Training Log Archive: Funderstormin

For my last day in the Whites I chose a touristy summit called Mt. Willard. I dropped my AT friends off at their trailhead along the way then went to mine. For having a couple of big climbing days in my legs I was amazed at how good and strong I felt…must have been the impressive company I kept the night before! This hike had about 400m of ascent over 1.5 miles but the grade felt really mellow. Beautiful views at the top and lots of great conversations!

I had a great time here with so many wonderful experiences delivered by the universe. I am sad to leave but also excited to move on to Vermont for the next week!

The forecast today indicated that I would have a narrow weather window in which to get a fun activity in. I chose the nearby Arethusa Falls, which still had a fair amount of climbing, but nothing like I’d done the day before!

It was a short but challenging hike, with a beautiful view point of the falls at the end of it.

When I got back to the campground, I met 3 AT thru hikers (a couple whose trail names are Bed and Breakfast because he carries the tent and she carries the food, and a third hiker named Aldo) who were looking for a place to stay for the night to get out of the forecasted storm. I happily offered up my site to them, and got to spend the rest of the day as a Trail Angel for them. I took them into town for supplies, made them dinner, and we hung out in Earl when the weather got bad. As a thru hiker fan girl, it was a dream come true! I got to ask all the AT questions I ever wanted and really enjoyed helping them out!

It’s been 3 years since I’ve been in the White Mountains and I really wanted to do at least one 4000er while I was out here. I picked a route not far from where I’m staying in Crawford Notch and set out nice and early. I felt very nervous as I started and even more so when I was reminded about what a White Mountain mile feels like!

The first 5K of this route was pretty much straight uphill (about 800m) to the summit of Mount Jackson. About an hour into the hike, I came across another solo female hiker named Shelley, and we ended up spending the rest of the day together! We had similar paces and goals for the day, and her company really made the time fly by quickly. If it weren’t for her, I’m not entirely sure if I would’ve made it to the summit, as the last couple hundred feet were a sketchy scramble involving all points of contact on the rock! We had a great view from the summit, and the place to ourselves.

From Mount Jackson, we hiked along the Appalachian Trail over to the Mizpah hut where I enjoyed a lovely treat of chamomile cake and lemonade! We contemplated adding Mount Pierce to the day, but decided to head back down the Crawford path. I really felt that the universe wanted me to run into her and I really enjoyed her company!

C • Congrats Sally 2

Easy hike around the campground trails. Have a big day planned tomorrow so wanted to rest up!

Checking out the trails at nearby Wolf’s Neck Woods State Park. Real lovely, but I was in a bit of a tizzy because I lost one of Earl’s keys this morning (likely in the washroom!) and was feeling irresponsible.

Had plans to bike down to a harbour for dinner at a place called Harraseeket Lunch and Lobster that came highly recommended. When I got there I was just wasn’t hungry enough to want to eat fried food and then hop back on my bike so I just enjoyed the harbour for a few minutes (the restaurant was hopping!) and then biked back, missing one of my turns by a fair bit, whoops!

Key disaster was averted when I got back to the park after spending the afternoon in Portland and checked at the front gate where some wonderful soul had found them and turn them in! In the meantime, I had gone to a hardware store, and had two more copies made lol. Now there’s lots of keys!

C • Phew! 2

On the Wells State Park trails before packing up and heading to Portland, Maine!

Neither Earl or I have been before so we are both excited!

Brought a couple of sets of dumbbells with me. Fortunately there was no one at the campsite across from me last night!

I’ve never had my bike with me before at Wells state park, and was excited when I saw trail marked mountain biking trail on my way in. I rode from my campsite down to that where I met some guys who just finished a ride. They gave me a few suggestions of where to go. I took the trail out to a road and made a nice fun loop of it. Lots of climbs which I wanted and needed!

In the spirit of Storm the Trent training, I took a short break after my ride and then headed out to hike a loop that I knew I wasn’t planning to do tomorrow morning. Saw a fox!