Today’s Miles: 8.3
Trip Miles: 1907.2
“My old friend, I recall
The times we had, hanging on my wall
I wouldn’t trade them for gold
‘Cause they laugh and they cry with me
Somehow sanctify me
They’re woven in the stories I have told, and tell again” – Tim McGraw
Up at 6:40. Nice warm night. On trail at 8:00.
Upper 70s, sunny, light breeze. Just another perfect September day in the White Mountains.
I love the clouds down in the valley views.
The ascent was challenging and got the blood flowing. Long steep slabs of rock with intermittent rock scrambles. Would not want to do that in the rain or with worn-out shoes.
Passed the summit of Mount Moriah at 9:30 and 2.4 miles in. I’m saying goodbye to Mount Washington and the presidentials. A bit sadly. I’ve been looking at them for the last week. Now that I’m on the other side of Mount Moriah, I’m looking north into Maine and the final parts of the Whites and then the Mahoosuc Mountains. Those are my next challenge.
I’ve got about 6 miles all downhill to the tent site for tonight. I’ll get in early, 2:00-3:00, but the next camp spot would be very late in the day and I want to do a resupply in Gorham and get real food for dinner.
Lots of bog boards this morning at altitude.
There were a pair of technical areas on the way down, but not terrible overall. Stopped at Rattle River shelter for water and a snack at noon and 6.3 miles in. Zero cell service. Got an easy 2 miles to go to US Route 2.
Got to the Quantum Vortex campsite at 1:30. Nice package: tent site, laundry, shower, WiFi, shuttle to town, all for $35. Also, they provide a small Jackery battery bank. It’s about 6 inches cubed and has two USB-C ports. Perfect for recharging my electronics. I have one of the BIG Jackery power banks at home for emergencies, but I’ve never seen these mini ones before.
The weather is sunny and warm with zero chance of rain, so tenting right on the trail with the amenities is perfect. I’ll go into town at 5:30 and grab minor supplies, adult beverages, and dinner from Subway. In the interim, I’m all set up for the night, and I’ll shower and work on blogs.
The staff is very friendly. There’s a definite hippy vibe with a lot of pot, but I was expecting that. Things seem clean and fairly neat, especially for a small campground, so I’m happy. Plus, there is a covered picnic table away from the big fire pit and party area right by my tent. Nice!
They have a very large campfire area and several covered picnic tables. Perfect for this weather. It’s almost 80 right now.
As I was walking up to the Vortex, I saw a bunch of SOBOs trying to hitch to town. As I got closer, I realized one of them was Mosey. I was hoping we would cross paths. She flipped up to Maine at the end of PA. It was good to chat with her for a bit. She is hiking on a cracked ankle since 2 days ago. Not fun. She plans to keep on moseying south to finish the AT at the Delaware Water Gap, where we parted ways with her back in late July.
Drove to town at 5:30 and got supplies and dinner. Back to campsite, ate dinner, watched YouTube till after dark, talked to Dana, prepped food for the next 3 days, and settled into read till sleep time.
Nice Nero day today. Looking forward to getting to Bethel, Maine in 3 days and really taking a day off.
Technical Notes:
- Mini donuts 280
- Pop tarts 370
- Oreos 160
- Oreos 160
- Zero sugar sausage 120
- Peanut butter crackers 250
- Snickers bar 250
- Subway steak n cheese 1200
- Pringles 900
- Seltzer 800
- Water 2
- Miles 8.3
- Time 5:30
- Elevation gain 1214
- Calories consumed 5500
- Calories burned 4500
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