roan high knob shelter to 19e

it was pitch black outside when i woke to quick’s stuffing sounds. i powered on my phone and checked the time. 05:45. time to get going. the plan was to be on trail by 06:30 and motor so we could have as much time at the hostel as possible. my sleeping pad definitely has a small hole in it. i had to top it up a few times during the night.

i packed up my stuff, somehow finishing before quick, and went outside to fix breakfast by headlamp before hitting the trail.

i hiked by headlamp, moving slowly down the root filled blue blaze back to the trail, but once on trail was able to walk almost normal speed because it was pretty wide and flat. i stopped a couple times along the way to snap some photos of the sun rising from behind the mountain and the trees that surrounded the trail.

the sun came up and i began motoring. i made it to carver’s gap and began trekking over a series of balds, each more picturesque than the last. i took the .6 mile blue blaze to the top of grassy ridge bald as it’s apparently the last 360° view above 6000 feet until we get to mt. washington. quick caught up to me at the top.

i hiked to a shelter and had a brief snack before motoring on toward little hump and hump mountain, which afforded the very best views of the day. the customary wind of the last few days was absent, so we stopped at the top of hump mountain for lunch. the landscape reminded me of rohan from the lord of the rings.

after lunch it was all downhill to the gap where rt 19e crosses the mountains. when i got to the gap it was just starting to rain, and the road was a highway complete with tractor trailers. i had planned on just walking the .5 miles to the hostel, but i opted for the free shuttle.

at the hostel i did the usual, shower, laundry, food. the loaner clothes box had some interesting items in it, so i made an outfit for my afternoon:

the hostel is built on top of a beer bar that serves food, making it very easy. late afternoon, despite the owner telling us the grocery store in town wouldn’t have anything we wanted, quick, rocket, and i hitchhiked to town and back, and were able to find most of the fresh things we needed, like avocados, apples, and bananas. quick and i also got a box of cinnamon toast crunch and a half gallon of milk. it lasted less than 10 minutes once we got back to the hostel.

some additional images from today: