The Kinsmans, Moosilauke, and the Rest of New Hampshire

The Kinsmans

After completing Franconia Ridge, we spent the night in Woodstock for shower, real food, and resupply. The next morning, we started up the Kinsmans. The beginning of the trail was pretty easy, and we ate lunch at the Lonesome Lake Hut. Then we started over the Kinsmans. It was hot and muggy and we got a little dehydrated, but the views from the Kinsmans were beautiful. 

 

 

We descended and stayed at the Eliza Brook Shelter. It was a good group. Lt Dan was there along with Treasure Hunter and Artemis, Stanky, Quiet Earp.

 

 

The next day, we decided to stop and take a full zero day. I was feeling very wiped out and needed a rest. We descended to Kinsman Notch and arrange to stay at the Mt Liberty Motel and Cabins. They were very hiker friendly. They picked us up and stopped in Woodstock so we could buy food (subs, beer, soda, Ben & Jerry’s). When we got to the motel, they washed all our clothes while we took showers. They shuttled us in and out of Lincoln for meals and movies (we saw Jurassic World). After a solid day of nothing, they shuttled us back to Kinsman Notch to tackle Moosilauke.

 

 Moosilauke

The sign at the beginning made us nervous. I’ve hiked a lot of trails in the Whites and I’ve never seen one that has a sign that says “…use extreme caution to avoid a tragic outcome.” The trail was tough, but after climbing it, the sign seemed a little alarmist.

 

 

The views on Moosilauke were awesome. The summit is very open and you can see in every direction. The descent when you are going southbound is also easier but it was good we took the zero day. We camped at Wauchipauka Pond and though it was not an established campsite, but there were a couple of places to set up tents. We went to sleep to the sound of owls.

 

 

With Moosilauke behind us, we essentially completed the Whites. The next day we hiked over Mt Cube and stayed in the Hexacuba Shelter. It gets its name from Mt Cube and from the fact that it has six sides. The privy is five-sided and is called The Pentagon.

 

 

Now we are a short distance from Hanover. Saturday was wet and damp (it rained Friday night) but is not actively raining. We summited Smarts Mountain but had no views due to the clouds.

 

 

Once we descended, we visited the ice cream man. Bill Ackerly lives next to the trail and provides ice cream, soda, water, and conversation to thru-hikers. After a very enjoyable hour setting on his porch, we trekked to the Trapper John shelter for the night.
Since Hexacuba, we have been traveling with Popeye, a 67 year old gentleman from north of Harrisburg PA. He walks at my speed so we had some conversation. He thru-hiked years ago, and decided to do a section hike (Maine to Mass) this year.

On Sunday, we hiked 16.5 miles into Hanover. We are getting picked up an will be off-trail for 5 days. I have to attend my class in Philadelphia on Tuesday/Wednesday, and then we will attend my son Mark’s thesis defense for his doctorate in Friday. Then, Vermont!