Alright, last time I left you was in Glencliff, NH. We went over our first above tree line mountain after that- Mt Moosilac (sp?), then down into a notch, and some people who were doing trail magic were nice enough to drive us into Lincoln, where we stayed at a wonderful hostel owned by a gentleman named Chet West.
Chet had the unfortunate incident of having a camp stove blow up on him a few years back. Also, because he was using the stove in his house, the house burned down as well. His whole torso got burned, as well as some of his muscle tissue around his hips. He also inhaled some of the flames, and now only has one working lung. He is very forthright about this incident and is the greatest guy we've met on the trail so far. Chet normally uses a walker to get around, but semi-recently broke his heel and severed his achilles tendon in a bike accident, so he was wheelchairing it when we came through. He bought the house he lives in now with settlement money, and has opened it up to hikers on a work-for-stay or donation basis.
Needless to say, we got vortexed @ Chet's, and ended up spending 4 nights there, though we did slack-pack one 16.2 mile day, and were waiting out weather to go over Franconia Ridge. Thanks again for the ride back Ari!(He's a former thru-hiker)
We left Chet's on a gorgeous morning, then proceeded to hike the 3,000ft, 6 mile climb up to Franconia Ridge. When we got there, it had to be one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen in my life. Being above treeline is an experience. Even while getting nearly blown off the ridge in 40-50 mph wind gusts, Wookie, CC, Freefall, and I stopped to take many pictures and even one video of us leaning at a 25 degree angle into the wind with our packs on.(I wish I could post it)
The man in the mountain may not still be there but the views definitely are!
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