July 25 - 13.1 / 1,873.2

I woke up dripping is sweat. Someone turned off the A/C during the night and my body didn't like that when I was using a 15 degree sleeping bag as a blanket. Everyone was up by 6 or so. That is uncalled for when sleeping in a house. I had to get up though as Sam's dad met us at the house around 7:30. I ate some donuts, drank some coffee, and jumped in his car to head back to the trailhead at Pinkham Notch. In regards to the donuts, I think this was the first time that I had ever had a cream filled donut. It was rather good.

Even though we got to the trail at a decent time, I don't think we started hiking until 9:30 or so. I think Sam and I had planned on starting early than that. At least we weren't sucked into the town vortex like we normally are. I came across an lady and gentleman fifteen minutes into our hike. I came upon the lady first. She turned around for the three of us to pass. That is when her and I realized we knew each other. It was Judi and Gene. They were the couple who gave some of us a ride into Waynesboro, VA. It was crazy to see them again. We swapped stories of the times since Waynesboro. They are in the area for about a month just enjoying the woods. They are also going to have some friends join them, and they will help supply their friends as they add miles to their AT journey.

After speaking with them, we continued up the Wildcat peaks. There were four of them that we had to go over. Some parts of the climb were tricky and straight up. We rested on top of the first Wildcat peak. There is a gondola up there that is also used during the ski season. It was funny to watch people wearing shorts and summer gear getting out of it. Sam, Sam's dad, and I all had on our rain gear to keep us warm. Our bodies definitely get cold from the sweat soaked clothes and the wind. Sam's dad hiked with us to the fourth Wildcat peak which overlooked the Carter Notch Hut in the valley below. It was a pretty cool sight as we were mostly in the clouds, but the sun was shining on other mountains.

Sam's dad turned around and walked back to the gondola while Sam and I headed down the mountain. I took a really hard fall and bruised my right hip pretty good. The terrain is some of the most difficult we have seen so far. It took us five hours to hike six miles. Sam and I stopped in at the hut before heading on. The croo was awesome. Every one of them introduced themself as they saw us. Most other croos wanted nothing to do with us it seemed like. They all asked if we were going to stay there too. We didn't even have to ask to do a work for stay. Both of us would have loved to stay, but we knew we needed to move on. We snacked on some cookies and coffee cake which they offered to us and soon were on our way.

Back on the trail, we passed Maple and Chewy while climbing up the Carter range. They had passed us while we were in the hut. Longshanks had stayed in town a little longer with his family so her wasn't with them. For the most part the four of us hiked together until we reached the Imp shelter and campground. I took another fall on the way in. This time it was more of a five foot slide down a rock. Luckily, I foot hit the ground at a good angle not causing it to twist.

As this was an AMC shelter which costs money, Chewy went on and stealth camped elsewhere. I wish he would have stuck around cause it was a packed house. A lot of people ended up showing up: Lola, Sunrise, Longshanks, Filo, Sonic, and Riverdog. This is the most thru hikers I have seen in months. The tentsite was very windy. It took me some time to get my tent set up. Since I was on a wooden tent platform, I had to use my bear bag rope to secure my tent from blowing away. All the trees around me we swaying a few feet back and forth. The ground around some of them was even moving too as the roots appeared to be getting a little loose. It was also quite cold. Perhaps the coldest it has been since the beginning of the trip and snow. It was nice to have my cold weather sleeping gear. I hunkered down in my test and was soon fast asleep.