#221 After Mt. Washington (2015) - Hanging out then driving back home.
Today's post reads less like my regular stories and more like an evening at your aunt and uncle's house viewing reel-to-reel videos and slide photos on a pull-down screen. Apologies in advance.
8-28-2015
It took us about five hours to climb Mt Washington (two hours from Pinkham Notch Visitor Center to Hermit Lake Shelters yesterday, and three hours from Hermit Lake Shelters to the summit today).
Coming down by vehicle takes about twenty minutes, even with fog and drizzle. As we descend along the narrow winding Auto Road the cloud begins thinning out a bit. We hit more rain near the bottom before the sun pops out.
In Great Glenn, at the base of Mt. Washington, where the Auto Road begins, we drop in to Douglas A. Philbrook Red Barn Museum and Pinkham Notch Market.
We drive on the same road a little bit south to Pinkham Notch Visitor Center and find some waterfalls on the side of a trail to look at before heading back to Hurley’s parents’ house in Plymouth, NH.
After several days of living on the trail, showering is a pleasure that is second only to the warm embrace of …. a pizza!
We want to show our gratitude to Steve and Joann for helping stage vehicles and hosting us twice, so we invite them out to supper at Biederman’s Deli & Pub.
Steve and Joann return home and leave us kids to our shenanigans in the little college town of Plymouth, NH where Hurley grew up. We walk around town and visit a couple of the local shops.
There isn’t a chain store in sight except for the Walgreens, and even it has a log cabin-ish store front. We find our way into Manny’s Downtown Pizza for our second supper.
The next morning, We gather at the breakfast table where Steve has laid out a mountain of bacon and sausage next to a mile-high stack of pancakes.
Our hosts have planned for all of us to climb op to an overlook at East Rattlesnake Mountain. With full bellies we leave for our hike.
It is one of those clear and cool days with deep blue skies with its mirror image reflected in the water. We rest on a massive rock overlooking countless small islands with mountains rising up in the distance.
Hurley wants to share one of her favorite spots in her hometown, so on the way back we stopped at a historic covered bridge for a few minutes. There’s a tire swing hanging below the bridge, it took a lot of restraint for us to not swing on it then fly into the water below.
8-29-2015
Traveling home:
Beast, Roadkill, Problem Child, and I load the car and hit the road. Hurley is going to visit with her parents more and fly home in four days.
The four of us drive for about nine hours to retrieve Roadkill’s truck and to spend the night in an overpriced KOA Campground somewhere in New York state.
We sit around a fire, the only fire of our entire trip, and stay up way too late talking and laughing.
8-30-2015
We drive the two vehicles the remaining ten hours home, parting ways with Roadkill outside Louisville KY.
At Problem Child’s home in Jasper Indiana, Beast and I pick up my truck.
I next drop Beast off at his in Evansville, IN workplace.
I jump across the Ohio River into Henderson.
I step into my house and am greeted by the warm embrace of my wife.
I am home.
Thanks for hanging with me through this 2015 flashback.
Hope you enjoyed Crazy Uncle Sprawl’s slideshow and accompanying stories.
We will pick back up next week on the other side of The Wildcats and continue with the 2024 hike.
We are just a few stories away from reuniting with Side Quest and the unique situations I promised.
We are also close to a few landmarks that are special to Appalachian Trail thru-hikers and L.A.S.H.ers.
See you next week…..
