This morning, I slept in a little bit later at the shelter. I had to put earplugs in because the other person was snoring, so I didn’t wake up to my alarm going off initially. Once I did get up, I packed a pretty quickly though. I’m trying to do a fairly big day today and wanted to start as early as possible. I was moving right around 6 AM though.
The morning was slow going and pretty wet. It wasn’t raining, but the pine trees surrounding the trail were covered in moisture. I had to push my way through a lot of sections which resulted in me getting damp. I had a prolonged stretch of downhill though, so I was wearing my rain gear. And I was definitely glad that I was. The morning wasn’t as cold as I had initially expected though. I was perfectly content and comfortable and what I was wearing.
After a few miles of descending, I crossed over a dirt road and then began the climb up toward mount cube. I remember sitting at this road and taking a break when I was here in 2023. But other than that, I really don’t remember this climb or how difficult is going to be. I hadn’t remembered how tough the climb up smarts mountain was going to be last night. And that bad boy was dang steep.
The climb was pretty steep and rocky, but nothing out of the ordinary for New Hampshire. there were some incredible views that I made my way up the mountain. You climb along some very exposed ridges that you make your way toward the top. And today the weather was fantastic with bright blue skies. I wish every single day could be like this. I swear I don’t even mind the mud or the elevation gain. I would just be perfectly content if it wasn’t storming. I’m just going to enjoy today as much as I can before things turn.
After getting up to the top of Mount cube there is a descent for a few miles down to the next road. On my way down I went past a couple day hikers who were nice. We chatted briefly and talked a bit about the weather. The funny thing is, every single person I’ve ran into has absolutely no idea what’s happening with the weather. Multiple people have reassured me and it’s just going to rain and I don’t have much story about. Until I remind them that the section of the trail passes through the white mountains, which are significantly higher elevation. A few people have talked to you have been baffled by the concept that it’s going to snow. Because it’s not going to snow at lower elevation in any of these towns. But it’s definitely going to snow in the mountains.
A lovely river alongside the trail. Everything was so slick this morning, but that makes for a lush and beautiful forest.
I tried to just continue on after that so I could make good time. The first 10 miles of the day felt like they went by really slow. There was a good amount of mud on the trail to navigate around. At this point in time I was still trying to keep my feet dry. I also felt like I wasn’t hustling as much as I could’ve been. One of the things that I really want to achieve today though is beginning the climb up Moosilauke as early as possible. So when I got to this next road and begin climbing, I put a serious pep in my step.
Around this time, I got one of my feet wide and decided to just throw in the towel. I stopped, avoiding the mud and the puddles altogether. Obviously, I tried not to step into particularly deep portions. Just because that would slow me down more than anything. But I made no attempt to keep my feet dry. I think that doing that wound up saving me a whole lot of time. Plus, I also started moving out a substantially faster pace once I was thinking about it. It’s easy to just get lost in the walking and kind of slow down a bit. It’s just as easy though to refocus your mind and start moving a bit faster.
Views as I made my way up toward Mt Cube.
There was a pretty brief climb up toward the ore hill campsite. Which was really nice and easy and not particularly sleep. Then the trail just rode along some rolling hills and didn’t have too much elevation gain for the next few months. I crossed over another road a little bit later. And just kept my head down and continued pushing on. My goal was to begin the climb up Moosilauke by 2 PM at the latest. But in reality, I was really hoping I could get there around 1:30 PM. Which was totally feasible if I could attempt to maintain a 3 mph pace.
Not yet at the top of Mt Cube, but getting close! What a perfect day.
Then the trail began heading up towards Mount mist. Which was actually a very nice and gradual climb. It was just climbing through a beautiful forest, which was incredibly lush. This climb wasn’t particularly rocky whatsoever. Which man it didn’t show me down at all! I made wonderful time and had service when I got up to the top. So I sent an update to the individuals who work at the Notch Hostel. Just to let them know that I definitely planned to go up and over Moosilauke today, but that I would likely be down at the trailhead by 6 PM. Which won’t be very bad for a 30 mile day with a substantial amount of elevation gain. Especially because I didn’t have a super early start.
I didn’t almost miss Mount Mist.
Coming down off of Mount mist was nice and easy and not too steep. I kept my pace up and knew I would be down at the road right around the time. I was hoping. When you do get down to the road, there’s a hostel just down the street. I actually stayed there in 2023 in preparation for climbing Moosilauke. We stayed at the hostel and then we did that climb first thing in the next morning. This time around though I hit the road and just kept moving.
A large feather attached to a trail sign.
I totally forgot that right after you cross over the road you have to ford a river. Which I think is pretty hilarious. I could see it being a total got punch to have to get your feet soaking wet before you begin a 4000 foot climb up this mountain. Mt Moosilauke it’s just shy of 4800 feet high. And I remembered it being pretty long and steep. From the road to the top it’s about 5.6 miles. But the first couple miles of the climb aren’t super steep. You aren’t actually doing that much elevation gain at all. Which meant most of the climbing was consolidated to a brief portion of mileage.
1800 miles into the AT! Jumping around has been a funny thing. In some ways it’s made me forget how far I’ve traveled.
As I made my way up, I was so pleasantly surprised by how my body felt. The climb was long and exhausting, but I felt incredibly strong. Much stronger than I would’ve imagined. I pushed on for a few miles and then very quickly grabbed some water. After that, I made my way the rest of the way up without stopping. I did eat a snack or two along the climb. But never sat down or took a break.
Walking along a nice little board walk. Though by this point in time my feet were already soaked with mud.
The client was really nice and ebbed and flowed a lot. There were prolongs segments, which were super steep. But because the terrain is rocky, I find it to be less taxing on my cardio. You wind up having to use your hands to pull yourself some of the rocks. Some of the sections are similar to stairs, and other sections are a bit more technical. I find the variability to be very helpful though. That’s definitely one of my favorite parts about this section of trail. The terrain tires me out in a well-rounded way. Rather than just hammering on my calves or my quads specifically.
Making my way up Moosilauke! A very steep and rocky climb.
I was hoping that the climb up wouldn’t add too much time to my day. Once I got very close to the top, I saw two hikers coming down. One guy is doing a multi year thru hike, and the other guy is out here visiting him. They were slack packing up and over this mountain today. I asked if there was any snow up top and they said there was hardly any at all. But they did emphasize that they thought the blow downs on the other side of the mountain were really bad. Though I’m really never sure what to expect when people make comments like that. I think everyone’s tolerance level for particular variables is really different. What might be a lot of blowouts to one person might seem a whole lot more casual to someone else.
The final stretch up to the top of Moosilauke is super exposed, but stunning. Under the right weather conditions it is a wonderful climb.
Not long after that, I got up to the south peak of the mountain. Were you remain in tree line but still get some very nice views. The trees surrounding the trail are short enough that you can still see off in the distance as you continue along the spine of this ridge. Then as you get closer to the mountain, it opens up entirely and is super exposed. This is definitely one of the more exposed 4000 foot peaks that you do on the Appalachian Trail.
Views as I got close to the top of Moosilauke. How nice that it was a blue sky day!
I took some pictures and videos with the sign, and then very quickly began descending. The skies were blue, and the weather was pretty great, but it was still very windy up there. I imagine it’s like that all year around. My hands were cold so I knew I had to keep moving. This section of the trail going northbound doesn’t drop down very quickly. So I was fairly cold for the next couple of miles as I still stayed at higher elevation. The trail was really beautiful though.
The first 4000 footer of the whites! More to come over the next few days. Even with the storm coming in, I hope to be through NH in about 5-6 days.
And as I suspected, the guys who had mentioned “a lot of blow downs” didn’t share in the same opinion as me of what “a lot” meant. I could’ve probably kept counting of every single one that I had to step over and around. And none of them were particularly difficult to maneuver around. Sure, the trail wasn’t completely clear and effortless. But having to go around 10–20 blow downs along a 3 or so section of trail is not particularly bad at all. Especially this early hiking season. It’s typical for lots of trees to go down in the winter because of the snow and wind.
Heading down off Moosilauke.
I can’t believe I lucked out and got such great weather and a blue skies.
After descending for a mile or so, the wind died down and I warmed up a lot. Then I had the steepest portion of the trail left to do. In my memory of the section of the trail was really rough. This time around though I felt like it really wasn’t that terrible. Sure, it was a very steep and long to send. A section which ordinarily might’ve taken me maybe 30 or so minutes took me closer to an hour. But even with the rocks being slick by rain and snow melt, it wasn’t too terrible. I just took my time the whole way down.
A gushing water fall just off the trail.
The trail is no joke coming off of Moosilauke.
I got service sometime around here and was able to connect with Bluebird to confirm a ride to the Notch Hostel around 6 PM. And just hoped that I would get there in time. The section of trail was really beautiful even though it’s a little more challenging. The path follows along a river, which turns into a waterfall multiple times. In the trail truly couldn’t be closer to the river if it tried. If it was any closer, it would be in the river. I made pretty decent time coming down and then eventually the trail leveled out all the way to the parking lot.
Following wooden steps down the steep rocky descent off the mountain.
I actually went past a tent set up right by the trailhead. But the person inside didn’t hear me when I went past. I got to the road just after 6 PM and Bluebird was there waiting for me. It’s so cool to see her again! It’s not every day that you get to cross paths with the same person twice in one year, especially on high like this. She picked me up from a trailhead when I was in New York and drove me into Pawling. Taking me to the grocery store along the way and then eventually to my hotel for the night. Now I’m back here in New Hampshire and our paths are crossing again.
I feel like photos hardly do justice to how steep this descent is.
Once I got to the hostel, I got shown around and situated. This place is absolutely incredible and has everything you could possibly need. I like that they have hikers leave their shoes and backpacks in a designated area. That way it keeps the room is nice and clean. I felt a bit jumbled and like I had a lot of things to do. I’m a bit behind on writing a video work, but also really need to check weather and coordinate some more plans.
I’m in a really good position after doing the 4000 footer today. And it looks like my buddy Boosted is going to meet up with me tomorrow morning, and do the Kinsman together! That would be so nice and make the day a whole lot more enjoyable. Tomorrow night some really bad weather is rolling in so I’m probably just going to go 16 miles tomorrow. Then come back to the hostel tomorrow night. I’m not sure yet what I will do on Friday. I really need to wait and see what happens with the weather over the course of today and tomorrow.
I wound up taking a shower and then spent the rest of the night eating a ton of food. Before I got to the hostel, we had gone to the grocery store and I got a ton of stuff. Because I know I’ll be here tonight and then have a short day tomorrow. There’s definitely at least a slight chance that I take a zero on a Friday. But it’s just too soon to say. It really depends what the weather window will be for Saturday and Sunday. I’m trying to plan the best possible weather for going up and over Franconia and also the Presidentials. Those are the two most prolonged and exposed sections of the whites.
For the rest of the night and I just hung out and relaxed. Before I even blinked it was pretty late and I felt like I hadn’t gotten anything done. But tomorrow I’m just doing 16 miles so I should be back here fairly early to get some writing and video work done. Before going to bed tonight I just wound up going through my stuff and setting aside what I needed to do a slack pack tomorrow. It’s going to be super nice going out for the day with a lighter pack. I’ve been carrying a whole lot of food. But I made sure to pack all of my layers just in case it’s super cold tomorrow. The wind is supposed to be around 35–40 mph, which will definitely drop the temperature down.
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