Jeff and April Hike the AT

Day 32 Wednesday August 11th Imp Campsite  298.3 - 306.4 = 8.1 Once again, we don’t enough sleep, thanks to train visiting twice in the night. We get shuttled back to the trail at 7:10, the set time for rides to highway 2. We are tired instead of energized like we’d hoped we’d be after a day of rest. We d idn’t bring tent in an effort to go light. We plan to sleep in a lean to shelter, and we are really hoping it isn’t crowded so we can get some quality sleep.  We enter the White Mountain National Forest today. It’s our first National Forest of the trip. Maine didn’t have any National forests which seems crazy. Most of the forested recreation land in California is National Forest so I thought there would be an abundance out here too.  The White Mountain National Forest is home to the famous White Mountains, which contain the largest alpine zone East of the Rockies. That sounds impressive, but there are only 13 square miles of alpine in the Eastern United States, and 4 of ...

Day 27: Friday August 6th  256.9 - 268.1 = 11.2 miles  Stealth spot near cascades just south of Grafton Notch (0.9 miles South) We get shuttled back to the trail at 7, having not slept terribly well or for long enough. We had a feeling last night that we’d want to go later, but we stick to it, knowing it will leave us better off in the afternoon when we’re trying to find a campsite.  We stop at the stream that parallels the road we are dropped off at. We eat the oatmeal that I made for breakfast before we left the house. They gave us a muffin, but it’s not enough. Before we get going we see Chelsea. I guess her, Dr Dolittle and the Queen of Denmark camped here at the road last night. They are part of the group that we called the early risers. We learn from Dr Dolittle that they all saw a moose last afternoon here at the stream, Peter and Kae included. He says Peter and Kae moved on another 4+ miles to the lean to to camp.  We are faster hikers with our light day pack...