August 6th, 2018, New Hampshire
After the long day yesterday I got back on the trail a little later than usual—around 8am. I was camped so close to the New Hampshire border I crossed it just a few minutes later, which was a nice milestone: my first state complete!
The first landmark in NH is Mt. Success and it was a steady climb up to the top. Thor caught up to me on the way up. We chatted for a minute and he continued on at his faster pace.
Up top, the great weather continued. The views were a bit hazy but spectacular. I used my Guthook app (trail map application) to orient myself. I could see the White Mountain National Forest (the Whites) rising higher in the distance to the southwest.
After a short break on top of Mt Success it was time to move on toward Gorham, the next trail town about 15 miles from me. I would arrive late in the day so it would probably be a waste to sleep in town. I planned to look for a camping spot somewhere close to take a “nero” (near zero mile day) tomorrow.
Later I came across some areas where trail crews had been working. They had marked some trees with orange ribbon, sometimes with writing like “stairs all the way down,” etc. Much of the work was in progress, although no one was working at the moment. There were many rocks partially excavated, like they were digging to see what shape and how large they were. Then they would use some sort of leverage to move them around toward the trail and into place. The rock in the picture below was about three feet across and must have weighed hundreds of pounds.
Once I got within a few miles of town I started looking for a place to camp. It had been a warm day in the high 80s and seemed like it would be a warm night as well. So I settled on a hilltop location near Mt. Hayes, the last climb before Gorham. Tomorrow I would just have to head downhill for a few miles. It was the first time I have camped up high in an exposed location and I hoped the wind wouldn’t be a problem. After dinner I hung up my food bag and got in the hammock and watched the sun set for the first time on my hike. Usually I’m well into the trees and can’t see the sunrise or sunset.
And here are a couple of the other interesting things I came across today.
