Got up very early, hoping to beat all the other hikers to the trailhead today (and avoid the Triathlon crowd in the Haverhill/Benton/Easton area). I didn’t feel completely in the mood for a hike but didn’t want to waste good weather or good knees. Plus, I’d been procrastinating the marooned section since 2015… I left my condo at around 0630, just after a rare "morning Mollie" sighting. I used my typical route to reach the WMNF (I-91, VT/NH-25, back roads, NH-10, NH-116) and arrived at the AT parking lot on Reel Brook Road by 0745 (first car there!). I had to walk a short distance to the Reel Brook Trail (WMNF access to the AT). I had the mountains to myself for the first few hours! I had to walk almost three miles to reach the (south end of) Kinsman Ridge but the grade/surface wasn’t too challenging. It was overcast and in the 70s - very buggy initially. Once I was on the AT (NOBO), the terrain changed tremendously and I found myself trying not to trip/fall on roots, rocks and mud. Sometimes I really hate the Great Trail Designer… I was passed by another section hiker who’d parked where I did and then encountered another guy (huge backpack) who told me he’d been hiking the AT three weekends a year since 2006 (he’d finished Maine and half of New Hampshire). After a descent into the Eliza Brook Ravine (passed the shelter), the trail took a noticeably steep turn - for the next ~2.5 miles, I had to climb almost 2000 feet of elevation. Some of this section was easily walkable but most was a rock scramble, crawl or climb. It was so challenging that I wasn’t worried about knees or legs, I was worried about finding an impassable boulder or tree. I kept telling myself that I had all day to finish (“no rush”) but it was slow going, regardless. Near Harrington Pond, I passed a group of four who’d come down from the South Peak (my target) and they reported that it was even more difficult in the next mile. Yikes! Then there was fog (or were they clouds?) and, later, high winds - the hike had everything I could think of to avoid, all at once (we’ll get back to that). Somehow, I made it to the top. Frankly, I don’t really know how - it was probably a lot of hanging on for dear life, careful footfalls and mind over matter… And then I ran into another dilemma - there was no sign or recognizable feature to tell me where the turnaround point was! I looked at Guthook and Facebook photos from 2015 and couldn’t place it. So all I could do was hike the whole plateau (this probably added a half mile). Fortunately, I encountered a LOT of “peak baggers” who’d climbed up from Franconia Notch - every one of them had their opinions and evidence about where the top was. In the end, I settled for a large cairn - seemed like a good place to declare history at around 4.5K feet… I started down as soon as I could - the weather looked worse than forecasted - and used the same “ultra careful” technique to get out of the clouds and wind. During the long, steep descent, I passed eight Thru hikers - one thought he’d seen me before and we traced that deja vu back to my trip to NC/TN in March. I was secretly glad to hear them complaining about how hard the section was - they’d been walking since Georgia and thought it was the toughest they’d seen. Otherwise, I only saw one other hiker (section, out & in) for the rest of the say. I managed to get past Harrington Pond again before the last “distractor” of the day hit: rain (ugh). I was safe under a tree canopy for the most part but all of the vegetation got wet over the course of the next few hours - my lower body was eventually entirely drenched (my upper body was already wet from sweating so much). There was a climb after the shelter but I was able to make it back to the Reel Brook Trail junction without much trouble, despite all the things the elements were throwing at me. From there, I made excellent time to the car (arrived at 1645). After getting cleaned up, I took NH-116 back to NH-10 and used it to drive all the way back to Hanover. On the way, Mollie called to ask me to pick her up on the way (1745) - it took a while to reach her but I think she was happy to have a ride. We were home by 1815. Overall, I’m very satisfied with my day! I managed to complete one of the toughest sections of 2021 (almost 14 miles) in around nine hours - all while juggling many, many hazards. Body felt pretty good, too, meaning that I’m getting trail legs back! I’ll have to climb Reel Brook again soon (to complete the AT up to the north side of Wolf Mountain) but I’m ready! AT Today = 3.5 miles / Grand Total AT = 1825.1 miles
