Slept in and had a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon and blueberry pancakes. It may seem like we are slacking off now--sleeping in, eating town food--but it was all part of our plan.
The plan was actually to wait for the a.m. showers to pass through before conquering Mount Moosilauke.
At 8:00 a.m. we ventured out and up. Within five minutes on the trail my shoes, socks, gloves and rear end were wet. Oliverian Brook was not kind to me.
This fueled my motivation up the climb, that and not wanting a group of slack-packers to catch me. We summited around 11 a.m. in the wind and the fog. I'm starting to think that's what Katahdin is going to be like for us.
Mount Moosilauke stands 4,802 feet in the air, the summit exposed and up above tree line.
Luckily the clouds rolled in and out so we had a gorgeous view. But with the cloud rolling came the wind and the wind chill so we moseyed back down to tree line.
The descent was slow and rocky. We stopped after 2.3 miles at Beaver Brook Shelter for lunch. The remaining 1.3 miles down to the north base of the mountain were cruel and unusual. We made it safe and sound; my heart skipped a few beats on a few rock slides though.
At the bottom, strategically placed were two gals, one a former thru-hiker named Lady Pants, with trail magic. A welcome sight after a long and brutal hike. Thank you!
As I shoveled hummus into my mouth B reminded me we still had a few more miles to go. Up the trail we had planned to camp on a side trail to Gordon Pond.
Fast-forward several hours later as we continued begrudgingly forward anxiously awaiting the side trail. We finally gave up and plopped down next to the trail. At this point we're not sure if we missed it and are way ahead or if it's still ahead. Only time will tell.
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