Live Free or Die

And so it goes. 298 miles of footpath left between us and Mt. Katahdin. We will be in Maine in a few miles. Our guide book, and some south-bounders (Sobos), tell us that the "most difficult or fun" mile of the trail lies ahead. The Mahoosuc notch is said to greet us with a jumbled pit of boulders the size of cars. We are currently celebrating having made it through the White Mtns by taking a "zero" day here in Gorham, NH. Zero is the number of trail miles we hiked today. We don't feel too guilty. Hike the Whites and you too will feel justified in taking some time to relax. It was definitely some of the most difficult trail we've seen. Straight up, straight down, jagged boulders above treeline, in the clouds, grab that tree and be sure not to slip. Oh look at that waterfall...no, wait, that's the trail. All that being said, it was lovely. These are the biggest mountains in the northeast and the most time we spend in the"alpine zone", near or above treeline. For most AT hikers it is a new and exciting experience to hike above treeline and be able to see the views we haven't had since the "balds" down south. For us it felt oddly familiar, like hiking back home in Montana. Mt. Washington and the Presidential Range look as though they could have been plucked from the Rockies and dropped amongst green hills. People from all over the east come to hike in the Whites. Most pay $80-120 a night to stay in one of the handful of huts operated by the AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club). For that price they get a bunk, no showers and dinner and breakfast served family style in the dining hall. For many this is seriously "roughing it". For a thru-hiker it is luxury with all the fixins. So the running water isn't hot, it comes out just by turning a handle! The AMC does allow for the huts to accept a limited number of thru-hikers (4 or so) each day to do work-for-stay. This usually involves some dish washing and sweeping in exchange for eating dinner and breakfast leftovers and sleeping on the floor. We took advantage of this opportunity on an afternoon where the weather was predicted to go south. It did. We stayed inside and polished off a turkey dinner with green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy while a cold rain fell on all the poor suckers camped in the woods. The floor wasn't bad but with all the guests there was lots of noise and so we opted to go back to the tent after that. We did, however, stop in at some of the other huts and were successful at doing some work-for-sandwich! We hiked up to the top of Mt. Washington which is home to the "worst weather in America". There is a road to the top. There is a cog train as well. We had to wait in line to have our picture taken at the summit. I walked into the gift shop and heard a man ask the cashier, "So, is there a hiking trail that comes up here? Do people ever hike to the top?" My laughing out loud caught his attention so I felt I needed to explain my presence there. I'm not sure if he quite comprehended the scope of a long distance trail like this, or even believed me at all, though the cashier nodded in corroboration. We are just going to keep walking until we get to the end. Starting tomorrow!