[at-l] Hikes & hiking

[Arthur Gaudet]

Well, it's off to the AT once again. This time I'll start at Kincora and hike
north, until about Harpers Ferry I think.

Today was my last "training hike", a half-hearted attempt to tell my self that I
can do the 500+ miles. My three hikes in last 5 days were all in the Whites.
Today's hike was the East Peak of Mt. Osceola. It's a 4000-footer for those who
are peakbaggers, and it's a tough mountain. Trip time was 5:00 for 5.5 miles
roundtrip. Yep, just a little bit faster than 1 mph. That's because you hike in
for about 1.5 miles gaining very little altitude and then you ascend 2000 ft in
the next 1.25 miles! I believe that's steeper than any stretch on the AT (even
the rough parts in Maine). There are a couple of tricky chutes where the rocks
have tumbled through leaving little to grab onto or step on securely. The
uppermost chute was still filled with snow & ice. Yep, the Whites still have
plenty this year, generally above 4000 ft.

My other two hikes were Mt. Whiteface & Mt. Crawford in Crawford Notch (in sight
of the AT but not on it.)

So in the next couple of days I'll close up the place here and get myself down
to TN. If it works out I'll be on the trail this time next week, heading to
Damascus. I'll sign off the list on Saturday I think. Maybe I'll see some of you
out there! --RockDancer