For 1800 miles Brandon has been hearing about the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Whether it be from other hikers, people in hostels, or others in town. They are hailed as the best part of the trail. Boasting over 35 miles of hiking above treeline, home to Mt Washington and the Presidential Mtn Range. The Whites are beautiful, but witnessing their beauty has to be earned. Hellacious climbs up Mt Moosilauke, down and up Gorham Notch and Pinkham Notch, the Whites are no joke. Good thing El Perro has had a warm up of over 1,000 miles to get ready. In the Whites there are "huts", in short, they are small camps with showers, electricity and food where tourists go to experience the Whites. Thru-hikers can stay at these fully staffed huts in a work for stay program, where a normal visitor pays around 80$ a person. Another plus in the huts is they have all you can eat soup if you hit them around lunch time, so plan accordingly. This can help lighten the 8 day venture through the Whites by not having to carry as much food.
Brandon will also be able to partake in the age old thru-hiker tradition of mooning the cog train that toutrists take up the mountain. El Perro revealed his plan to me, but I'll wait for him to show the pictures. Brandon is entering the greatest part of his journey, and also nearing the end. With around 440 miles left, a distance he has already covered 4 times over, he is on the short road. Brandon seemed evermore focused on the task though as I talked with him Monday night, the 8th of August. Southern Maine is difficult as well. The Bigelow Mountains offer tough climbs , slick rock and potentially nasty weather that he has avoided since the spring storms earlier in his trip. Mahoosouc notch is another land mark in southern Maine. It literally requires crawling on hands and knees to get through this one mile long area where an old glacier had carved out a path along a mountain of granite. It took me about an hour to travel one mile, a time frame that a normal thu-hiker can cover about 3 miles. It's a slow, yet fun experience! Best of luck to Brandon as he enjoys, in my opinion, the greatest part of the trail. He has definitely earned it.
Cheers,
Spencer
