Would I Lie to You?

Ok. I think I just needed some sleep and I had a great rest last night and felt much better today. I had the strangest dreams but I woke feeling rested and ready to go. I am so glad that I decided to wait to do that climb until this morning. I got up early and on Trail by 6:00 and the sunrise was amazing climbing up to Smarts Peak with a cup of coffee.

The views from the ridge lines were so big. It was so clear and sunny that it looked like I could see forever. After some fun but technical hiking across some of the smaller peaks, I stopped for lunch at a stream. An older gentleman stopped and asked if I was a thru hiker and wanted to take my picture. I told him my story and he snapped a shot and recorded my trail name in his journal. Later this evening, my hiker buddies told me that they also ran into the same gentlemen and he told them that he thought I was lying. He said there was no way a thru hiker would be in New Hampshire already. They laughed and assured him that we all started at Springer on the same day.

We are officially in the White Mountain range and it is going to be a challenging couple of days. My strategy is to get up early and hike these big climbs steady and slow. Once I get into camp then it will be rest and stretching to get ready for the next day. Here is our profile for the first climb! The exciting part is that we will have amazing views from all of these peaks we will be climbing and I am looking forward to seeing the summit of Mt. Washington later this week where they have recorded the strongest winds in the world. Let’s hope it’s a tailwind.