Pinkham Notch, NH to Monson, ME

Summer 2006 Trip

Wednesday, June 21

Pinkham Notch

Today is the first day of summer. The heat is finally building in the southern US. We’ve had fairly dry weather so far this year, less than half our normal rainfall. I’ve been watching the weather in New England for a couple of weeks now, and it looks like that’s where all the rain has been going recently. Maine is having one of its wettest springs ever. I’m hoping that things will break more toward normal by the time I get there. Little do I know at this point that the rain will continue for several more weeks.

Earlier today I caught a 12:45 PM flight out of Charlotte for Boston. My luggage made it again. I’ve found it to be helpful to pack my backpack and hiking poles in a duffel bag. They get better treatment that way.

My bus picks me up at the airport at 4:30 PM. We head into South Station to buy tickets and pick up passengers heading north. I take a quick minute to hit the McDonalds in the bus terminal. I’m beginning to get hungry. Back on the bus we load to full capacity. They actually bring in another bus to deal with the oversize crowd heading to Concord.

Traffic is very heavy leaving Boston. We fall behind schedule 30-40 minutes by the time we reach Concord, NH. We have to wait a few minutes until the other bus catches up and their passengers load onto our bus for the rest of the trip north. The bus ride from there is rather uneventful, but it is a pretty evening to be traveling. It is just barely dark by the time the bus arrives at Pink ham Notch. One other hiker from Kansas gets off the bus with me at the AMC center in Pinkham Notch. I check in and head to my room. My roommate’s name is Neal. He’s from near Providence, Rhode Island, and is here for an AMC new-member orientation.

I’m in bed by 10:30 PM, asleep within minutes. It has been a long day.