Maine

The end of NH was rough. A little easier than the Whites, but still rough. I know this is a short post, but I've been busy. 

The wind blowing through your beard. 

The old shoes. 

Nice place. 

Caribou

Maine!

The Whites continue.

To kick my butt. But on the plus side, saw a moose. Thought it was a donkey that had gotten loose. Then realized it was a moose.  Good start to the day. On top of Wildcat Mt, Geared Up and I caught a gondola ride down to the ski lodge for lunch. Trail Bunny was down there, so we hung out with her. We stayed for too long, really, almost 3 hrs. 

At the last hut of the Whites, ran into Chef, and then Machine! Hadn't seen her in quite a while, so I was pretty happy. We talked for a while, but she was staying there and I intended to do a few more miles, so we bid adieu. I was very tempted to stay, though. 

Of course, I hadn't backtracked yet today, so had to keep that up. So I came to this intersection, and the AT wasn't marked. I stared at the signs. Stared down the trails. Stared at the signs. One sign said Zeta pass. I knew Zeta pass was on the trail, so I went that way. Sigh. The next intersection, I noticed that the trail that came from the direction I was not coming from had a remarkable number of white blazes. Sooo... instead of walking back the way I came to reacquire the trail, I walked back the blazes. I figure that way I couldn't miss the right path. But that meant I ended up climbing Mt. Height from the wrong direction, heading south. So when I finished that challenge, I turned around and climbed it again, this time heading north. Lot of extra climbing. And it was now getting dark, so I camped on top of Mt. Height. Did see the biggest jackrabbit I've ever seen. 

Moose

Gondola. 

Mt. Washington

Coconut and spice Kit left early. Very early. No way. Gear and I stayed a couple hours later, but still left at a decent hour. The summit of Mt. Washington was only a mile and a half or so away. We have definitely been blessed by lovely weather, and the streak continued today. 

We arrived around the time the employees were showing up. We had breakfast there, which consisted of a grinder and an ice cream. We stayed there a couple of hours. Well, Gear and I did. Trail Bunny drove up, and volunteered to slack pack everyone, which everyone took her up except us. And Ironwill, but he had a hook up and had spent the night in the observatory, and didn't seem too motivated to move on by the time we saw him. 

So Gear and I hiked. All bloody day. Still gorgeous, but the Osgood trail, at least the descent of it, is now my least favorite section of trail. It was not fun. Pure uneven and unbalanced rocks. It was just not fun. 

We passed the Madisin hut, but they were having the annual Madfest, the hut crews' big party. We got some free food, and pushed on. Eventually we hit Pinkham Notch, where we were surprised to see an AMC lodge. We got ice cream, learned some facts about Mt. Washington, and charged our devices. We also ran into Spice Kit (they were staying there) and found out about a campsite a few tenths of a mile down trail. So we hiked down to Lost Pond and racked out. 

Lake of the Clouds morning

We persevered!

Pretty high up. 

The Cog Railway. 

I mean, it's pretty nice. 

Guess who?

So many bloody rocks. 

Dip in the Lake

So had a good breakfast at the AMC place, but even better I received a call from Mrs. Sparkle. Talked to her for quite a while, and was a great way to start the day. 

Spicy Mama gave us a ride back to the trail, and we were off. Sort of. It was sprinkling, so I had to stop to adjust my pack, making sure everything was waterproof that needed to be. Spice Kit and Coconut started off, though. 

So they weren't with me when I saved the kid's life. Ish. Or not really would be more accurate. As I was walking up the mountain, I came across a little boy curled up in a ball, hidden in an alcove just off the trail. He was curled up completely in his sweatshirt, and there were obvious tear stains on his face. Oh crap. 

"Hey man, you okay?" The kid nodded. "What's wrong?" It took a lot of coaxing, but he eventually told me he'd ran into a tree, and a branch had hit him hard in the neck. I told him I was an old army medic, and asked him if I could check it. He acquiesced, so I looked at his neck. There was a rubbed spot, looking a lot like almost a rug burn. I was sure if had hurt, but didn't think it was dangerous. 

So now I was in a quandary. Do I leave an 11 year old boy alone in the woods? He told me his family was ahead, and that they would eventually be coming back this way. Ironwill came walking by. I stayed with the boy while he hiked on to find his family. I wasn't planning on too many miles anyway. 

Eventually his family came back, preceded by Buddy the dog. So off I hiked. Spice Kit and Coconut were waiting on me on top of the mountain. There was a lot of serious scrambling to get up there. It was pretty fun. I'd put my hiking poles in my backpack for the Whites, and was very glad of that decision. 

We hiked together for the rest of the day, and some of the best hiking I've seen. Gorgeous. Clear one minute, covered in clouds the next, then back to clear. And when I say covered, I mean the clouds surrounded us, as in we were inside the clouds. Pretty spectacular. 

We stopped at Lake of the Clouds Hut, home of the infamous "Dungeon." For whatever reason, I was fixated on staying there. It really wasn't that bad. Rosie, Naked Ninja, Dr. Zoom, and Longhaul Trucker were all doing work for stay, so staying upstairs. Spice Kit, Coconut, and I were staying in the Dungeon. 

Then I saw something I did not expect to see in the mountains. A woman in a bikini. It took me a minute to register what had to have happened. She'd gone swimming in the Lake of the Clouds!  I thought that was awesome. It was already around fifty degrees, and that water had to have been freezing. I had to do it. 

While I was getting prepared (I wanted dry clothing immediately available, hypothermia is not on my to do list), Geared Up showed up. I was surprised, because last I knew he was two days hike ahead of me. Apparently he'd taken a few days off. 

So he and Coconut followed the idiot to chronicle the icy dip. The water was beautiful, deep on one end, and ridiculously cold. But it was awesome. I swam in the Lake of the Clouds. Doesn't that sound cool?

The Spice Girls!

Coconut, Spice Kit, and some gorgeous scenery. 

Maybe my favorite selfie ever. 

Yeah, it's hard not to use superlatives about these views. 

Lake of the Clouds swim test!

So c-c-c-cold. 

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. 

Lonesome Lake. It's rather pretty. 

This place even makes me look good. 

Guess which one is Naked Ninja. 

Franconia Ridge. 

Love this place. 

Kinsman mt and work for stay

Not too crazy a day. Passed a few Sobos, including Thor and Stack, who I'd met in Lincoln at Chet's. While talking to them at a shelter, another hiker came in without a word. He sat down by himself, and didn't speak until I introduced myself and asked him his name. "Quiet." Very apt. He seemed cool, just very quiet. 

I also passed 3x5, who I hadn't seen since at least TN. He was doing good, but he had a long ways left on his hike since he'd flip-flopped. He didn't remember me. After crying for half an hour I pushed on. 

Beautiful views today, but it was steep. Very steep. Rocks. Lot of scrambling, and I was worried about the frame of my pack cracking again, due to all the bending over I was doing. 

I also thought a lot about the AMC hut system. I decided the reason I was against doing the "Work for stay" at the huts was primarily arrogance, which was something I've tried to work on. So I figured I'd at least consider it. 

Then I got to my first hut. Lonesome Lake Hut. Pretty place, but I'd intended to hike another mile and a half or so, to the next road, where Spice Kit and Coconut were going to be. I almost completely skipped it, but I wanted a Coke. So in I go. 

"Hi, do you have Cokes?" "No, we don't do that here, but are you a thru-hiker?" "I'm trying to be, a few hundred miles to go still." "Would you like to work for stay?" I paused. I really wasn't. But this was a pretty good place to stay and I was rather tired, anyway. And there was the whole internal debate I'd had earlier...

"What's that entail?" "You eat with us, work for a couple of hours, and then make your bed here in the main room." Hmm. I tried to call Coconut, but no signal. What the heck. "Okay, I'll do it." 

I ate with the hut crew, and talked with them. As you might imagine about a group of young people who work and live in the White Mts all summer, they were an interesting and fun group. I liked them immensely. They also told me a lot about the hut systems and the AMC in general. After dinner they had me organize a bookshelf. And then complimented me repeatedly about how good a job I'd done. It made me wonder about how crappy thru-hiker labor must be. 

Came up this. Steeeep. 

Pretty view X

Finally on top. 

Moosilauke Mountain

Didn't get on trail until almost one. Said goodbyes to Gear, Reroute, and Ketchup, but was very pleasantly surprised by running into Spice Kit and Coconut immediately. They had just forded a river, but forded back to say hey while I got my gear. 

They hiked on ahead, and I began the dreaded trudge. Really wasn't that bad, but that might have been because I'd had a couple of days off. Ran into a summer camp group, the Aloha Hive camp. They were very cool, and gave me cheese, pepperoni, and crackers. As mentioned before, I'm easily bought. 

I ended up camping at the same place as Coconut and Spice Kit, and talked for a while. Spice Kit told me they knew they were going to like me when we met at Neels Gap, the day of the crazy frost. According to her, I said "It's like a magical enchanted forest out here! I'm Midnight Sparkle!" Which actually sounds about right. 

There was a road a few hundred meters from our campsite, and there was trail magic there, so I got a Coke for dinner. Good way to end the day. 

Oreos and milk the night before.

Bye guys!

On Moosalauke. 

Moose tracks. My size 10 for scale. 

Ups and downs

Literally. Pulled 20 miles, plus some extra due to a considerate AMC employee. This is a little out of chronologic order, but I'm still somewhat annoyed. The AT is not well marked in the Whites. In fact, it's downright confusing. I was hiking off of the southern Twin, and the terrain was rocky but not too bad. I'm hiking along, and come across a group of 10-12 people with their AMC guide, sitting in the middle of the trail, on the rocks. The guide was pontificating about how grand his job was, even spreading his arms and saying "This is my office." I ignored his cliche and kept hiking straight through the group. But then I got to Guyot shelter. Which was .7 miles off the trail. I sat down confused. Another hiker came from the opposite direction, a local, and I asked him where the AT was. He pointed back the direction I'd came. Crap. 

So I hiked back, passing Uhaul and Dozer, who'd done the same thing I had. None of us could figure out where we could have missed the turn off. Until we came to where the large group had been. They'd been literally blocking the trail, so effectively that we couldn't even see it. I was pretty upset at that moment. The a Whites are not a place you want to do extra mileage, especially not due to inconsiderate AMC guides. 

Backtrack a bit, this morning went to another hut, where they fed me. I took a look at the crew leader's ankle, which she had sprained. I recommended RICE, and asked her to open the note the other crew leader had given me. I was very curious about what it said. It was positive. I also got a text from Coconut saying they had an extra bed in the room Spice Kit's mom (Spicy Mama) had got for them.  I sent a text back saying I probably wouldn't get to the road until 8ish. 

Back to after the extra credit I did. Ran into Rugby and Big Tex. Hiked with Rugby for a while, until we got to the next hut, Zealand Falls. I'd just told him about mt additional hiking. "That's him!" I exclaimed, pointing excitedly from a few feet away. "That's the dude who blocked the trail!" I was sort of hoping to get this dude's attention, not because I wanted any sort of altercation, but because I wanted a "My bad, man." Didn't happen. Instead, an older AMC volunteer came over to deflect me. He was really good, and I wasn't looking for any sort of confrontation anyway. Mostly, at the time, I was amused because of the situation, and was chuckling to myself at the behavior of the "professional." 

Oh, back to before running into Rugby and Big Tex. This is a confusing blog entry, hope you're following. Ran into a couple coming down a side trail. The sign said "Zealand Summit." I asked them if it was worth the walk. They assured me it was. They got me good. The summit was literally a dirt patch surrounded by pine trees sufficient to block the view of everything. Would have been a good campsite, but nothing of interest other than that. 

After Zealand Falls Hut, the AT goes down a waterfall. I mean, it's doable, but a little sketchy. You wouldn't want to tackle that in the dark. But the last few miles were beautiful hiking, very smooth. I was busy thinking about how I was going to get a ride to Coconut and Spice Kit, but figured I'd find a way when I got to the road. 

Due to the detour, I ended up arriving at the trailhead at Crawford's Notch around ten to 9. When I arrived, immediately I heard a voice say "Midnight Sparkle?" What the heck? "Coconut?" Spicy Mama had driven them back to pick me up, on the off chance I showed up. Apparently they'd decided they were giving me five more minutes, and I arrived right as those ran up. I've been really blessed on this trip. 

We went to some AMC place, I honestly have no idea where. They'd even got me a plate of food set aside. I was really rather in shock at how great they were being to me. I knew there was a reason I loved those two (three now, Spicy Mama!). 

Oh, one last bizarre tale from the day. A dotay. I think that's what this guy called it. A mostly naked man was hiking up the Southern Twin when I started down it. At first I thought he was wearing a low cut kilt, then decided it was a sheet. Then decided I had no idea and while I didn't really want to talk to this guy, I was just curious enough to do so. 

"Umm, what are you wearing?" "It's a dotay!" "Is it like a kilt?" "No, it's a dotay!" "Uhh.. what's a dotay?" "It's an Indian garment. I'm trying to get them accepted over here. They're perfect for hiking, lightweight and breezy." I was actually a little disturbed by this guy's pose. He continued. "You wrap it around yourself, then roll it down, so it fits whoever." "Oh. Is it secure?" Because it definitely didn't look that way. Uhaul and Dozer were there by now, listening in. "Yes! You wrap it, then you roll it." "It looks like it could fall..." "I don't think you get it, you wrap it, then roll it!" "Okay, see you later!" 

I hiked off quickly, and Dozer and Uhaul followed. After a few minutes we started laughing. There were several "You don't get it, you wrap it, then you roll it!" jokes the rest of the day. 

My recommendation. If I scrapbooked this would go in it. Thanks Scott!

You got to wrap it, then roll it. 

This guy might make a good door, but he's a terrible window. 

I'm not even sure where this is. All the a Whites look good. 

July 13.

Day wasn't that great. Hiked fifteen miles, pretty miserably. Just made me sure I needed a day off from hiking. Dreading this nasty weather coming up. 

Made it to the Welcome Hiker Hostel. Lot of people there, all the bunks were filled but I got a couch.  Did get my winter gear though, it had been mailed there. I think I'll survive the Whites, now. Reroute was there, and Sole Power, Simba, and a few other people that I didn't know. Actually a lot of people I didn't know. Everyone was scared of the weather. Busy, busy. Hopefully I'll get a bunk tomorrow night. 

Ledge I slept on previous night. 

The Ice Cream Man

I purposefully stopped a few miles short of Bill Ackerly's home. Bill Ackerly is a legend of the trail, the Ice Cream Man. He lives just off the trail, and has welcomed hikers for decades, giving ice cream to all comers. And more intriguing to me, he's known for his croquet game. 

It was pretty fun. Bill's sister, Carita, was visiting, and turns out they're from Ky. Louisville fans, but no one's perfect. I hung out there for a couple hours. Carita won the croquet game. I had a pretty solid chance, but I tried to get fancy and blew my shot. They were pretty good though. I enjoyed my time there. But alas, all good things must come to an end, and off I hiked. 

But not that far. Not a great walking day. Felt miserable, and my body was starting to tell me I needed a break. I ran into several cool locals, and scored some strawberries, which were delicious. I didn't quite make it to the shelter I was planning on before dark, so I ended up cowboy camping on a rock ledge for the night. 

Mountains in the morning. 

Bill and Carita, croquet legends. 

Lovely view J (?)

Lovely view K

Lovely view L

Lovely view M. 

July 14

Woke up and was very excited not to be hiking. But was also not really looking forward to hanging out in a crowded hostel. South bounders everywhere, and everyone was trying to avoid the weather. Some sort of "polar vortex" was going on.  

So when Reroute decided to rent a car, I jumped on the chance to go with her, Trillium, and Opie to head to Lincoln, a nearby town. Trillium and Opie split off from us, but we ran into Geared Up, Ketchup, and Sisyfus (who was back on the trail, yay!). While we were sitting outside the grocery store where Gear and Sis were resupplying, a lovely couple came out and started talking to us. Chaga Princess and Funguy, a couple of trail angels. They asked us if we were familiar with trail magic, and when we replied in the positive, they said "Well, you're about to get some," and the proceeded to buy us lunch at the Mexican place. Good conversations there, and they told us about the town. 

After lunch, we went cruising. Reroute drove us down a scenic highway, and it was a little weird seeing the mountains from that angle. Plus the speed. Thirty miles an hour is ridiculously fast when you've been walking for months. I ate a lot of ice cream.  

We needed a place to stay, so we decided to check out Chet's, a "secret" hostel in town. It was for thru-hikers only, and Chet quizzes new arrivals. It was a lot like the Gatekeeper from Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail. Apparently a lot of people were trying to take advantage of him in the past. Dude was super cool, but his place was pretty busy due to the weather and SoBos, so we ended up staying at the Carriagehouse hotel, a very hiker friendly place.  Good place. 

Some sort of on fire ice cream. Good show, cinnamon does weird stuff in flames. 

Ketchup and Gear. 

The captain pose. 

The end of Vermont.

I'm very behind on my blogging. I'll try to hit the highlights of the past week. 

Ran into Squatch again, talked with him for a while. I figure there's a pretty good chance Gear and I will be in his next documentary. I expect to run into him again in Maine, but we'll see. 

Stopped for lunch at the Mountain Meadow Lodge, was a lovely place. Apparently they do a lot of weddings there. Might bring my wife back there some day. While I was hanging out there, there was a singer and pianist practicing for a musical. It was fun to listen to. 

I'd expected the shelter I was going to stay in to be empty, but there were two hikers there, Golden Bear and Fifteen. Golden Bear was a recent high school graduate who was "only" hiking 500 miles to Katahdin. Seemed like a good kid. I liked him. Fifteen was an object lesson. Last year he completed over 1800 miles of the trail, before taking a nasty fall and being unable to continue. He's finishing this year, but you're not done till you're done, and I need to remember that. 

The next morning I checked out the Lookout cabin, a cabin built on top of the mountain with an observation deck on top. I hadn't realized hikers were allowed to stay in it until I got there, but there was a sign giving permission. Nice place, with a loft. I would have pushed on to there if I had realized. I met Carli and her three dogs there, a lady who worked as a guide for a women's hiking spa. I gather it's kind of like an adult summer camp. She gave me half of her sandwich and a peach, so I'm won over for life. 

I ran into Golden Bear a little later, and we hiked together for a while. We made it to a little farm store just ahead of the rain, and we each ate a pint of ice cream and I ate a burrito. We sat around talking with the locals for a while, a good group. 

Eventually we moved on, just to get caught in the rain again. We briefly considered taking cover in an abandoned house we walked by, but concerns over legality and horror film stereotypes kept us moving. In the aftermath of the rain, the scenery became glorious. I eventually found a spot to set my tent up, right at dusk. GB moved on. 

In the morning, I got out of my tent to use the bathroom, and received a little assistance in the matter. Walking straight towards me down the mountain was a bear. That woke me up quick. I reached into my tent to get my camera, and then angled for a shot. By this time the bear had paused at an old low stone wall, looking for something. About twenty yards away. I kicked a stick on accident, and it sprinted off in a hurry, ruining my picture. 

I passed Golden Bear soon after I left my bear infested camp. He had all of his stuff spread out in an attempt to dry it. I didn't think he was going to have much luck under the forest canopy, but I left him to it. 

Later in the day I crossed the bridge that is sort of traditionally jumped off of. I wasn't going to do it. For one thing, I was by myself, so there was no peer pressure. I was hailed by a Randy Hart after I crossed it, who offered me a cold drink. He does this for all the hikers he sees, also allowing them to sleep above his garage and feeding them if they're cooking. He was a former Army guy, so we swapped stories, and while I pretended to be a gas station attendant for his grandson, he told me about his experiences and also some crazy stories about the tropical storms that had wreaked so much devastation in the north east. It sort of puts a more realistic face on it when talking to people affected and seeing the devastation that is still not completely recovered. 

He also told me how he thought jumping off the bridge should be a rite. Sigh. A dad and two young daughters walked out on the bridge to jump off. Double sigh. So out I go, to the spot marked on the bridge as safe to jump from. I climbed the railing, and told myself "This is nothing. You jump out the backs of airplanes. Just shut down and do it." Then I looked down. Sigh again. If there weren't witnesses down below, I'd probably have moved on. But there were, so I jumped. I said a bad word on the way down. 

Obviously it was fine, and it was quite fun. If I'd had friends around, I would  have been tempted to repeat the jump several times, but I didn't, so I hiked on, munching on some cherries Randy gave me from his tree. 

The hiking in Vermont was pretty awesome, if a bit muddy. Trail magic was pretty much everywhere, and people were ridiculously nice. I also saw my first open carried gun since the south, one day hiker was carrying a pistol on his hip. 

Walking into Norwich the trail leaves the woods for a while. Almost as soon as you leave the trail, there was a house with a cooler out front. There was trail magic inside, but as I was closing the lid I noticed a note inside that said "If you're tired, stay with us!" I'd planned on another three miles, but I'd gone fifteen so figured what the heck, and walked up to the front door. 

Warren and Toni Thayer are trail saints. They have a rather large, lovely home with a beautiful view. They were quite welcoming and I really enjoyed my time there. 

The next day I walked from Norwich in VT to Hanover, NH. My next to last state. Maine is the only one left after I finish New Hampshire, however, NH is gonna be a challenge. Home of the White Mountains, supposedly the most challenging section on the trail. 

Hanover is the home of Dartmouth College. College kids seem to be getting younger and younger. But their students do a lot of trail maintenance, and I'd run into them several times over the next couple of days. I really enjoyed Hanover for the first couple of hours, but the density of people began to wear on me and I had to move on after resupplying. It was really nice to get back on the trail. I hiked another eleven miles, for about fifteen total, and stayed at the Moose Mountain Shelter. 

The rumored Squatch. 

Pretty. 

The view from the Mt. Meadow Lodge. 

Fifteen, on his last stretch of the AT. 

Lookout cabin view. 

Lookout cabin. 

Carli, Tia, Okie. Those dogs were hiking beasts. 

The nick of time. The rain hit hard. 

Aftermath of the rain. 

More pretty. 

Warren and Toni. Awesome people. 

Clever use for old hiking boots. 

NH/VT. 

The full moon was pretty awesome.