We all slept in a bit the morning waking up at the little random stealth spot in the Whites.
 |
| Woooo! Gribley the tent ghost! |
After packing everything up, Gribley and I started hiking the toward Galehead Hut - only half a mile away. Pace and Hungus were still dismantling their camping hammocks and we planned to meet them at the hut. We made it to Galehead and immediately asked if there was any extra breakfast. The "croo" informed us that there was indeed some eggs & oatmeal leftover, but we'd have to sweep the bunk rooms for it. Deal! It actually felt really good to hold a broom in my hands and be domestic for a few minutes. We sat down to eat as Pace & Hungus arrived. They had the same breakfast inquiry and were given the opportunity to sweep the dining room. We scarfed down every last crumb, grateful for real food that didn't come from powder packets. By the time we finished, lots of other hikers started showing up. A big group had camped that night down by Garfield Pond, probably in hopes of seeing moose, but no such luck for them. We said good mornings to everyone and exchanged trail news and stories.
(More information about the AMC and Huts can be found here:
http://www.outdoors.org/lodging/whitemountains/huts/index.cfm)
 |
Hiker trash out side Galehead Hut
(Ratman, Bowser, Tumbler, Spirit, Y's Guy, and I don't know the two girls on the right) |
 |
Hiker trash out side Galehead Hut
(Bill - one of the "Georgia Boys," Hungus, Pace, Dewey, Brad - the other "Georgia Boy," and Bowser ) |
That day hiking was so glorious - bright blue skies and perfect weather: cool and brisk but with the warm sun shining down. The hike up Twin was pretty tough, but so beautiful. We kept turning around to admire the views behind us.
 |
| Hiking up Twin Mtn |
 |
| View while hiking up Twin (from looking back) |
 |
| Dewey almost to the summit of Twin |
|
|
Everyone hanging out on the summit
|
 |
Summit of Twin
|
 |
Tumbler & Ratman - The "Honeymoon Hikers" with Gribley & Me
(This was the last time we saw them - they were planning to speed up to finish by 9/17) |
 |
| More views from the summit |
The rest of the day was amazing hiking - exposed areas and beautiful forest. Gribley and I split up for most of the afternoon. We loved hiking together but also knew it was good to have some alone time, to quietly reflect on the beauty around us.
 |
Hiking up and over Guyot
|
Eventually he stopped for a snack and I caught up. We'd made plans with Pace & Hungus to head toward Zeland Falls Hut, to see if we could stay the night there. We saw them as they were returning from a side trail with a small sign indicating "VIEW." Gribley and I were going to skip it, in hopes of making it to the Hut in time to inquire about an evening work-for-stay (including dinner, permission to sleep on the dining room floor, bathroom access, and breakfast - in exchange for an hour or two of various work). HungPac (as we lovingly referred to the Hungus/Pace duo), insisted that the view was worth it, so Gribley and I made our way over. Indeed it was!
I think it was called "Zeacliff" view. The Hut we were headed was named "Zeland." Pace came up with a theory that the French must have named this area, "zee land and zee cliff and zee falls" haha. Anyway, the view was glorious and we were glad to have made the trip. We later found out that Pants & Tatertot camped on that spot - brilliant idea!
 |
| Zeacliff view |
 |
| Gribley |
After taking in the view and enjoying a sunny afternoon, we made our way down to Zealand Hut - more on that next post!
No comments:
Post a Comment