Midnight on the Appalachian Trail: Franconia Ridge.

I didn't stay for breakfast. I was invited for pancakes, but wouldn't be able to eat them until after 0800, and I needed to go into town for some more food. I had made an error in trying to decide how much food I would need to get me to Gorham.

Before I left though, the crew leader wrote me a note on a piece of cardboard, and then taped it folded shut. It was basically a letter of recommendation for the rest of the huts, in case they didn't need anyone to do a WFS. But I had no idea what it said.

I made it to the trailhead, and then walked an extra mile to the Flume Visitor's Center, around 0900, where I hoped I could catch a ride. I ran into Trail Bunny there, the wife of Longhaul Trucker, who I'd met yesterday. She offered me a ride into town, which I gratefully accepted. We ran some errands, and I bought her lunch as a thanks. She was pretty cool to hang out with, an international teacher. Her and her husband have seen and done some pretty awesome stuff.

She dropped me off at the trailhead before noon, which was much faster than I'd expected to be starting back. I found a teddy bear sitting on a rock. If was a pretty cool looking bear, though it was wearing a Patriots shirt. I thought it looked very sad on the rock, so I picked it up, and after ascertaining that it wasn't filthy or infested, put it in my pack. I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but it felt wrong to leave it there.

Immediately the trail started with the steep stuff. Very steep stuff. I started walking with Ranger Amy, not a trail name. She was actually a ranger going up to do some work around Liberty Campsite. She was carrying a shovel. Not a small one, a full sized "I'm moving some serious dirt" heavy shovel. She stayed with me the whole way, too. A straight beast.

A couple of miles up, we came scrss a father and his son, a boy of 6 or 7, I supposed. We talked for a while, and I offered the little guy my bear. They accepted, and they were Patriot fans, so I think the little fella is gonna be in good hands. Good luck, buddy.

Also met the former president of the AMC, which is kinda neat. He was pretty cool. He, and a lady I assume was his wife, were also strong hikers who were straight up killing it.

Despite the steepness, I was pretty excited. At the top of this mountain was the famous Franconia Ridge, accounted by many people to be the most beautiful section on the Appalachian Trail. I was skeptical. I was sure it would be lovely, but a lot of these views so far, while nice, were a little short of spectacular. I was wrong.

Franconia Ridge was breath-taking. Very beautiful. It was definitely worth the effort. I can not recall a place I've been in America that majestic, though I grant you that I've never been out west. It reminded me quite a bit of the Dolomites, and occassionally a flash of the Kunar mountain ranges.

The ridge was a couple miles long, and is now one of my favorite sections. I took my time up there, walking slowly and looking around. I was attempting to capture these views in my mind, imprint them deeply so that I would never forget them.

On the top of ths ridge, I met Naked Ninja, Rosie, and Dr. Zoom. Trail Rabbit had mentioned these three to me as her friends, but I hadn't met them until then. They seemed quite amusing and I walked with then for a while today. I stopped at a campsite I found while they pushed on to Garfield Pond, where they'd heard there was some camping. I do not like camping near ponds, due to the mosquitoes that inhabit that areas, so I stayed put. I only managed 11 miles today, but considering the detour I'm content.