After having a great time with the crew at Garfield Pond we planned to head out towards Bond Cliffs to watch the solar eclipse. Being this far north on the east coast put us around 60% coverage, far from the path of totality, but I optimistically hoped that I could get some photos of it. After a brief pitstop at Galehead Hut I hurried along towards Bond Cliffs but decided that the first peak was good enough, going another few miles along the ridge wouldn't produce a view that was overwhelmingly more spectacular. So I sat down behind a huge cairn to block the wind as I cooked lunch and waited for the eclipse. A few other hikers joined in but we never saw anything, bummer. I hiked on the rest of the day, took a quick side trail near a swampy intersection to see a great view of the valley the trail was about to plunge down. At the bottom was Zealand Falls where I caught up to the same crew and we made plans to camp at the first site outside of the Zealand Falls Hut 'no camping' radius. I found a good hammock spot but noticed a few dead trees lingering nearby so I elected to hang elsewhere...and about an hour later we saw one of those dead trees reach it's limit and fall over. It would have crushed my hammock rig along with my body if I was in it. Another big campfire was built and more good times were had.
Below is another shorter mash-up video of the good footage I captured on this section but my GoPro was acting up so it isn't as long or as cool as Part 1.
Glad there were bog boards here.
Lower Zealand Falls.
The next day I left early and hit a four-mile stretch of flat trail which is quite a rarity in the White Mountains but it allowed everyone to hit the high gear and book it. I hitched up to AMC Highland Resort to crush some fancy food and grab extra snacks to tie me over until the next town. The weatherman said a storm was en route and I ran into other hikers were going to wait around all day for the Yellow Deli Shuttle and go stay at their hostel but I wanted none of that and hitched back to the trail. My new crew was waiting at the road crossing for the Notch Hostel Shuttle and they asked me to join them since the shuttle fee can be split among all riders but it had only been two days since I took a Zero-Day. I wasn't ready to go stay indoors again so soon just because it might rain. I've camped in rain before. So we said goodbye and I hiked up the huge 2700 foot incline to Webster Cliffs. I found a nice site just inside treeline and set my tarp with about a minute to spare before the first splash of rain hit. I heard some thunder rolling in and I thought this was going to be a repeat of Mount Williams but it soon went away, stayed dry the rest of the night, and only had the occasional strong gust of wind.
This spider decided to make his web in across the middle of the the flat highway stretch of the trail.
View of Webster Cliffs from my campsite's front porch.
The next morning as I was taking some photos of Crawford Notch down below, another old buddy, Fancy, who I haven't seen for hundreds of miles popped out of the woods. We caught up as we hiked on to the Mizpah Spring Hut where we ate all of the leftover pancakes in exchange for washing a few dishes. We headed out into the fog which thankfully started to clear when we reached the Presidential Range, 12 miles of trail above the treeline offering some of the best views on the entire AT. The sun grew stronger and so did the winds, sustained 30+mph for most of the day. I could see the famous Cog Railway in the distance as it chugged uphill towards Mount Washington and I found myself stopping every few minutes to take more photos. I told myself to focus on hiking but then would crest over a ridge and see an even better view. The summit loomed in the distance and was in and out of cloud cover, looking evil. At the Lake of the Clouds Hut I ran into SwampSwan, a hiker buddy who I haven't since the Smokies! He, Fancy, and I hung out for a bit before deciding to make the push 7.2 miles over the summit and through the rest of the Presidential Range to arrive at Madison Hut.
Right before leaving the Alpine Zone.
Presidential Range.
Mount Washington, home to the worst weather in the world.
Looking back on the trail.
Hiker Trash enjoying a beer on top of the world! Numerous tourists asked:
"I didn't know they sold beers up here!"
They don't, we hiked these up
"WHAT?!?!?! You can WALK up here???"
We got to the summit and sat down in front of the Tip Top House, a former hotel that is now a museum, and Swamp Swan surprised us with three beers that he packed out! Passing tourists who drove a car up or rode on the Cog Railway were blown away that we hiked up there. We explored the summit, took some photos, and I set a timelapse from inside the Observatory where we had some hot beverages and snacks. Around 4pm we realized we had to get going in order to make it back below treeline before night and when we got outside a frigid wind slapped us so hard that we went back inside to put pants and jackets on. It was a cold and windy hike off of the summit and my knee started killing me which made the rocky and steep hike down almost miserable, but the views continued to impress. At the Madison Hut we scrubbed a bunch of pots and pans in exchange for dinner leftovers (shepards pie!) and sleeping on the dining room floor. The next day we hiked down into Pinkham's Notch and hitched a ride to Gorham for a quick food resupply to make it over the next 21 mile section which included Wildcat Mountain, Carter Dome, Mount Hight, and Mount Moriah. After this stretch we went back to Gorham to stay at a Trail Angel's (Trail Name: Baseweight) house who conveniently lived one mile from the only bar around that was showing the Mayweather-McGregor fight. We had a good ol time, met some hikers at the bar who wound up joining us at Baseweight's, and then had a few Jui-Jitsu matches on the living room floor. We had a lazy morning on Sunday and all hopped back on the trail at different times so I was on my own as I made the final state line crossing.
Looking down at Carter Notch Hut.
Almost to Maine.
13 States down and onto the final level!