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Fwd: Dan's gap fillers
>
>Dan Johnson, Gutsy's husband, just sent me some "gap fillers" from his
>journal. Hope you all enjoy them.
>
>Pete
>---------------------
>Pete:
>
>Heres some information missing from Gails journals, with some overlap. I
>didnt keep a journal, but scribbled notes in a notepad as we hiked, about
>places, times, people. (The copy goes to my twin brother, who is in
>Decatur, IL for a short time.)
>
>Monday, August 5
>
>Southbound, from Imp Campsite to Pinkham Notch. Great views of the
>Presidentials from Mt. Hight, and Gutsy stopped for a photo of Mt.
>Washtington without clouds. We met Phoenix, a northbound thru hiker, near
>Carter Dome. Awesome views down to Carter Notch hut and lakes, both before
>and after the notch! I hurried ahead of Gutsy and the Lipton noodles and
>tuna lunch was nearly ready when she arrived at the hut. While at the hut,
>we met Crazy Toes and Pilgrim, 2 more N.B. thru hikers. We filled one
>Nalgene bottle with lemonade from the hut. Later we met the hugger, a
>section hiker, and his friend. At the Wildcat skilift area we met Guiness,
>and Fancy Free was not far behind. So by going south we met seven
>northbounders today (Gutsy knew all of them; I had met the first five.) The
>view and descent from Wildcat down to Pinkham notch was breathtakingly
>horrendous, but I hurried down to make a phone call about the car before 5
>p.m. Gutsy talked a few minutes with Guiness and Fancy Free, and reached the
>visitors center as I was driving Geos pickup toward the road.
>
>Tuesday, August 6
>
>Gorham, NH (Hwy 2) to Gentian Pond shelter/campsite. The mosquitoes attacked
>us fiercely, in droves, as we entered the woods after crossing the
>Androscoggin River. My first slap killed four skeeters. Fortunately, they
>were not as bad once we started climbing. I thought there would be less
>climbing now that we were out of the Whites--but it wasnt much easier, if
>any. Today we found moose prints in the mud. Lunch was at Trident Col
>tentsite. Gutsy was very tired, and we spread a poncho on the ground and
>rested for more than an hour. Pilgrim was cooking supper when we arrived at
>the shelter at 5:30. We used a tentpad instead of the shelter, and didnt
>waste any time cooking supper. The skeeters were bad again, so we retreated
>into the tent to eat. We read for awhile, and before we slept Gutsy enjoyed
>hearing me moan and groan about my sore ankles and muscles.
>
>Wednesday, August 7
>
>Gentian Pond to east end of Mahoosuc Notch. I was awakened by Gutsy,
>whispering something urgent to me. She was upset about dropping a ziplock
>bag of toilet paper in the privy; and now she was mad that I couldnt hear
>her (Im very hard of hearing). We did not fish it out, but got more t.p.
>from Geo, whom we met later that day. After breakfast, we started hiking at
>7 a.m., reached Mt. Success at 9 a.m., and at 10 a.m. we were at the NH/ME
>state line. Here we stopped and took pictures. I told Gutsy that she has
>now hiked from Georgia to Maine! and she said, Does that mean I can go home
>now? Water was not easy to find today. I could see by the topo that we
>would stay on a ridge, so I took a 10-minute side trip to Carlo Col campsite
>for water. Back on the AT, I met Geo, who was also in need of water. More
>steep climbing, great views, and blueberries on Goose Eye. Beyond Goose Eye,
>volunteers were installing new bog bridges, using lumber dropped by
>helicopter. Gutsy walked with Carla and another woman from Goose Eye Mt. to
>Full Goose Shelter. They were about our age, hiking for a few days, and
>called themselves The Old Ones.
>
>We stayed at the shelter from 2:30 to 3:45 p.m., eating a late lunch there.
> Pilgrim was settling in for the night. This was supposed to be our
>destination for the day, but Geo had suggested that we do Mahoosuc Notch
>today, and camp near the east end of the notch. There was some very light
>rain as we crossed Fulling Mill Mtn. As we descended toward the notch, a
>hiker we met commented on the humid weather. He was feeling the heat because
>he had just left the cool air-conditioning of the notch. It took us two
>hours to get through the mile-long notch (I removed my pack three times to
>squeeze through little holes), and darkness was approaching when we found the
>campsite, after 7 p.m. It was a great spot, with no mosquitoes.
>
>Friday, August 8
>
>This was a much-needed day off the trail. Yesterday afternoon we met Geo in
>Gorham, then drove with him to N. Woodstock, NH where we spent the night at
>Loon Mt. Hostel. This morning we drove to Hanover, NH where we picked up
>some mail. I got rid of the dead Rabbit, then rented a car at the airport
>and headed home.