At a Truckstop Diner Just Outside of Lincoln...

Fine, I'm actually in the Lincoln, NH public library, but I couldn't decide on a title that summed up the last week because there were far too many to choose from, so I just went with a line from a country song. I guess I could have referred to the hiking of Mt. Washington and the Presidentials, or the unexpected run-in with forest wildlife that I can't tell you about yet because I can't download pictures or movies for some reason! So basically this is going to be a very boring check-in. In fact, if you want to stop reading because there are no pictures, please feel free - I would if I were you. I'm paying $4/hr to use this computer, and over half of that has been spent trying to post pictures and movies on the blog and on youtube, but apparently this computer isn't set up for that. So safe to say this will be short.

I have approximately twenty miles left of the White Mountains, which would be a sad thing had I enjoyed any views whatsoever. For the most part my summits have been clothed in fog and rain, and the only good pictures I was able to take (other than of said wildlife encounter) was going up and down Mount Washington. For some reason it was one of the easier mountains for me to climb - I may have been somewhat fueled by the promise of food at the top (not something that usually happens while reaching a summit). While the climb was awesome, the Disney World-esque frenzy at the top put me in a daze. I sat down at the cafeteria with my heaping tray of food and watched as families piled off of the train, rushed through the museum, plowed through the food line, bought matching t-shirts at the gift shop, yelled at each other, took pictures with the summit sign, then jumped back on the train for the thirty minute ride to the parking lot. An actual fight broke out between a mother and daughter at my table, which finally convinced me I had stayed too long. It was such a weird concept for me to understand in light of my hike - I was just so happy to have made it to the top and to be there that I couldn't understand why these people weren't amazed at where they were. I know some people's only chance of seeing that kind of view is taking a car or train to the top, but I almost wish it wasn't there - any of it. I probably wouldn't have said this before I became a "hiker", but if you don't earn it I guess you can't enjoy it. For me it will remain a blur of noise and activity in an otherwise mostly serene and beautiful journey. 

Just went past 1 hr, so I guess this means I might as well use up the next half hour that I'm already paying for anyway. As I said earlier, only twenty miles left in the Whites. My knees need to get out, that's for sure. Sometimes it takes me a full minute in the morning to go from crouching at the entrance of my tent to a full standing position. Another benefit of getting out of NH and into VT is that the climbs get easier - or so I'm told - and thus I can finally start to rack up more miles per day. Then when I get to Massachusetts I can really start to crank it up. I've been averaging maybe 13 or so miles per day over the Whites, so hopefully I can get into the 20's with no ginormous rock faces to scramble up and then fall down. Ok, I'm going to use my last ten minutes or so on the internet doing something other than writing. If you've read all the way through, thank you and God Bless! And don't forget to vote on the new poll at the top! And last second shout outs to my parents for sending my supplies to different towns along the way, and to the folks at the White Mountains Hostel for sending me my journal, Bible, and Guidebook that I had left behind! Ok, I really need to stop writing now...