Stuck in Lodi Again

This blog comes to you from Glencliff, NH, at about 2am, in the midst of a caffeine-induced fit of insomnia. So please forgive any raving incoherency.

My current residence is the Hikers Welcome Hostel and has been for the last two nights. Before leaving Hanover, I sent off a couple of maildrops to the Glencliff post office - including all of my warmer winter gear - completely overlooking the fact that Labor Day was on the horizon and the post office would be closed for three days (c'mon, you know it's practically closed on Saturday).

But let me back up a bit...

Thursday afternoon we left Hanover and hiked (by road) over to the tiny village of Etna, where there was allegedly a hostel. We never found it. We waited and loitered around outside the local general store, hoping to get in touch with these mysterious people, when one of the locals finally offered us a place to stay for the night. The place turned out to be a dilapidated old lean-to on the edge of his property, but it had a roof, so it was better than nothing. And it was actually right next to the AT, allowing us to easily hike out the next morning. This would be our first day of serious hiking in quite awhile.

Amazingly (for me) we made it a whole 17.5 miles. One early attempt at a blue-blaze went awry, but we were redeemed later by a convenient ranger trail climbing the greater part of Smarts Mtn. But don't be fooled - ranger trail though it was, it was certainly not a walk in the park, because Smarts Mtn. certainly smarts. It was probably the steepest, rockiest, most difficult climb we've had since Roan Mtn. in NC/TN, and it definitely gave us a little preview of what we have in store in the upcoming White Mountains. However, once we slogged our way to the summit, we were rewarded with an old fire warden's tower, where we spent the night and woke amidst the clouds. I mean, literally - we were in the middle of a cloud; you could barely see to the ground below us. Sweet.

We planned the next couple of days to be short and easy into Glencliff, so we got a late start climbing down from our perch and headed off. Not long into the trek, Voodoo was overcome by a vicious craving for some carbonated, caffeinated refreshment. I could see the shakes coming on. Now I've obviously never been one to pass up a potential shortcut and I'm a bit of a soda fiend myself, so the decision to head to town was easy. We hiked on 10 miles to the first road crossing, where we hitched down to Wentworth to satisfy our beverage-lust, and once we were there, well...why on earth head back to the trail when our next scheduled stop is right down the road? Am I right? A couple rides later we strolled into the hostel where this post began.

Our arrival was on Saturday evening, yet I wouldn't be able to retrieve my very necessary packages until Tuesday, which meant three nights stay at a very unfree (albeit honor system) hostel, which quickly adds up. Fortunately this place really lives up to its name and we were able to manage some kind of work-for-stay agreement by doing a few chores here and there. And honestly, of all the places on the trail you could be stuck for three days, this is definitely near the top of the list. The people that run the place are awesome, the weather has been great, and I have loved every second of time wasted with Voodoo. We swept, vacuumed, did laundry, lounged in hammocks, took a bike ride to the neighboring town of Warren, hackey-sacked, played Uno... Oh, and did I mention that this place has an unbelievable movie selection (DVD and VHS!)? Being that we are both serious movie buffs, it's like Christmas. Just for the record - movies watched include: Canadian Bacon, Half Baked, High School High, Alive, Trainspotting, The Big Lebowski, and The World According to Garp. Part of me wishes I could stay here and watch the entire library, but no, there will be time for that once we've covered these mountains.

Alright. It's now 3:30 and a caffeine crash is inevitable. Once the day breaks, I can retrieve all my belongings held hostage by the holiday. The "plan" (we must use the term so loosely) is to get out of dodge in the afternoon and make our way up Mt. Moosilauke - a 6-mile climb up the first of the dreaded and beautiful Whites. From there? Well you never can tell these days, can you?