Our Appalachian Trail Hike: The Whites: part 3 crazy weather

I helped Medicare Pastor get down Franconia Ridge successfully. The wind was blowing, and the rain was pouring, but we managed to get down safe and sound. The wind chill was apparently 15-25, and it was a pretty tough day on the weather front, but we made it. We got lucky with a hitch (it always helps having a pretty lady), and ate a well earned pizza. It was a pretty good day in the end.

The next day, she pulled a zero and I moved on and starting cranking out miles again. The forecast was sunny, so I was really excited to get back on the trail. Little did I know what the weather really had in store for me. As I pulled out of Lincoln, I realized the liquid water droplets falling from the sky was probably not a good sign. They didn't let up for the longest time. As I climbed Kinsman mountain, I realized that as I gained elevation, the little water droplets were no longer liquid but were now snow. This is on September 16^th mind you. As I got further up the mountain, I saw through the fog that the trees were covered in white stuff. It turned out to be frost, but it looked like a winter landscape. It definitely would have canceled school for a week back in Georgia. It was a milk and egg stockpiling amount of ice.

This was an amazing sight, and even though I was cold, I spent a ton of time taking photos of the phenomenon. Turns out the forecast was partially right though. You could see in the distance areas where the sun had punched through and where others were having beautiful weather, just not where I was. In addition, you could see other mountain tops covered in ice. It was pretty beautiful. When the sun came out for us, the season rapidly changed from winter to spring, and everything started melting. The ice was raining down from the trees and it looked like a spring time day. It was an incredible transformation and one of the wildest weather days I've ever experienced.

I cranked out the rest of the day through rough terrain, and met ohMEGA for the weekend after barely avoiding finishing the day hiking in the dark. She hooked me up with an awesome resupply and taking a zero on Saturday was a well earned way to “spend” the miles I saved up by going faster. I hope to be in VT in 3 days, and MA in 10ish. VT is opened back up and it's time to check it out. If you want to meet up in western MA, let me know soon so we can plan. Till next time...