began the morning with a big bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats. We ate in the hut while we asked for directions/the opinion of some more experienced hikers regarding our route. With the help of the Meghan (thanks Meghan!) we turned our 13.5 mile day into an 8.5. Nevertheless, it was still challenging. We got moving around ten and set off on our descent down to the A to Z trail that would connect us back to the AT. After descending about 2500' we stopped at Crawford Notch for Lunch. Finishing off the lats of our fresh food, we ate our hummus wraps next to the train tracks. After getting lost quickly (sorry Caroline) we found the correct trail and began, much to my dismay, to go up again. Around six o'clock we completed our day by setting up our campsite and cooking dinner. We decided to stealth camp tonight in a little mossy clearing just a couple hundred feet of trail. (Stealth camping just means finding a patch of flat ground in the woods and settling there for the night.) All in all, it was a long day, but I think I am starting to get the hang of backpacking.
Caroline:
Day 2
Camping near the Zealand Falls Shelters, we’re a bit wary of the day ahead of us. Today we cut through some territory using a side trail to try and keep up with our ambitious plan. Mt. Lafayette will be tough. I’ve learned to dress really warmly to sleep. I’ve even been wearing a bucket hat to keep my head warmer. My feet are quite sore and I hope I don’t develop any blisters. Darcy finally began reading “A Walk in the Woods” after I haranged her about it for close to a year. It is as hilarious as always.
Day 3 Journal Entries
Darcy:
Saturday June 11th
Today was a tough one. We got back on the trail at 7 and hiked up to the Zealand Falls Hut. The view from the top of the falls was amazing, it reminded me of why people like to hike. We each splurged for a piece of homemade cornbread and dangled our legs over the falls for a couple of minutes. Not long after departing, we encountered our steepest uphill section yet, the trail to the top of Mt. Guyot. We took a quick snack break on the summit and then descended back to the ridgeline. After another hour of relatively flat hiking, we came to the base of South Twin Mountain. We met some really nice people and even cuter dogs on the way up. We listened to music for a bit then switched to a conspiracy theory podcast. We got some funny looks from day hikers as we passed them, two girls alone in the woods, haven't showered for a couple of days, listening to conspiracy theory podcasts., Oh well. After summiting South Twin, elevation 4950, we began the descent to Garfield Hut. The descent was only 0.8 miles and almost 1200 feet in elevation change, so it was really steep. When we got to Garfield, my legs were dead, I could actually feel them shaking involuntarily. We had a nice 3:30 pm lunch feast of peanut butter sandwiches, quesadilla from Zoe who runs the hut, coffee cake, and lots of water. We stayed there for about an hour then set off to find a campsite for the night. We stealth camped again today. Originally I was worried we were not going to find a place to pitch the tent, the terrain was really rocky and jagged, no flat areas at all. When we finally did spot one, someone had already claimed it. Fortunately, the nice man in the hammock offered to move his setup so we could share the site. (Thank you wilderdude whose name we never got, you saved us from having to walk another two miles that day!) After dinner, Caroline and I began “discussing” trail names. I deemed her bag tag because, quite to my and every other serious hiker we have met amusement, she forgot to cut her backpack's tag off. I think this is very indicative of just how much of a novice she and I both are. Tomorrow we are in for a long day with Mt. Lafayette, 5260 ft. (Yikes!) That’s all for now signing off,
-Darcy
Caroline:
Caroline Day 3
So tonight we’re camping part way between Galehead Hut and Garfield Shelter, the only suitable camping spot we could find already had a guy camping there, but he was friendly enough and moved some of his anchors so that we could pitch a tent next to his hammock. I feel a bit bad as we couldn't help being a little noisy setting up camp, and he seemed to be asleep and snoring already at 6:30!! Either way, this is demonstrative of the kindness and camaraderie that exists on the path here. Everyone says hello on the trail, and oftentimes people will stop to chat with us. Upon finishing our hike today, we decided it would be easiest for my mom for us for us to change our hiking trajectory so that we finish on day 6 without a resupply. We’ll hike Mt. Lafayette tomorrow, and then head to Lafayette campsites, where we should be able to get some groceries for day 6, although we probably don’t need much. The Lafayette hike will be tough, I believe it is 3260 feet in elevation, and will be the tallest mountain we will hike on this trip. Darcy and I have discussed some trail names for ourselves - mine being ‘bag-tag’ because - of course - I forgot to take the tags off my hiking pack. This certainly qualifies me as a novice. Now I’m going to go read some 1Q84 - I’m about 800 pages in, still going. “I’ll finish it soon”.
Journal Entries Day 4
Darcy:
June 14th Day four
So I’ll begin this entry with the story of last night. It’s about 2 a.m. and the nice wilderdude is snoring, kind of like a deep, grumbly snore, and Caroline was also snoring really loudly. Then I hear something coming down the trail. It sounded big, but I couldn’t be sure what it was because of all the snoring. I shook Caroline awake and told her to be quiet (I probably scared her half out of her mind) and proceeded to listen for a couple of minutes until giving the all clear. Didn't sleep much after that. We woke up at 6:30 to begin the day. We had HBO for breakfast and then hiked to the base of Mt. Garfield. I felt really sick the entire way, partially because I was out of water. The ascent up Garfield, elevation 4500’, was super steep, possibly the steepest climb we have done. We stopped about halfway to filter water out of a near by stream. We met a really nice group of hikers and had an interesting, to say the least, conversation about voting rights. They were very strange. So we continued up the steep slope and eventually summited at about 10 am. We had a snack on top of the mountain and were on our way down by 10:30. The descent of Garfield was pretty bad as well, it took us about an hour to get back down to the ridgeline and another hour and a half to get over to the base of Lafayette, 5260’ ft. The worst part was we had to climb all the way up Garfield, then all the way down, then all the way back up Lafayette then all the way down. Also, pro-tip for anyone climbing Mt. Lafayette, it has FOUR false peaks. Just a heads up. After summiting, at 1 pm we had a quick pbj lunch break then began the descent to Greenleaf Hut. Super steep down hill, over 1000 feet in elevation change in one mile At Greenleaf, we decided it would be best to continue going down the mountain. The rain in the forecast for tomorrow morning would have made the descent really dangerous. The remaining 2.7 miles down to the highway took forever, almost 3 hours. Havnig already done 10 miles that day, my knees were hurting pretty badly the whole time. (For reference, as I sit in our tent writing this right now I can barely move my legs.) After we arrived at the highway we walked over to Lafayette campsites. We met a very creepy man, who did NOT work at the campground and would not leave us alone. He proceeded to 'mansplain' the fundamentals of camping, surviving in the wilderness, and how to start a fire to us. He came back to our campsite three times and Caroline and I decided to stick together for the rest of the night. We had mac and cheese, chana masala, and cookie butter for dinner (YUM) and then packed everything away because of the rain.
P.S. new trail name Jukebox because I remember the words to every song I've ever heard.
Caroline:
Day 4
Day 4 was a DOOZY. We left our camp with a mountain man (wilder dude) after not getting eaten by a bear. We hiked up Garfield, and Darcy was very thirsty, although I wasn’t. Maybe I’m part Fremen, or, more likely, I just don’t know how to hydrate. Either way, hiking to the top of Garfield was just the beginning. We then descended Garfield, walked down a ridge, and ascended Mt. Lafayette, which stands at 5260 feet of elevation. Quite high. This was an arduous task, yet after we descended Lafayette part way, we learned at the Greenleaf shelter that there were no suitable campsites on the mountain, so we continued to descend all the way down to the Franconia Notch highway-trail intersection so that we could camp at the Lafayette campsites for the night. Tonight and tomorrow have a rain forecast, and I hope our tent can keep us fairly dry, but my mom is coming to pick us up in the morning so we don’t have to suffer through the rain. This’ll be the last night of our trip, which has been super fun, and I think a length of 5 days is better and more enjoyable than 10. I’ve learned just how intense the white mountains truly are, especially with 40 lb packs, and *will adjust future plans accordingly*
Signing off,
Bag-tag