The time has come...for the WHITE MOUNTAINS!

Good afternoon everybody!

I am at the library in the small little town of Stratton, Maine right now.  I am going to hit 2,000 miles today, which means that there is only about 190 miles left to go!!! Holy Moly I can't believe this is all almost over!  Today is very hot today here in Maine, which is kinda nice because the last few days have been chilly and windy.  Apparently we are supposed to get some wicked thunderstorms tonight so that might be cool listening to those while I sleep tonight!

Anyways...where did I leave off?  Oh yeah, my last post was in Hanover, NH which is where Dartmouth college was.  Well, I have seen lots and LOTS of things since then, most of which have been absolutely amazing.  The White mountains were absolutely mindblowing (on the days we had views and it wasn't cloudy) and  it seems like I had lots of fun little adventures amongst all the hiking.  New Hampshire and Maine are most people's favorite states on the trail, they are commonly referred to as the Northbounder's dessert.  I can see why, they are absolutely gorgeous.  Like wowza.  I would be pretty upset if I went southbound for the fact that you do the two best (and hardest) states right in the beginning.  I think it would make the trip less exciting I guess, but hey you're still not working so that is awesome.

OK, Enough of me blabbing.  Time for some long awaited PICTURES!

Here is a picture of Homebrew and Bluegrass watching an INTENSE game of croquet going on at Bill Ackerly's house.  Bill Ackerly is a super cool old guy that lives right on the trail, and he basically just caters to hikers all day.  I really admire that about people like him, it seems like instead of being an old hermit who just keeps to himself doesn't do much with society, instead he caters to hikers all the time!  It's amazing how sharp and witty he is, especially for how old he is.  I think I want to do something like him when I get old, because I think us hikers give him enough of a social experience that he is never lonely, and I am sure he enjoys catering to us and listening to all of our stories.  Doing stuff like that I think is important to keep the mind sharp when you start getting old!

So here is us with the MAN Bill Ackerly.  From left to right, its Bluegrass, Twix, Homebrew, Bill, Salsa, Me, and Lone Wolf.  Lone Wolf won the croquet game, so he got 2 shots of Jim Beam, while every one else just got one.  Woo!

This is me climbing my first mountain in the Whites.  I had this reaction a LOT of the time in the White Mountains.

Sweet pond!

So, since I have entered the White Mountains, my average hiking distance has gone WAY down.  I probably averaged maybe 9 miles a day in the Whites, which is actually WAY more than enough.  The White mountains were SO hard.  They kick your butt.  Its basically like the big rocks in Pennsylvania, but you go up and down A LOT.  The steep, rocky climbs/descents really take a toll on your knees.  It's hard to complain about hiking though when you see awesome views all the time.  And, since this is the last leg of my journey, I am not upset at all about slowing down.  I stayed here at this view for about 45 minutes just watching the clouds roll over the peak of the mountain.  And, you cant see it but the water from this pond runs over like a little waterfall, and it was so calming just listening to the water rush and  to see this site.

This is a spot where I tried to hitch into town.  Oh yeah, I don't mind staring at this site while I stick my hand out and wait for someone to pick up my stinky self.

This is just before the peak of Mount Liberty!  I say Mount Liberty was the first real epic view of the Whites, were you are just going "Wow" out loud to yourself.

Here is a pic of Mount Liberty, super rocky!

Oh lordy.  Here are 2 views from the peak of Mt. Liberty.

The White Mountains + Weekend + excellent weather = lots of people.

So, after you climb Mount Liberty, you get to go along Franconia Ridge, which I am sure will go down as one of my favorite hikes on the trail.  Basically, the whole hike for that day was above treeline, so you get views the WHOLE day as you're walking along it.  It is seriously like walking along something out of Lord of the Rings.  Here is me looking at some sweet rock walls in the distance.

This was the kind of stuff we walked along all day at Franconia Ridge.  See how there is no trees and just rocks?  Yeah, that's what above treeline means.  Freaking SWEET.  Tell me that you wouldn't see this in a scene out of Lord of the Rings!?

These big rock structures are called cairns.  They are important in the White mountains and southern Maine, because there are no TREES TO PAINT WHITE BLAZES ON!  So, you follow these cairns instead.

OhmahGUAD

I just had to take a pic of this badass old Grandpa.  I'm guessing he was at least 70, and he was climbing all of these mountains with his grandchildren LIKE A BOSS.  I can only hope that I will be as badass as him when I am that old.  Also, he was French, which we have seen a lot of French Canadians in the Whites, because we are SO CLOSE TO CANADA!  In the town I am at right now, Apparently Canada is only 20 miles away....whaaaaaaat!  That kinda blows my mind that I walked almost to Canada.  It was cool listening to a bunch of french people talk up here, I was like "hey, I kinda recognize these words!  Too bad I forgot completely about French after high school."  I would like to become fluent in it since I spent so much time learning it.... maybe one day!

Can you see where there is a small section of treeline?  I love seeing all the little people too.

"It's okay babe, I know this is almost too beautiful to comprehend.  We gotta hug this one out!"

Look at all them tiny people!

Oh no Bella, don't get too close too the edge!  I have to say, Bella is the coolest dog I have met.  If you have a dog on the trail, and it has made it 1800+ miles, its bound to be badass.  This pitbull has the most energy I have ever seen, and it is the SMARTEST dog I have ever seen.  It was  neat just watching her at camp.  She watches all of us interact, like a person but she just never says anything.  If all pitbulls are like her, I can see myself getting one.  She is also the MOST BEASTLY dog ever.  I mean she is just pure muscle.  Her favorite toy is ROCKS.  I have seen her after a full day of hiking go after a rock in a pond and just swim and circle around until she finally gives up on it.  Anyways, BACK TO THE PICTURE.  This is on top of Mount Garfield, and Franconia Ridge is shown in the distance.

Another view from the top of Garfield.

So, there was like an abandoned concrete structure on top of Garfield, I wish we knew about it so we could have camped here at night and watched the stars!  Oh well!  This is a very deep and pensive picture of me.  I am probably deciding on if I want to eat 2 nutter butters for a snack, or just a clif bar.  Tough decisions us hikers have to make.

I think this is one of my fav pictures I have taken.  Lone wolf just being a loner.

Here is a pic of some other hikers taking in the wonderful view.  The guy on the very right is E.T. and he is a super cool dude.  He is well known on the trail for always drawing awesome pictures in the logbooks, instead of writing anything.  I have seen his other work, and MAN is he talented.  One of the nicest guys I have met on the trail too.  Hopefully we can keep in touch when this is all over.

Hello, my name is Lighthouse, and I approve of these mountains!

Yes, I have CONQUERED THE WHITE MOUNTAINS!

Cool site that doesn't include epic mountains.

I love the look of the mountains, and then the clouds to the left that are about to swarm us all.

 A better view of the clouds that are going to ENGULF US ALL.  Here is some more thru hikers, Slider and Smoky.  Super cool people as well!

In the words of John Mayer, "strange how clouds that look like mountains in the sky are next to mountains anyway."

Here is a view of Mount Washington, which is the second highest peak on the A.T at 6,288 feet.  

Yep, so apparently Mount Washington has the worst weather in America.  There was a statistic that I read that for like 60 % of the year, it experiences hurricane like weather.  Woah!  THAT DOESN'T SCARE ME THOUGH, I AM A THRU HIKER!

We are almost to the top!

Another mountain bites the dust.

Apparently, lots of tourists like to visit Mount Washington!  It's important to note that you can either drive or take a train to the summit.  If walking was the only way up to the top....I'm guessing that there would be....oh...about 0 people in this picture.

Beauty.

C'mon are you KIDDING ME!?

Daymmm.

Woo Hoo!

Ok, I ran out of expressions.

Here is a view of Madison Hut.  The huts in the Whites are places for normal people to go and pay lots of money to stay in.  They are expensive, so thru hikers don't pay to stay.  However, they usually let 2-4 hikers stay there in exchange for a "work for stay", which usually means you do some random easy task for about an hour, and you get dinner and a place to sleep.  Woo!  I just like how this hut appeared out of nowhere, and you start hiking towards it.

Frodo, you must take the ring, and walk along this ridge.

Looks like it is starting to get a little foggy out there!

Dope.

Here is the cool town of Gorham, NH.  Cool pic of some clouds rolling into town.

Vroom Vroom!

Me likey the reflection in this pond.

Working ski lifts are very eerie when in thick fog.

Wet spider webz!

So we stayed at Carter Hut, which is the last available hut to stay out for us NOBO's, and BOY am I glad I stayed there!  George and Ben were really awesome to us.  Here is George and Smoky playing some makeshift ping pong after all of the other paying customers went to bed.

Here is the awesome dinner we got to eat, FO FREE!

So, there are some caves that are around Carter Hut that they decided to take us to go exploring.  We got to change into some clothes they had so that we didnt rip up ours, and boy do we look snazzy!  Not sure why George chose a dress, but hey, to each his own!

Woo!

I love you White Mountains!

So here is a Walmart in Gorham, NH.  I vote this to be the most scenic Walmart EVER.

Walking around town in Gorham.

I VERY MUCH APPROVE OF THE KICKASS PONDS AND THE BEAUTIFUL WEATHER NEW HAMPSHIRE HAS TO OFFER!

Ohmahguad, whats THAT!?  I FINISHED THE EXTREME WHITE MOUNTAINS, AND ALL I HAVE LEFT IS NOW MAINE!?  Yep, that's right, and I AM READY TO TACKLE WHATEVER IS AHEAD OF ME!  I will end this blog post with a video that pretty much described my feelings when making it all the way to Maine.

I thought the Whites deserved their own blog post, so the next blog post is coming right up!  And it is about MAINE!