Gorham, NH - Mile 297.9



Heading over the hills



Caio Maine! One state down, 13 to go...

We walked into Gorham yesterday and took our first real zero mile day today. Well, we still ended up walking all over town doing errands and what not, but without packs on it felt great! And the all-you-can-eat Chinese was delicious. Our appetites are rapidly increasing, and it is amazing how much we can eat throughout the day. As we read in one book, walking the AT is a great weight loss reduction program... only, we are trying to minimize any further weight loss.

Scrambling through boulders in the infamous Mahoosuc Notch. Just follow the arrows.

Rock Ledges

Trail up the mountain



Life on the trail is becoming more of a routine. We are usually up early, the alarm goes off around 5:30(depending on how many miles we want to get done for the day) and we start walking shortly after daylight. Breakfast consists of a big pot of hot oatmeal with raisins and maple syrup- so good! We eat a lot of snacks throughout the day- nuts, dried fruit, homemade snackbars, etc. And soon after getting into camp for the night we cook up a big dinner.



Hard to tell, but this is really steep.



Recently, we have been building more fires for cooking, or camping with other people who build great fires, and have met some neat hikers along the way. The best fire so far was with a family of five(homeschooled kids) out on a tough four day trip through the mountains.  Part of the AT culture includes trailnames. Everybody out here is introduced by a trailname instead of a given name. Some are comical, some slightly innapropriate, some really good. Tyrell is Jumper!(after his boat) and I am Itchyfeet. We have seen Ace, Door Mouse, Cheeseburger, Tabasco, Suicidal, Redstick, Calculator, Doc, Golden Ray(deaf; was happy to be able to talk to Tyrell), Strider, Squash, Dead Man Walking, Cheese, Dread, Mofo, Papa Smurf, Stumbler, and many more!


On Baldpate Mtn. My favorite peak so far, and on a beautiful day.

Leaving Gorham we will be entering the Whites for a week of big mountain climbing, including Mt. Washington. The mountains have notoriously bad weather and record high winds, but the area is a big tourist destination, so there are restaurants, huts, and shops along the way. Anyhow, the Whites are probably the most talked about section on the AT and we are excited to see them!



Beginning fall colors!