Back in 2020, I was hiking near Hot Springs, NC when I met a NOBO AT Thru Hiker from Finland named Inka. She told me how to follow her on Instagram and I have been tracking her adventures since. Just after we'd last seen each other in person, Coronavirus hit the US and she was forced to return to her native country. Earlier this year, I learned she'd begun a second attempt to thru hike the AT and I'd hoped to see her when she hiked through Hanover. Unfortunately, I was in New Zealand when she passed through town. I'd offered to join up with her for a hike in New Hampshire or Maine but the logistics hadn't yet worked. Yesterday, however, she sent me a message on Instagram about how she'd lost her cell phone on top of Moosilauke. Someone had found it but she had already hiked almost all the way to Gorham. So, the million dollar question (from her) was: "can you pick it up and bring it to me?" Wanting to stay on the good Karma side of Trail Magic, of course I agreed! This morning, I did some things around the house and didn't leave my condo until almost 0900. I then drove to Moosilauke Ravine Lodge (via NH-10, NH-25A and NH-118). Parking was almost impossible so I left the car in a no-parking zone and walked down to the main lodge. The Croo members gave me some difficulty but I managed to obtain the phone using some "code words" that Inka had shared with me. After that (1015), I drove to Gorham via NH-118, NH-112. Along the way, I almost got nabbed by a sheriff but hesitated my acceleration enough that he only flashed his lights (whew)... I got on NH-113 and followed it until it started taking me to the east side of Conway. This confused me but I kept going to Fryburg, ME, before I realized that my Google Maps was targeting the wrong Gorham (i.e., the one in Maine). After turning around, I realized that backtracking to US-302 and following that to NH-16 wasn't too different than the original timeline. Despite the misdirection, I arrived at Rattle River AT Trailhead at around 1230 and, just then, got a Whatsapp message from Inka that she was still two to three hours away. That didn't matter to me because the weather was very nice. I spent the time reading, walking and cleaning up my email inbox. Just before 1600, Inka arrived - she was exhausted from having to make tracks through the deep snow on the ridges. I took her to her hostel (Libby House Inn) and, after she'd cleaned up, we went to get an early dinner at Big Day Brewing (1700). The food (smashburger) was good and I tried a new beer. Inka told me all about her adventures ("it has only rained twice in all of my hike!") and we discussed my own attempt to finish hiking the AT in 2023. Inka was very grateful for my Trail Magic and told me she hoped I'd let her know if I ever visited Finland. We stayed at the Brewery until almost 1930 and then I departed for home. Getting on US-2, I made one stop at Cumberland Farms for a free drink and then drove all the way to NH-116. I talked to Erin on the phone all the way to Littleton, where I stopped at Shaw's for another free drink. I'd wanted to return an item to Home Depot but found they were closed by the time I reached it (2030). I continued south on US-302 and was making good time until I encountered a "Fire Truck Parade" in Lisbon. The road closure forced me to wait about 20 minutes before I could get moving again. After that, I continued to NH-10 and followed that all the way to Orford before crossing the Connecticut River (NH-25A). I then used US-5 and Lake Morey Road to get to I-91. My journey was complete when I made it to Hanover (2200). Glad I could see Inka again and assist her on her AT journey!
