Magic in the Mountains

August 6, 2021 (17 miles)

Hikers Welcome Hostel – Eliza Brook Shelter

Welcome to the Whites! Some welcome this has been… there is so much fearmongering on this trail, and I have been dreading the Whites since the beginning. Mount Moosilauke marks the beginning of the Whites, and the hostel was positioned right at the base so we had to climb it first thing.

Truffles and I started together, but pretty quickly it got steep and I told him I’d just see him at the top. Holy crap did this long, slow climb absolutely kick my butt! I hiked alone and yoyoed back and forth with the “Goon Squad” (Brows and crew) a lot of the way. I hate hiking around people going uphill because I struggle so much and don’t like people being able to bear witness.

As miserable as the climb was, the terrain was beautiful! So many mosses, spruce, and fir trees. Just beauty in general. It reminded me of the Black Mountains back home.

It took forever to get to the top, but Truffles was waiting for me at the top and we went from the south summit to the north on the exposed ridgeline together. I got emotional just because I never thought I’d make it this far so I felt really proud and self-assured that I’d make it to Katahdin.

Everyone hung out at the summit by the sign for a bit before beginning the crazy steep descent. I’m so glad we didn’t have to come up that way! We ran into Bullet which was nice to catch up.

Everyone was killed when we made it down for lunch, but we still had 7 miles to do. Truffles and I hiked together which helped the time go by, and Hangman joined us for the last couple of miles.

We got to the shelter right at dusk and ate dinner by Luci Light. Super exhausted and ready to snuggle with Truffles.