August 6, 2013

August 6, 2013 - Day 8

Start: Gentian Pond Shelter
End: Carlo Col Shelter
Daily Mileage: 5.2
Total Mileage: 51.3

We woke up at 6:30 but it took us until about 7:30 to brave the cold and leave our sleeping bags. We eventually packed up camp and got on the trail around 8:00 am. My knee was hurting pretty bad. I guess the consecutive days of big miles with lots of ups and downs are taking a toll on it. We started with a climb and had a few ups and downs before we climbed Mt. Success. Our last mountain in NH!! The top was exposed and it had become a beautiful day. On the way down, we had a lot of boulders and ledges... Definitely rough terrain on my knee. But, shortly after we descended, we were at the NH/ME border!! We are finally in Maine! I can't even imagine what NOBO thru hikers feel because we were so excited to get there and we haven't walked there from Georgia (yet!). A half mile after the border, we stopped at Carlo Col Shelter. Originally, we were thinking we would push to the next shelter for a total of 9.6 miles today, but my knee really hurt. DDL and I were having a conversation over lunch about what we should do because the next exit point off the AT is at Grafton Notch about 15 miles away. Those 15 miles include Mahoosuc Notch ("the most fun or difficult mile of the AT" as stated in the guidebook) which is a mile long boulder field. I wasn't sure that continuing to Grafton Notch was the safest decision based on how I felt. It is a difficult decision to make though because I so badly want to continue, but since DDL has already carried me up Mt. Washington after my broken leg incident (3 weeks after we started dating), my only hope of a rescue if needed, would be a helicopter. Haha. A couple at the shelter were out for a day hike and overheard our conversation. They told us they had a car down a side trail about 2.5 miles away. They offered that if we went down the side trail, they would give us a ride back into Gorham. We decided that being able to rest my knee for 2 days before tackling Mahoosuc Notch was a good idea. Also, my comfortable boots (from the second half of our hike last year) were in my car. This year, I had decided to try some trail runner sneakers in hopes to avoid blisters and maybe because they are purple and yellow, but I am beginning to think that the lack of support combined with the different insoles are the reasons for my knee pain. When we hit the trail again in a couple of days, I will wear the boots. Anyway, we made it down the Carlo Col Trail and the kind couple drove us down the 8 mile long, rough gravel road and then into town. We even scored free moose tour tickets from Top Notch Inn from our stay earlier in the week. We saw 5 moose on the tour!!!! They are huge!!! So cool!!! Tomorrow and Thursday we will be taking zeros, mainly to rest my knee, but also to avoid the rain on Thursday. Hoping to hit the trail on Friday feeling like a new girl with happy knees.

Peace Be The Journey
~Flicka