Day 27 - Saturday, July 9

Linda

Ronald's stuffy nose was much worse this morning, so we filled him with pills and got a little later start. Our first climb was a 4 mile uphill stretch with an elevation gain of over 3,000 feet. What a killer! We kept on and dragged into Imp Shelter at 11:00. Imp Shelter was a real cabin, complete with a door and all. We decided to fix our big meal there, since we weren't sure where we would end up by tonight. We stayed and talked with two girls from University of Maryland who were AMC volunteers working up there.

After a couple hours we pushed on up Imp Mountain, then up, and up some more over North Carter Peak. More wet boulder climbing - just what I love to do. We crossed on an easy ridge over Middle and South Carters, then down to Zeta Pass where we decided to stop for the day. Ronald was really dragging the last bit, so he needs to rest up. We set up the tent just before the rain started, so at least we didn't get wet. I fixed him some hot Chicken Soup - the universal wonder medicine - and Ronald immediately conked out, even though it was only 6:30. Mike was here too, tending his bug fire and trying to eat some of his too heavy food load. Les and Pete came by, but decided to go on. I'm sure they got soaked. Haven't seen Ray yet - hope he's doing okay.

Tomorrow we will get past Pinkham Notch. I am anxious to see one of these famous AMC Huts in the Hut System that we've heard so much about. Pinkham is supposed to be a real big hotel. The huts are spread out throughout the Presidentials, and are extremely popular. Many people hike from one hut to the next, carrying just day packs with the bare essentials, and staying each night in a hut. That would be a great way to spend a week's vacation sometime, when there was enough time to take it easy and explore the area. The huts are much too close together for through hikers blasting through the area, but we wanted to make sure we stayed in at least one while we are here. We had plans to stay at Lake of the Clouds Hut, near the top of Mt. Washington in a couple days. After much contemplation, Mike figured he had enough money to stay at a hut, so he'll probably be with us at Lake of the Clouds.

Ron

The morning started with a long hard climb out of the valley to Mt. Moriah. We stopped at the Imp Lean-to at 11:00 for a big meal. At that point we did not know were we would be camping tonight. After a fairly steep climb up the Carters we had fairly level ridge walking.

I'm not sure why, but for some reason I don't feel very good. My throat is sore and I am feeling weak. I just sort of tagged along behind Linda most of the day. We stopped at Zeta Pass in a pretty camped out area. The bugs were out in force, but didn't stick around long after it started to rain. We just set up the tent and cooked some soup.

(10.2 Miles - 306.7 Total)