[at-l] trail notes, Crawford Notch, Trip 10

[RockDancer]

The weather from Aug. 22-25 at Crawford Notch made a liar of me, well sort
of. The low pressure area didn't show up and instead we had warm, dry days &
cool (to cold) nights for this 10th trail magic. With one hour to go before
heading home, a sudden downpour kicked up and doused us, just to let us know
it can happen anytime. The nights may have reached low 40's in the early AM
on Friday, but Saturday was warmer and Sunday warmer still overnight. The
hikers are enjoying the good weather, making miles on the trail, and also
signaling how fortunate they are to have such nice late-August weather.

57 hikers came through the notch this time, with only 1 SoBo hiker each day.
I think I've only seen one hiker on the flip and that was over a week ago.
Everyone else is on the march North. A few more Germans came by, so perhaps
10 this season, and one young Frenchman, Timothee, quite young and traveling
on his own. GIPCGIRL (Gypsy Girl) came through on her 3rd AT in 3 years, and
has also done the PCT thru-hike this year! She still had time to sit, rest &
tell stories with us. Cane Cutter is a young guy from Alabama, taught us
about the large rabbits down there. Grand Poobah (SoBo) and Ginger Snap
(NoBo) stayed a night with us, and we stayed up late watching the stars. On
Friday afternoon, Rockfish returned from his dayhike on Mt. Washington to
spend the night. He's got to be at work in Michigan starting tomorrow
(Monday) but this trail regular made great use of his short vacation.

Stitches '99 was helping a lot on this trip & she had to answer LOTS of
questions about the CDT and PCT. Clearly those trails are on the minds of
many hikers.

257 hikers so far this year. I'll have one more trip to the notch over Labor
Day Weekend. But after that is a bit vague. The back of the pack only has 7
weeks to make it to Katahdin to stay within the Oct. 15 date. And it's
problematic to flip in the Whites. It'll be nearly as snowy & cold here in
November as in Baxter SP. Well, not exactly as bad, but you get the idea.
Those "back of the pack" hikers may need to use snowshoes to get through the
Whites if they wait too long to flip!

Arthur D. Gaudet
RockDancer on the Appalachian Trail
Rockdancer97 at comcast.net