I woke up fully refreshed after a phenomenal sleep in a bed last night. And then cousin Cheryl asked if I wanted an egg sandwich – as if this morning could get better! 

She, Robyn and I then set off on the drive back to the trail head. We made a quick stop at Dunkin (given we’re in New England, we were legally required) and drove back to where I had been picked up. 

The three of us, it turns out, were all actually planning on summitting the same mountain today. Mt Webster was the next stop on the AT for me and the other two have been working on climbing all 48 4,000 ft mountains in NH and this just happened to be the one they were planning on. However, they had mapped out a different trail.

And so they drove me to my starting point, waited around as I packed up, posed for a photo and then they hit the road – driving off to where their trail started. 

Today had to be a short day because there is a 15 mile no camping zone coming up on the presidential traverse. And so I wanted to get just to the edge of that. That meant that I would only do 6 miles today. So I was in no rush. I leisurely chatted with some SoBos before starting off down the trail. And when I was on trail, I kept a slow but consistent pace. No reason to tire myself out unnecessarily, I determined. 

But even at that slower pace, the heat and sun and climb caught up to me. By the time I reached the top, I was sweating and ready for a break. I plopped down and waited a while to see if Cheryl and Robyn would meet me at the summit. But unfortunately there wasn’t much in the way of shade at the summit. And so I left fairly soon after I got there. As much as I wanted to see them, I didn’t feel like risking sun stroke or something like that. 

The rest of the walk was a cruise to camp. After a lovely chat with the campsite caretaker (I had to give in to the whites and pay for a campsite tonight), I settled into my hammock early. I took a nap. Are a quick dinner. And now I’m back in hammock. Ready for a real sleep. 

Key stats:

Miles: 6

Elevation gained: 3300

Mile marker: 1859

Naps: 1