Daniel's journal Sept. 3-6

Thursday, September 3
	Wow!  Awesome!  The view from Mt. Lincoln and Mt. Lafayette was breath
taking!  Both mountains are above tree line and you could get a majestic
360 view!  It was a little hazy in the distance, but I could see Mt.
Washington to the north and Mt. Moosilauke to the south.  Guess I can't
really describe the view in words, so if you want to see it you have to
come here in person.  It was a very thrilling experience, and I did more
yelling and singing than I have done in a long time.  Mt. Lafayette is 5249
feet high.
	Before climbing the mountain this morning, I had stayed in the town of
North Woodstock to finish up some business.  I left town at 12:00.  I
walked about a mile before I got a ride.  The Pranksters (Doc, Llama, and
Goob) were headed back to the trail after a night at Doc's house, and they
picked me up.  I was very thankful, because it was about six miles to the
AT.
	On the way up, I met a Spruce Grouse on the trail.  I did not know what
kind of bird it was at the time but I later identified it in a bird book. 
The grouse was about four to five feet in front of me, so I took its
picture.  I looked around in the woods, and saw the hen just off the trail.
 I watched as the male strutted.  Very pretty.  He fanned his tail
feathers, dropped his wings, and puffed out his neck, and made a clucking
noise.  I took another picture.  He moved off the trail so I walked on. 
The grouse did not fly.
When I was on Mt. Lincoln, I used my binoculars and I could see Mt. Roamer
and the others on Mt. Lafayette a mile away.  By the time I got there, they
had moved on.  I hung out awhile before moving on.  It was getting close to
6 p.m.  The others said they were going to camp and I wondered if I would
be able to find them.  No problem.  I could hear them talking ¼ mile away. 
They had found a sweet spot close to a spring.
	I set up my tent and then cooked supper.  We all cooked in a circle.  It
was Salt, Truly Blessed, Yoyo, Llama, Mt. Roamer, and I.  We had a great
time.
Nine miles for today.

Friday, September 4
	Last night it rained.  I stayed cozy dry in my Tyvek tent.
	I was the first one out of camp.  I climbed to the top of Mt. Garfield and
stopped for the view.  The sun was burning off the fog and the wind was
blowing it away.  I decided to dry out my tent.  I tied it to a bolt that
was fastened to the ruins of an old foundation.  The wind came gusting
around the corner, and I watched in horror as my tent tore loose and sailed
over the cliff's edge.  I had visions of chasing my tent through miles of
bush and bog.  I leaped down over the rocks and found my tent on a rock
ledge.  I snatched it up, so relieved to have it back.  I laid it out on a
rock and weighted it down with a stone.  It stayed there until I was ready
to go.
	The others came up and we all sat out in the sun.  The view was so nice
that we sat there for over two hours.  We could see Gale Head Hut in the
distance and we were hoping for some good leftovers.
When we got there, they had turkey soup for a dollar.  It was great.  Next
we hiked to the top of South Turin Mt.  From there we could see Mt.
Washington.  It had its head out of the clouds.  Terrific.  We hung out for
awhile before hiking on.  It was getting late so we started looking for a
camping spot.  We found a nice spot on top of Zealand Mountain.
	We hiked another nine miles today.

Saturday, September 5
	Last night the wind howled.  It was cold and my bag felt so good.  We
finally got up and started hiking.  In a mile we came to Zeacliffs.  We
couldn't see far but we could see into the valley.  The sun would shine
through the fog and look like a spotlight on a stage.  The Birch leaves
were starting to turn a brown yellow.  It was very pretty!
	At Zealand Falls Hut they had some delicious bars in the leftover bin. 
For a dollar you can eat all the leftovers you want.  I filled up on bars
they were so good.
	Maria was part of the croo at the Hut.  It was her turn to make supper. 
She was busy in the kitchen.  We found out that she was Season's and Half
Time's daughter.  We had hiked with Seasons in Southern Virginia.
We went out to see the water falls, and from there we could see a pond in
the valley.  In the pond was a moose!  He was eating lunch.  We rushed back
to our packs and charged down the trail.  When we got to the pond's edge
the moose was still there.  He was out in the water up to his back.  He
would dunk his head under for awhile and when he came up green moss was
hanging from his mouth and he was chomping down.  He was sporting a small
rack.  We took pictures and it did not bother him in the least.  After we
had seen enough, we hiked north again.
We stopped at Ethan Pond Shelter for a break.  Then we headed on to
Crawford Notch.  Salt and Truly decided to camp in the Notch.  We had an
hour left so we decided to hike up Webster Cliffs.
	It was a very steep climb.  We probably only went a mile in that hour.  We
came out to an excellent view!  Tight next to the view was a splendid spot
to camp.  The spot was sheltered from the wind by pine trees.  Good thing
it was too, because the wind was blowing at around 40 to 50 mph.
	We sat on the cliffs until dark, then cooked supper.  Two weekend hikers
showed up at dark and camped next to us.
	Eleven miles hiked for today.

Sunday, September 6
	Beautiful day!  We ate breakfast, then went out on the cliffs for church. 
>From the cliffs we could see this huge mountain on the other side of the
notch.  It made me think of Isaiah 40:12.  "Who hath measured the waters in
the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and
comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains
in a scales, and the hills in a balance?"
	At 8 a.m. we hiked out of camp. On top of Mt. Webster we had an excellent
view of Crawford Notch. The wind was still blowing fiercely.  It was hard
to walk in a straight line.  Once or twice it blew me off balance.
	Mizpah Hut.  We got there at 11:00 and we were starved.  Yes!  Lots of
leftovers.  Pancakes, bacon, cream of wheat, and some peaches.  Between the
three of us, we ate all the bacon and peaches and half the pancakes and
some cream of wheat.  It was so good to be full again.  The croo was really
glad to be rid of the leftovers.
Soon after Mizpah Hut we broke out above tree line.  The scenery was
awesome!
	When we got to Lake of the Clouds Hut, we asked them if we could work for
stay.  Sure!  They were so happy to see us.  In fact, I kind of got a bad
feeling, because they were so happy that we showed up.
We had some day light left and Mt. Washington was clear, so we hiked a mile
and a half to the top.  6288 feet.  The top was just swarming with people,
other than that it was fantastic.  It was hazy in the distance, but you
could see Mt. Lafayette and I think I could see Moosilauke.
	The wind was blowing at 60 mph.  You could actually lean on it.  It was
hard to walk in.
	We hung out awhile.  Took pictures.  Ate some food.  Then hiked back to
the Hut.
	We ate supper with the croo after all the other guests had eaten.  Then we
crashed in the oval office bunkroom.
	One highlight of today that I forgot to mention.  We met Felix and
Pokeyhauntas ½ mile south of the peak of Mt. Washington.  We were so
surprised!  It was great to see him again!  He was in great spirits and
having a good time.



* From the Appalachian Trail Mailing List |  http://www.backcountry.net  *

İİİİİİİİİİİİİİİİİİİİİİİİİ==