Plan B

We had a perfect plan today. An easy five mile hike to the road intersection and then Pancho (yes – crazy Pancho is in New Hampshire) was going to drive us in to Lincoln for a quick resupply to get is through the rest of the Whites. Just one problem – there was a mix up and Pancho was waiting for us a couple of miles down the road. To top it off, he was sitting in a cell dead zone so we had no idea where he was or how to reach him. He tried to hitch but that isn’t happening right now so after a while we were able to find another shuttle driver to take us into town.

I actually love these moments when the wheels come off. It reminds me that I am on this crazy adventure and it’s fun to problem solve these logistics. Plus, we have a great story about that time we were stumbling around on the side of the road starving and cranky and then all was good when we got to the Mexican restaurant. Ahhhh. The Mexican food was amazing and we got our resupply done and even a couple scoops of ice cream. Pancho finally tracked us down and gave us a ride back to the Trail at 2:00.

We still had over fifteen miles to go and it included some intense climbs and beautiful ridge hiking to Mt. Lafayette. It was so clear out today that we could see for hundreds of miles in every direction. Several of our climbs were nearly vertical boulder scrambles and those are fun but exhausting with a heavy pack with all of my resupply items.

Around 5:30 we still had another ten steep technical miles to go so we decided to cut it a little short and stay at the Garfield campsite. The campsite in the Whites are really amazing. They built tent platforms to protect the vegetation and the entire campsite is beautifully maintained by caretakers. Even the composting privies are nice. There is a lot of love that goes into these sites and it is so nice to get to enjoy these remote spots high up on the range.

So we are off schedule a bit but I am in the hands of the Whites now. I’ve decided to take the next few days as they come. This extreme terrain is fun but it doesn’t care one bit about tour plans. Oh, you want to push twenty miles each day through the Whites? We’ll see about that. 😮