The Whites

I shall describe my traverse of The Whites in this entry:

Mt. Moosilauke was certainly a rough introduction to The Whites and after I descended the mountain, I was held up in Lincoln, NH (at Chet's) for a day letting the weather clear out.  I left Lincoln with clear skies and had a trail magic ride back to the trail from Dan, who also let us use his hot tub and heated pool at his condo before leaving town.  Sweet!!
Climbing out of Kinsman Notch, the second mountain in the range is Kinsman.  It wasn't until ascending Kinsman did I realize that the brutal ascents in The Whites require hoisting yourself and your 30+ lb pack up 1 - 3+ foot rock "steps"... all the while grunting, moaning, groaning, pushing, pulling, cussing, scrapping, slipping, and sliding.  The views are certainly amazing but the climbs and descents are just brutal.  Even the descents require all the things I listed above.  The Whites have some of the most "seat of your pants" hiking I've ever done.  In some places, I would put my trekking poles away and skid down rock slabs and steep steps on my ass end.  It certainly is a different type of hiking that thru hikers are used to... it requires full concentration, unlike some other parts of the trail that you could almost hike mindlessly.
Another aspect of The Whites is that the AMC (Appalachian Mountain (Money) Club) has a stranglehold on the trail(s) through the National Forest.  Reason being?  The AMC has a system of huts that are mainly used by day and short section hikers.  Thus, shelters and campsites are rare along the AT in The Whites.  In part, the terrain will not allow such things.  Thru hikers are allowed to stay at the huts if they do work for stay on behalf of the croo.  Plus, we get to feast on leftovers!!  I stayed at 4 out of the 8 huts and was excited to have work for stay as part of my experience of hiking the trail.  The only problem is that the hut "croo" can be a little demeaning to thru hikers.  Most chores at the huts are sweeping, doing dishes, etc.  However, the most ridiculous work for stay I completed was at Lakes of the Clouds where I had to scrub black pots and pans to a silvery shine.... while the hut croo played Uno.
I found myself at Lakes of the Clouds after departing Mizpah hut, which is below tree-line.  Once I was above tree-line, on my way to Lakes of the Clouds, the weather turned very, very sour.  Visibility was all of 20-30 feet with winds approaching 50-60 mph.  I was literally blown off of the trail several times!  Usually, the wind is invigorating but this was just scary.  After finally making it to the hut, I learn that the wind-speed register has blown off the roof and the winds on Mt. Washington (just 1,200 feet in elevation and 1.4 miles above the hut) were nearing 90 mph.  I decide that getting blown off trail isn't really for me and therefore, I end my day at 11:30 AM with only 5 miles completed for the day.  It is what it is.
It was days like that one that made my traverse of The Whites take a tad longer than anticipated, but I'm not sure my body would have withstood me doing it any faster.  Today, I pulled a long day into the town of Gorham, NH and my knees HURT from the week spent hiking some of the most difficult terrain along the AT.  In fact, everything hurts.  Hips, knees, back... It's all just tired.  Zero day here in Gorham!  Woot!
In closing, The Whites have some of the most beautiful views along the entire trail.  For instance, Franconia Ridge was just breathtaking!  I'm so thankful I had clear weather on that ridge!  For me, it was on Franconia where the beauty of The Whites really shined, literally (before the bad weather came).  Another area in The Whites is the famous Presidential Range.  It's all above tree-line and my traverse was half and half... half clear weather and half socked in.  I'll take it!  Some hikers have no views in The Whites at all!  It's rather amazing how quickly the weather can change.  It would be socked in one minute, sunny the next, then back to socked in.  And the wind... the wind!!  I'll just put it short, sweet, and to the point: that wind is FIERCE above treeline!!
Less than 20 miles from the Maine border and less than 300 miles to go!  Weeee!!