Starting the White Mountains (Day 139)

We got dropped off just before 9 am, ready to hike! We’re doing a slackpack today where our stuff gets dropped off at the Notch hostel so we can do some more miles, but also to get a feel for the difficulty of the Whites. We’re excited to finally start this infamous section we have heard of since the beginning.

The first 5 miles flew by and we crossed 1800 miles! We always celebrate every 100 miles. The trail goes by fast and we think it’s important to keep congratulating each other. Unfortunately we didn’t see any milestone marker and we were too lazy to make one ourselves, so you guys get treated with a picture of some dirt where I would expect a sign to be.

Moosilauke

It’s time to climb Moosilauke. It’s a steep climb with dirt in the beginning and more rocky on top. Even though it’s a long and quite steep climb, it is also very consistent in its elevation gain, making the climb not as bad as we thought. Nothing you can’t do if you made it this far. It’s cool to be up high again and the awesome views lifted everybody’s spirits.

Climbing it in style

The climb wasn’t too bad, but the descent was something else. This was a very technical 0.5 mile per hour slow going descent. You had to take every step with a lot of attention. Because we’re hiking in a group, we also wait and keep an eye out for each other. Making it a little slower going than a one man team.

We made it just in time for our evening shuttle that brings us to The Notch hostel. This place looks really cool. But, it’s late already. Food, shower, laundry, bed.