Day: 115
Date: Thursday, 17 August 2023
Start: Jeffers Brook Shelter (AT Mile 1800.4)
Finish: Kinsman Notch (AT Mile 1808.8) but staying in Lincoln.
Daily Kilometres: 12.1
GPX Track: Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos
Total Kilometres: 2968.2
Weather: Overcast, cool to mild, with long periods of light rain.
Accommodation: Motel
Nutrition:
Breakfast: Pop tarts
Lunch: Hot dogs & fries.
Dinner: Chimichangas, rice & beans/Nachos, apple turnover & rice pudding.
Aches: Dave - left knee sore plus a few other niggles; Julie - nothing reported.
Highlight: The long, steep, rocky and slick part of the descent from Mt Mousilauke alongside the cascading Beaver Brook was nerve-wracking, exhilarating and spectacular. The roar of the rushing waterfall drowned out all other sounds as we carefully clambered down through the gnarly alpine forest was nature in the raw. And best of all, we managed it without any drama.
Lowlight: Yet another day where no rain was forecast until at least the afternoon, but it started raining at 9:00am and continued through to the early afternoon, obscuring the views we hoped to enjoy from Mt Mousilauke (4802') as we crossed its open summit.
Pictures: Click here
Map and Position: Click here for Google Map
Journal:
We were hiking by soon after 6:30am in mild overcast conditions hoping that we had a short day in prospect before our day off in Lincoln tomorrow.
The distance was short, only a little over 8 miles, but it involved transiting Mt Mousilauke, the first 4000+' mountain the trail has gone over since Virginia, nearly 1000 miles ago. There were lots of comments on our crowd-sourced navigation app about how difficult the descent from the peak was for north-bound thru-hikers, especially when wet, and nearby hostels were promoting slackpacking shuttles which would allow thru-hikers to hike the section in reverse without their full packs. So, we approached the day with some apprehension, especially Dave.
The ascent of the mountain was long and mostly rocky, but not that steep or dangerous. It wasn't raining and we were hopeful of some views, even if above the clouds. However, as if on cue, as we reached the southern end of the summit ridge and still below the treeline, it began to rain. We took a break in miserable conditions, huddled against the rain and cold in the dripping forest, aware that if we waited until we reached the peak we would be above the treeline and much more exposed to the weather.
Half a mile from there we emerged from the treeline into a ghostly alpine landscape shrouded in a thick fog with the rain still falling. We stopped briefly at the summit sign then, as we were leaving, incredibly, Julie found a smartphone lying on a rock. There was nobody else around so Julie picked it up and will post details on the nav app and hand it in to the police in town.
Initially the descent was just steady, rocky and boggy, and we began to meet slackpackers, some of who we recognized, on their way up. A couple of them warned us of the dangers of the descent and wished us a safe journey, just increasing our apprehension! With 1.5 miles of the descent to go, we reached Beaver Brook and then followed it very steeply downhill (see above). It was very difficult especially because of the slick rocks in the rain and the huge steps down required. We took it very slowly, especially Dave, and it took us just under two hours to cover that last 1.5 miles.
We finally emerged onto NH Route 112 at Kinsman Notch in light drizzle and fog. After walking a hundred metres along the road to a good spot, we began hitchhiking, though not optimistic given the wet conditions and how bedraggled and wet we looked. However, after about 10-15 minutes, a.lady on her way home to Rhode Island with a pretty full car pulled up and offered us a lift. We squeezed in, with Dave nursing his wet rucksack on the back seat, and were kindly driven directly to our motel about twenty minutes away where we arrived right on 2:00pm.
We checked in and bought some take-out lunch from a cafe across the road in the busy tourist town and spent the balance of the afternoon doing the usual chores. Later we walked down to a Mexican restaurant for a "so so" dinner.
Everything in our packs seems very damp as a consequence of the persistent rain and humidity, so we will be spending our day off here tomorrow drying everything out ….. again. For once we seems to have timed our day off well, since the forecast is for bad weather tomorrow and hikers are being warned not to venture into the high country.
