New Hampshire // Hanover to Glencliff

After a really great time in Hanover (and temptations to stay another night), Gribley and I successfully left town about 5pm. We hiked a mile and a half up to Velvet Rocks Shelter, which is just outside Hanover. Our logic was that if we stayed in town another night, we would spend money on dinner and drinks, and then in the morning we'd want to get breakfast and coffee and then not start hiking until about noon. By leaving that night, we knew we could eat dinner on the trail, and get up and really pack away some miles the next morning. 

Velvet Rocks was nice night though. It was just me and Gribley and two older guys: Hillbilly Berry and Cheesy Turtle. Gribley met Berry back in Georgia so it was cool for them to hang out, so many miles later. We arrived with plenty of daylight left, and enjoyed a quiet night reading. 

Gribley reading and drinking tea at dusk at Velvet Rocks shelter

Sleepy faces! Breakfast at Velvet Rocks shelter. Hillbilly Berry on far left

The next morning, August 12, we really began hiking New Hampshire. I have to admit, this was one of the hardest sections of trail we experienced. The grind of the trail was becoming increasingly challenging and seemingly less rewarding at that point. I knew once I was in the Whites and in Maine, the spectacular beauty would motivate me, but the stretch from Hanover to Glencliff (the last town before the Whites) was just regular old trail, but really tough. It was in this section that I found that 10 hours was barely enough sleep, and somehow my food supply was never enough. My body was becoming exhausted. 

Anyway, we left Velvet Rocks and hiked up over Mouse Mountain. We ran into Gypsy Soul and Muck Fichigan just before the climb, where someone had left bagels as trail magic. They passed on the news that there was a huge group right behind us, that had all left Hanover that morning. This knowledge was motivation to keep hiking and try to beat the crowd. As we experienced in Vermont, a crowded trail is stressful - shelters and campsites have a limited number of tent sites, and sometimes we found ourselves setting up in less than ideal situations. Not to mention, part of the lure of hiking is the solitude and quiet time while hiking. We heard the group was heading to the Moose Mountain Shelter, so we pushed on 6 more miles to Trapper John Shelter. On the way there, we met a section hiker named Jenny who was really struggling with her gear and the terrain. She joined us for dinner, and Gribley and I shared some of the things we'd learned in the past 1750 miles. She was really grateful for our advice. 

We left Trapper John Shelter with a tough day ahead: Smart Mountain and Mt. Cube. I remember thinking, these mountains are HARD and wondering how I would fair in the Whites. We decided to push past Hexacuba Shelter as we wanted to get as close to Glencliff as possible in the morning. As always, when you skip a shelter in hopes for a stealth spot, it is quite a gamble. In Virginia and Pennsylvania, finding a flat and durable campsite on the side of the trail was no problem. Up north, these small spots were a lot harder to find and more often than not, you end up settling for a not so great spot. Gribley and I both were really running out of steam and the day was running out of light. The hike down Cube seemed to take forever and as soon as we hit flattish terrain, we pitched our tents at the first possible spot. 

The "trail" going up Smart Mtn, yes vertically up. 

Hiker trash lounging below the firepower on top of Smart. Bowser, The Georgia Boys, and Dewey

View from Smart looking out at the mountains ahead of us

Gribley hiking up Cube

Gribley on Cube

Me on Cube

View from Cube, looking south at what we hiked earlier that day

Random stealth spot. Not ideal but it will do

 The next morning, we were up and hiking early with the intention to get into Glencliff, check out the Hiker's Welcome Hostel (and possibly do laundry!), resupply, and hike out. I remember that day was pretty pleasant hiking, all the big mountains behind us until the Whites. About half a mile before Glencliff, we hiked past a hornet's next and Gribley got stung on the calf and the knee. His knee swelled up, but luckily didn't hinder his hiking too bad. We made it to the hostel, which is just off the trail in Glencliff and realized that many hikers were getting stung by the same nest. It was cool at the hostel though, lots of old timer trail "celebrities" were there, including Baltimore Jack - a jolly guy in his 40s who hiked the trail every year some 6 or 7 years in a row.

Gribley's swollen knee

Gribley stayed at the hostel icing his knee while I took the shuttle to the store to resupply for both of us. The store turned out to be a glorified gas station, as sometimes is the case. In terms of grocery stores on the AT, they are similar to how Forrest Gump describes a box of chocolates - you never know what you're gonna get. I picked out the regular items - oatmeal, pasta, granola bars.. and headed back to the hostel. Gribley's knee was a bit better and we decided to skip doing laundry so we could head on to Jeffer's Brook Shelter - the last shelter before the Whites.

Just back into the woods we recognized lots of tents - the Honeymoon Hikers, the Georgia Boys and Dewey, and Gypsy Soul and Muck Fichigan were all camping by a river and excited about starting the Whites the next morning. We chatted with everyone and then hiked on up to the shelter. We arrived around 6 and found Towelly and Cheesewater slashing around the brook. Gribley dove in, but as the temperature was dropping, I opted to stay dry and warm. We met two young guys who seemed pretty clueless and asked if we knew of any camping up on Moosilauke. We looked at them quizzically and explained that it was a major mountain, totally above treeline, and not only was camping prohibited due to fragile alpine vegetation, but it is extremely dangerous. The weather can change very quickly and you have no shelter from possible storms. We pleaded for them to just camp at the shelter and hike in the morning, like everyone else, but they shrugged off our advice and hiked on. As for us, we set up tents outside the shelter. A big group was there - the "Bros" and they had a big campfire going. I went to bed early, excited for the next day - the beginning of the Whites!

Tents set up outside Jeffers Brook Shelter