After dropping Mollie off at the Dartmouth Coach stop in Hanover (0645), I headed over to Vermont and used I-91, VT/NH-25, NH-10, NH-116 and NH-112 to reach Kinsman Notch. I’d wanted to climb the north side of Moosilauke for the last few months but the weather never cooperated. The section (the old Beaver Brook Trail) was notorious among AT hikers for being one of the steepest, slippery and rocky climbs on the whole trail - good weather was the number one requirement to try it. When I parked at the trailhead (0800), I had that check in the box but also had to consider that I’d been contending with some significant knee pain this week. Hiking such a tough trail with that condition seemed daunting but I decided to do it anyway (planning to bail out if it got too bad). Just a few yards into the hike (SOBO AT), I had to ford a bridgeless stream - last Fall, it was too deep but today I made it across alright. The advertised climb started right away and was every bit as difficult as I’d heard. Actually, I found myself questioning whether anyone even maintained the section at all - there were very few white blazes visible, most of the climb required varsity boulder scrambling (or grabbing rebar handles) and there were almost no surfaces without water or mud. The Dartmouth Outing Club had, however, written one of the longest disclaimers (basically, “you shouldn’t hike this”) I’ve ever seen on the AT - the phraseology reminded me of the warning at the Gates of Hell in Dante’s Inferno…. Undeterred, I kept climbing. It was already warm (mid 60s) but there was a nice breeze. The scenery was good too - for more than a mile, the trail paralleled “The Cascades”, a series of (loud) waterfalls. I was pretty busy for the first few hours, trying to fight through the knee pain, keeping my pace slow and trying to avoid thinking about having to climb back down later in the day. Many, many young people passed me… I passed a few Thru hikers but almost no one was in a talkative mood (too much concern about a misplaced footfall). Actually, there were so many people out for a hike that I was almost never alone - I imagine it will only get more crowded as the summer continues. Somehow, I made it to a plateau near the two mile mark - it wasn’t exactly flat but was definitely not as steep. I could see Moosilauke across a deep valley and I was worried that I’d have to weather another steep descent/climb like I did last week. I actually talked to some ladies who knew the mountain well and they scolded me (after I told them about my knee) about climbing up from the north side…. Fortunately, the trail looped around the hill I was on until it reached a place on Moosilauke that wasn’t too steep or rocky. This made the last mile pretty easy, compared to what I’d already completed. I caught up to people who’d passed me earlier and we all came walking out of the alpine bushes onto the bald at the summit. Approached from the north, the views were almost as good as the ones I got when I came from the other side but the summit itself was invisible until I was almost on top of it (contrasted with the long view during the other climb). There must have been 50 people milling around at the summit sign (probably because of #nationaltrailsday) but, unlike during my last visit, there weren’t any “selfie hogs.” Instead, everyone was happily resting, eating and taking other people’s photos. The mood was really good and I was able to get a picture of me with my #theprouty sign. Bad weather was apparently inbound (forecasted and there were clouds to the west) so I immediately started downhill. I talked to a guy who was doing something called “The Moose” that involved hiking all 42 miles of trail on Moosilauke in one day! I’d seen him biking earlier and wondered what would possess someone to do such a challenge. In addition to him, I encountered a lot of (mostly normal) folks, most of whom I’d seen earlier in the day (there was lots of leapfrogging). There were also many more people coming up the mountain as I descended. Most of the first half of the backtrack wasn’t too hard - it was downhill on a good surface and I was feeling good after my mountain high. But the temps had, by this time, climbed into the mid 80s. The air had grown stagnant and I still had the scary section near the Cascades to traverse - no rest for the weary… I passed another DOC warning about the trail but wondered what else a NOBO Thru could actually do - unlike what I’ve encountered on a lot of other (smaller) peaks on the AT, there was no inclement weather route. It would SUCK to be stuck on this section in nasty weather! Hoping not to learn that first hand, I made my way down as carefully as I could. Unfortunately, there was really no way to get the descent done faster than the climb. I used all my muscles to keep balance and was mostly successful - I slipped a few times but never fell. Talked to a lot of other hikers during this time and everyone agreed that this part of the AT was no joke. Surprisingly, though, I probably walked almost a mile (near the end) without seeing any people. I guess the scary clouds were a deterrent for more visitors… By 1500, I was at my car - the (8+ mile) hike took many more hours than I would have liked but I thought it was a good thing. In fact, I felt proud of my hike - this was a section that I probably would never have enjoyed but it’s checked off the “to do list” after a successful day. Got in my car and drove towards home via the north side of Moosilauke (NH-112 and NH-116) - within 15 minutes, I was in the middle of a huge thunderstorm! God help those folks on the mountain who didn’t get down in time... Finished my drive via NH-10, back roads, NH/VT-25 and I-91 - I was home by 1600. Only one section left to the west/south of I-93! AT Today = 3.6 miles / Grand Total AT = 1816.9 miles
