Appalachian Trail, White Mountains, NH – 8/20/12 – ValleyView Campsite to Pinkham Notch Visitor Center – 8.3 miles
My neck had been a little sore ever since my slip-and-fallon Day 1, but this morning it felt especially stiff. Today, however, it would take a lot to spoilmy good mod because we were hiking to our finish line at Pinkham Notch VisitorCenter where Judy’s sister Deni was picking us up. As every hiker/backpacker knows, the onlything better than the beginning of a hike is the end of a hike.
We woke up to sunshine very early, 5:30 a.m. and began thebusiness of packing up. Our tents andground covers were soaked with dew but since we were ending today we stuffedthem into their sacks and would deal with drying them out later. By 6:30 a.m. we left Valley View and hauledour backpack-laden butts back up that ridiculously steep trail to MadisonHut. There we filled water containers,used the facilities (flushing toilets!) and said hello to our LOTCfriends. Judy chatted it up with theyoung thru-hikers who were waiting outside to complete their work-for-staybreakfast cleanup. We all put our feetin for a good luck photo.
The AT switched to follow the Osgood Trail and at 7:30 a.m.we started our ascent of Mount Madison, one of the Presidential peaks that theAT actually summits and our last steep test of mettle for this New Hampshireadventure. I think it was the toughesttest of all. Imagine that God took anenormous rock, nearly a mile high, and hit it with a mighty sledgehammer. Imagine the rock cracking and breaking upinto a heap of rubble, no soil to hold it together, just loose rocks rangingfrom the size of a basketball to the size of a Volkswagen. Then God says, “Okay, get to the top of thatthe best way you can.” Welcome to MountMadison. 
The glorious morning sun emerged from directly behind MountMadison, beaming a piercing spotlight in our eyes as we climbed. There is no trail whatsoever, just movingfrom one 6-foot rock cairn to the next. Icouldn’t even tell which side of the cairns was better, passing some on theleft and some on the right. Sometimes Ihad to back up and go around the opposite side, constantly looking up,squinting, shielding my eyes from the sun to see if I was still on course. I only took a couple of photos of thissegment. Judy put away one of her hikingpoles and shortened the other to use her hands for balance. I stuck with my poles but I’m not sure itmade anything better. 
Looking down at Madison Hut with Mount Adams in thebackground – thank goodness we didn’t have to climb that too – some hikers saidit was even worse than MadisonThe half-mile to the summit took us 1.5 hours, elevationgain a bit under 600 feet, every step a logistical challenge. I think Judy rewarded herself with a few Snickers,always a good incentive. There wereseveral groups at the summit, including some amusing New Zealanders whocommented on the spectacularly clear blue sky: “This is New Zealand on a bad day.”
The feeling of elation that blossoms in the chest when atough challenge is met – the summit of Mount Madison! Look closely to see the tiny towers on MountWashington under my right elbow
Some of our friends from LOTC – never pass up the chance toget in the middle of a photo with handsome men
No more tough climbs, home free now, right? Not exactly. Now we faced the part I had both longed for and dreaded, a 3,000-footdescent in 3 miles, sort of the bookend to the ascent of Mount Webster. Our lungs would be spared but our knees wouldsuffer, plus going down a steep pile of loose rocks is at least as slow asgoing up. The character of the trail nowconsisted of a brief plateau section followed by a short, steep descent,repeating several times. 
The guys quickly pulled ahead of us and dis- appeared. 
Me: Look at what wejust went over! Judy: I don’t want to look. Mount Madison in the foreground, Mount Adamsin the background
When the trail descended below the tree line the characterchanged again. Believe it or not, thesteepness increased – no more plateaus – but the large rocks were embedded in soiland the trees hugged us close. I wasbummed to lose the big views but Judy was ecstatic to be back in the morefamiliar terrain of the AT. The unevenbig steps led unrelentingly down the mountain. My right knee began to ache so I began to compensate by always steppingdown with my right foot (bending my left knee instead), knowing that I wouldwear out my left knee too. Altogether the 3 miles from Madison Hut to the Osgood Campintersection took us 4 hours, excruciatingly but necessarily slow, and mypatience wore thin. I was hungry but toostubborn to stop to eat before the intersection.
An older fellow, a section hiker who had been leapfroggingwith us for a couple of days, descended down the green tunnel with us and also stoppedat the Osgood Camp intersection. As heprepared to move on, I pointed to the trail signs and said, “Look at thesignage there, I think the AT goes that way.” Well, he took off in the direction I pointed without consulting thesign. Ten minutes later when Judy and Ilooked at it, we saw that the trail turned and that he had gone in the wrongdirection. Too late to catch him. We figured that he would intersect with theroad in a few miles and realize the mistake. I felt only a little bit bad because he should have checked out the trailsign plus his map and confirmed the route. Who was it that said “Trust but verify”?
In fact, the AT makes several turns in the last miles goingto Pinkham Notch so every intersection required consultation with the map. Past the Osgood intersection the trailleveled out and we celebrated the creek crossings and soft dirt floor. Judy was quite happy, back in the forest environment that sheloves. She stretched her legs and movedahead. By now my right knee was quitestiff and my thighs were sore, so I kept an easy, relaxed pace.
West Branch of the Peabody River
Bridge over the West Branch of the Peabody River
Interesting fungi and ferns
A familiar sight: trillium
Judy rock hopping a stream
The trail crossed the Mount Washington Auto Road and we tooka rest break. Occasionally cars passedby and slowed down to look at us. Why? Do we look like an exhibitor creatures in their natural habitat? One couple stopped and asked lots of questions: Had we hiked to Mount Washington? Was it scary? They had driven part way up the road but turned around because it lookedtoo dangerous. 
Our last trail section was Old Jackson Road, two miles ofcruising at 2 miles per hour. We passedone older couple, moving slower than us but looking very fit with sturdy legs,out for a short hike as they were passing through the area. A good example for us.
And there it was: Pinkham Notch Visitor Center. Itwas 3:30 p.m., 9 hours since we left our campsite this morning. And ofcourse they closed the snack bar at 3:00 p.m. Inside the VC I saw the section hiker who had taken the wrong direction,and when I said hello and tried to inquire about his hike, he looked at me andwalked off. I guess he held meresponsible for his detour. We took our boots off and sat on the bench at the VC untilJudy’s sister arrived at 5:15 p.m. Icollapsed into the back seat of her car in a semi-coma for the 2+-hour drive toher home near Manchester. Once there, agood shower, a glass of wine and a great meal prepared by Deni’s husband, Fred,and I was ready for one thing: bed.
Why does it feel so good to stop hiking? Why do we immediatelystart planning the next trip? Always chasing that feeling of challenge and triumph, and ultimately finding connection,humility and gratitude.
Here I am, safely returned over those peaksfrom a journey far more beautiful and strange than anything I had hoped for orimagined - how is it that this safe return brings such regret?~Peter Matthiessen
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