Magic in the Mountains

August 10, 2021 (12 miles)

Guyot Shelter – AMC Hut Stealth Site

Today was a pretty chill day. We woke up in the shelter to the most beautiful and unexpected sunrise. When we arrived at the shelter last night we had no idea the porch looked out over a gorgeous mountain vista, so seeing it illuminated in the morning light with pinks, reds, and surrounded by clouds was breathtaking. And I got to see it all in my sleeping bag!

Truffles and I hiked the 0.8 miles out of the shelter and back to trail. We were greeted with more ridgeline views as soon as we were on trail. Thankfully the terrain today was much easier, so it was just some mild ups and downs, nothing too crazy. I listened to some podcasts and hiked off and on with Truffles and Hangman.

Our whole group met up for a break at the Zealand Hut where our thru hiker passes got us a free baked good (and I still had to pay for a coffee…) From the hut it was less than 8 miles to the AMC Highlands Center, where our passes got us the infamous beer, bread, and soup deal.

This section of trail is also rumored to be the easiest in the Whites. The rumors were true and it was super flat, we were able to fly through the end of the day! I listened to more podcasts and just zoned out.

Truffles and I made it to the road and were able to get a hitch pretty quickly and were disappointed to find out that the special doesn’t work for thru hikers until dinner time. So we loitered outside for several hours doing nothing at all, it was lovely.

At dinner, we ate pea soup and biscuits to our heart’s content, then waited around for free leftovers. It was a really nice and chill day.