Hanover, NH to Pinkham Notch, NH

Day 3, Monday, September 5, Labor Day

Trapper John Shelter to Hexacuba Shelter, 12 miles

It turns out to be a very comfortable night. The temperature is a cool 42 degrees this morning when I get up at 6:50 AM. I’m hiking thirty minutes later. The Trapper John Shelter is about half way down the mountainside, so I actually descend below the clouds as I climb down into the valley below. I cross the road twice in the next thirty minutes and find some trail magic at the first crossing. I grab a Pepsi and quickly down it.

The next climb is up the south side of Smarts Mountain to the firetower on top. It’s a tough climb, but I reach the top at 11:30 AM. I first take a lunch break at the firetower base before climbing up into the breeze and taking some pictures from the top of the tower. I love these firetowers scattered across the AT peaks. They almost always give a great view, and a cooling breeze compared with the canopy of trees that cover most summits. Sometimes the climbs are a little scary, what with narrow, rotting steps, shaky towers, and stiff legs. But rarely do they disappoint you with the view.

The old firewarden’s cabin is still standing just past the summit, and serves as a shelter now. I drop my pack on the porch and walk down the hillside to pull a quart of water from the stumphole spring. While I’m filtering the water a thru-hiker, “Not Guilty” comes up. He’s a Huntsville, AL native, Auburn grad, now an attorney who just came back from five years in Alaska. He’s taking some time off before going back to Alabama.

I blaze down the mountain and cover the next four miles in an hour-and-a-half. I meet a family with their large lab out walking up the logging road where I stop for a break. They’ve missed their side trail to somewhere and now they’re looking for a short hike to make a loop back to their car. They head out ahead of me up toward Eastman Ledges. It takes me thirty minutes of climbing to reach the ledges. From there its only supposed to be another mile to the shelter.

The last mile always seems two miles long, but I’m at the side trail to Hexacuba Shelter by 2:30 PM. “Not Guilty” comes in less than thirty minutes later.

It’s a steep downhill back to the water. I hike back down for water to drink and to clean up with. By 5:30 PM, I’ve finished supper and cleaning up, and enjoy sitting in the huge hexagonal shelter feeling the breeze in the trees.

A couple hikes in shortly followed by “Peacepipe” thirty minutes later. They set up their tents on the hillside beside and behind the shelter.

It’s a quiet relaxing evening. I’m asleep before darkness fully sets in.