Pinkham Notch: Jenn Phar Davis’s team spotted!
Lake of the Clouds view
Walked up Mt. Washington and met Hickory there—luckily, the visitor center was unlocked at 6:40 am and I could use the bathroom. As Hickory put it, “It’s a long way to the next hut.” We had the summit to ourselves—what a contrast to my hike in 2008 when I visited Washington on July 4th.
Washington to Madison ridgewalk
Walked to Madison Hut with Hickory, enjoying another beautiful day with almost no one on trail.
Mt Adams (or is it Madison?) ridgewalk
Got to Pinkham Notch and missed Odyssa (who holds the supported female record and is trying to beat the men’s supported record) by minutes. She was at the Notch the same time as me…we must’ve been in different rooms. I chatted with her husband, friend Melissa, and Warren Doyle, and they gave me a Pepsi (score!)
Warren keeps track of all the records and confirmed the women’s unsupported record is 87 days. Sweet! I’m really going to do this—I’m amazed!
Snorkel with Jenn Pharr Davis’s crew
Also, they told me the sad news that Natureboy (was going for the male unsupported record) is off trail. Apparently, he got attacked. I’m a bit heartbroken—I had been meaning to speed up by a day so that we could finish together on July 3rd. At least, I was looking forward to seeing him pass me in the 100 Mile Wilderness. Either way, the attack has me rethinking about updating frequently…even Oydssa’s crew is keeping the updates a little less than realtime. I don’t know who would attack Natureboy or why…it’s terrifying. Today was one of those experiences life gives you to learn a lesson. Carter Hut is historically the least thru-hiker friendly hut. I had planned my day around not staying at Carter. But I got lost in the Wildcats and it started raining and I looked at my watch and knew: “Life is trying to teach me something.” I rehearsed what I was going to say to the croo–I didn’t think they’d let me work for stay that night and I’d end up wasting 5 hours the next morning to do morning work for stay. It turned out, there were no guests, we had some mutual friends, and they hooked me up with all sorts of goodies. I may have been scrubbing mold off walls that night, but it was like a party. At 1 am, the AMC radio went off and woke us all up. They said some thru-hikers were missing and didn’t show up at the Dungeon at Lake of the Clouds. One of the hikers left Pinkham at 3:30—the only hiker who could make that distance that late in the day is Odyssa. I seriously hope she’s all right. She’s an inspiration, a hero where they are so few women role models. I am so proud of what she is trying to do…I hope the storm didn’t get in her way,
