Days 123-124: Pinkham Notch to Rt 2 Death March

Day 123, 8/29/23

Pinkham Notch to Rt 2

20.8 miles, mile 1899.9

Today will be declared as the Pinkham Notch to Rt 2 death day. There was 7,120 feet of elevation gain today over six 4,000 footers, and man was it rough. We started around 8:30 a.m. and finished right at 7:00 p.m.

The day started going up to the Wildcats, which is the steepest part of the entire Appalachian Trail! I felt like I was in elementary school running up the stairs on all fours, because I was doing exactly that for two miles. We were in the clouds for the first bit, and then after around 1,000 feet of climbing we emerged from the clouds and had a cool view of the Presidential range. I’m glad the steepest part was done in the beginning. It was extremely windy on top of the ski slope (Wildcat D) so we took a quick snack break and continued on to Wildcat Mountain. There was no view for us here, so we just kept going down the steep descent to the Carter Notch Hut.

I made a quick stop at the Hut to refill my waters and sit down before another very steep section up to Carter Dome. When I day hiked the Carters, I thought it was tough, and that opinion stayed true on the thru-hike. The stretch from Carter Dome to North Carter feels very long with a lot of ups and downs. I sat for lunch looking back at Washington right before Middle Carter. We didn’t stop for another break until Mt. Moriah. It took a while to get there because the descent of off North Carter was criminal, and I was butt scooching (doing the boot scootin boogie if you will) the whole way down.

We ran into Hillbilly, who Kevin and I met at Mountain Harbour Hostel while he was going northbound. He flipped up to Maine somewhere in Virginia and is heading south! It was so great to run into him and we talked for a bit about how he has been since we saw him last. He let us know where some other hikers we both know are at. We also ran into a lot of other thru-hikers in the beginning of the day, but since we were slackpacking and doing a big day, we kept the pace up and didn’t see them again.

The first three miles coming down from Moriah were wet, steep, and slippery. I was very over it at this point and just wanted to get down to the car we left for ourselves this morning. To my delight the last three miles were a breeze and we were practically running to get to the car. To my even greater delight there was a trail magic cooler with cold Gatorade at the trailhead! I was so thankful for that and took one for the road. I was too tired to run across the road to the official 1,900 mile marker. 1,899.9 it is!

Tomorrow is a zero day to get out of the rain and rest after this big day. Our slackpack saga in NH has come to an end because now we are too far from home to keep it up. I did some planning though and it seems our great friend in Maine can have my Dad stay for the week and slackpack us then! After that it will be into the 100 mile wilderness, and then the end! I’m so excited we have about three weeks left.

Day 124, 8/30/23

Rt 2

0 miles, mile 1,899.9

I got to see my best friend and her baby again today before I head out for the last stretch. I did some more planning and got all my gear and food together for the next five days until we can get to our friends place in Maine. I’ve said it so many times but the support from my family and friends has been absolutely unreal, and I cannot put into words how much I appreciate it. Back to the trail tomorrow!