Day 145 - Grafton Notch to East B Hill Road

Very lost without my watch. Forced myself awake when I thought it had been light out for a while -- only to find out it was 6:15. Got up anyway.

No more rain during the night. A group of hikers was being dropped off at the trailhead, and we were introduced to driver Pegleg, who runs the Guest House in Andover. He offered to take our wet tents, sleeping bags, etc. to his place. How could we resist?

With a much lighter burden, we climbed Baldpate Mountain’s two peaks. The second was quite spectacular, and the sun even broke through the clouds for a while. But we were on a schedule and had to keep moving.

After lunch we had a few steep ups and downs, but then the terrain flattened out enough for us to pick up the pace a little (finally!). Took a break at a waterfall when it started to rain. Really came down for a few minutes, but luckily we were less than a mile from the road. Got picked up just before 3 and taken to the Guest House.

Great place! (though I would have been happy just about anywhere). Big Victorian house with wraparound porch and lots of side porches. Dave and I are making the supreme sacrifice of moving into a private room to free up space in the bunkhouse (no extra charge!).

Pegleg and his wife Sandra are awesome. This place has a shower, laundry, TV, Internet, kitchen, ping pong. Stores and restaurants all a stone’s throw away. Oh, Pegleg makes you wear his “clean hiker clothes.” Dig through the drawers and pick something out. I found a floral Liz Claiborne shirt and jean shorts (size 4, a little big!).

Sandra and Pegleg

Got pizza across the street and have been chillin’ ever since. Had 1 ½ beers, and that was plenty for me. We’re slack-packing for 10 miles tomorrow. Hurray! That means we’re coming back here tomorrow night. Strangely not concerned about not having a watch. With this terrain, it just isn’t possible to push the miles. So I’m goin’ with the flow, and if that means staying at a clean, warm, dry hostel, by golly I’ll do it. We’ll figure out the money later.

Downtown Andover

Was really surprised to bump into Izzy here. We haven’t seen her since Neels Gap, GA! She looks good. Jumped ahead to do Maine so she wouldn’t have to worry about when she finishes. I guess a number of people are doing that.

Sat down and watched the entire Ferris Bueller’s Day Off movie. On a couch! Will definitely make a few phone calls tomorrow. Do I have a job to come back to? Will I be ready to face the “real world” on October 1? I will be ready to start earning a paycheck again, that’s for sure.