Tuesday, September 11, 2001

day 122, Pinkham Notch VC, NH

Start:  Madison Springs Hut
End: Pinkham Notch Visitors Center (Hikers Paradise)
Miles:  7.8 today, 1847.5 total

Post-hike note: This page was semi-intentionally left blank in my journal due to the day's terrible events elsewhere in the nation.  I'll re-cap what I remember, despite it now being 12.5 years later:

The morning at Madison Springs Hut was somewhat uneventful.  I'm pretty sure I had hut-prepared breakfast, and then helped the staff with various cleanup duties for awhile.  I vaguely remember someone playing music from a radio, but at that time of morning, I don't think the news had broken yet.  I eventually got my stuff together and headed out.

Compared to the night before, the weather coming down the mountain was fantastic.  I remember it being fairly clear and I passed people lounging in various spots as I neared the base of the mountain.  At some point between, say, 10am and noon, I found myself at the bottom at Pinkham Notch Visitors Center.  I called the Hikers Paradise hostel in Gorham and asked for someone to come pick me up.  Sometime later, a guy pulls up in a pickup truck and I throw my stuff in and we head toward Gorham.  Along the way, he mentions that the World Trade Center towers had been attacked and F-15s were patrolling around New York City.  I thought he might've had a screw loose, but when we got to the hostel, everyone was glued to the TV.  I spent pretty much the rest of the day watching TV, though at some point I did laundry and called my parents.

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