Appalachian Trail SOBO Day 31 – The end of the Whites
26th August 2023
Kinsman Notch (389.6) - NH Route 25c (404)
Daily miles: 14.4
Total miles: 410.9
Inside the gear shed at the Notch Hostel
Another night in a bed has made me soft and I really didn’t want to leave civilisation and go hiking again!
I got the 7am shuttle. Cal was aiming for the 11am shuttle to the same place as me, and Toe and Mayqueen were on the 7:20am shuttle to 16 miles behind us.
When I got to Kinsman Notch there was trail magic there so stopped for a breakfast hotdog and didn’t end up hiking out until 8am.
Trail magic at Kinsman Notch
Breakfast Hotdog
I struggled up Moosilauke, mostly because of my new shoes and – in a surprising change – not because it was a difficult climb. In fact it was considerably easier than I remember the descent being in 2018! But my shoes.
Firstly they felt weird, of course, they are new and different. Hoka Speedgoats definitely aren’t my shoe, but at the moment I have them due to lack of other options. The soles are way chunkier so I can’t feel the ground or rocks as much - not sure at the moment where this is a good thing or not. They are far too narrow, even though I got the wide fit, they just aren’t wide enough. The skin underneath the balls of my feet is squished and the edges of the shoe are pressuring the sides of my toe balls. The heel is also too spacious and my heel slips and moves around in there. The colours are pretty though! They got muddy straight away as I slipped off a rock into a patch of mud.
The new shoes didn’t stay clean for long
Here’s the thing. I’m hoping they will stretch a bit and get comfier, but today was a struggle. I had to re-lace them so that there was no lacing around the tight part and I could use more lace to try and secure the heel from slipping. I must have stopped to fiddle with my shoes about 5 times.
The first part of the trail is steep. It climbs up next to a waterfall and I was picking my way over the wet rocks very carefully, feeling like Bambi on ice as I got used to the new feeling of the new shoes.
I was only going 1 mile an hour but at least I was moving forwards! The trail mellows a lot and became quite nice to walk on as I ascended into the clouds. As I left tree line it was a bit windy but it didn’t feel cold at all, it was a nice ridge walk, visibility was about 30ft in front so just had to use my memory to picture the views.
Wooden log bridge
Waking alongside a waterfall
These wooden blocks help you not slip and die
Rocky forest trail
Above tree line and into the mist
No views this morning
I got to the top and wanted to take a picture with the sign but there were 2 day hikers right next to it, eating their snacks, so I had to wait for them to move. Then it got cold up there in the wind so I layered up. Eventually they left and I was able to get a nice Flip Flopper to take my picture.
The top of Mt Moosilauke - the last peak of the White Mountains
I didn’t stay up there long after that because it was cold in the wind but as soon as I got back in tree line I was too warm, which is standard. I delayered and made the descent which was way more mellow than I remember the ascent being. It tried to rain, well it did rain a little, but I was sheltered by the canopy of trees and not much of it got through.
It was a bit rocky to start with but it soon changed into forest path and the roots got less and the rocks got less and I could actually open up and walk properly. The mosquitoes however got worse.
Cairns leading the way through the mist
Smiling through the pain in my feet
This was a great trail through the pine trees
There was about a half mile road walk where I met some nice NOBOs and had a chat with them for about 15 minutes. They told me if I could make it to the next road today there was trail magic set up there.
I had to cross a creek and I took my shoes off for this one. I didn’t want to get them wet yet if I didn’t need to. So I crossed barefoot, it wasn’t deep or fast flowing, mid calf max, but no rocks to hop that I could see. I also wanted an excuse to take my shoes off and the water felt nice on my poor sore feet.
Down to the fields
Trail goes this way
A little road walk
A little river crossing
A couple of NOBOs came by and they managed to go upstream a bit and find somewhere to cross without taking their shoes off. I needed to take a break and filter water and eat some food but the mosquitoes were so bad I couldn’t stop. I filled my dirty bottle and just carried it without filtering, and I just went without food other than the snacks in my fanny pack which were mostly Starburst.
The trail was nice in a lot of places, although quite muddy in some areas. A lot of the NOBOs I met today were complaining about all the mud. I was back on a 2 mile an hour pace and I even slightly ran the downhills. I thought about camping next to the pond but the mosquitoes were already bad, I imagined that would be mosquito hell round the pond so I kept going.
I went over the summit of Mt Mist which is easily missed! And by then I was only a couple of miles from the road where the trail magic was. I got there about 5pm and the guy - Lyme Time - was a hiker from last year giving back to the trail. He said I was his only SOBO of the day and he was hoping for at least one so he was stoked.
You almost missed…
He didn’t have a lot of food left but that was ok because I am on the first day out from resupply and I had hardly eaten anything today. What he did have was soda and until now I haven’t had the desire for soda at all (apart from the Mountain Dew a couple of weeks ago) but the need has kicked in now and I downed a Fanta orange and got stuck into a second one. I was so thirsty because I still hadn’t wanted to stop and filter that water I had been carrying for 5 miles because there were too many bugs.
Trail magic from Lyme Time
We chatted and I had already kind of decided I would pitch my tent in a spot I had seen just before I came out on to the road, and a NOBO came by and I stayed and chatted some more. I stayed for about an hour and a half, before needing to go and get my tent set up.
Once pitched, I ate my turkey wrap I had packed out for today, added a string cheese and Doritos to it. It was good but not worth the $7 I paid for it! I would have been just as well off packing out a packet of turkey and I would have paid $2 less.
Solo camp
Anyway. It’s not cold at all tonight and I’ve actually taken off my hoody to sleep. Maybe I’ll get a good nights sleep tonight
