The Whites were absolutely incredible. The miles didn't come easy, but the scenery made it all worth it. There's just nothing like hiking for hours above treeline, watching clouds form far below you. Keep your eyes open though, because they form below you then get huge and come right at you. Weather moves extremely quickly up here!

I had the very rare pleasure of being atop Mt. Washington without clouds, wind or other people. I got such an early start that day that I even was able to pee on the cog tracks without getting arrested or put on The List.

The entire time I was hiking the White Mountains, the weather was absolutely amazing... as soon as I was out of the Whites, however, things went downhill fast. And as soon as I got to Maine, things went way downhill, way fast. Since I just wrapped up my first full day in Maine and it's fresh in my mind, I'll summarize:

• I broke my camera.
• I snapped a trekking pole.
• I dislocated my left thumb.
• I scraped the flesh off both of my palms.
• I scraped the back of both calves.
• I turned my left ankle badly enough to have to down some ibuprofen immediately.
• I landed on my right knee hard enough to lose feeling in my foot, twice.
• I had to run and find shelter from thunderstorms, once in a cave and once by hurrying down an exposed rock face (resulting in the palm damage).

Yes, that all happened today. Probably the most miserable day on the trail, though that's an awfully strong statement... maybe I should reserve judgement of such things until I'm done with the trail. Then I'll be able to impartially compare today with the day Mr. Burns broke or the day I nearly broke in Grayson Highlands.
At least for tonight I have found a real roof to sleep under, and have laundered and showered and life is happy. Tomorrow I hit the trail again, hopefully covering a lot of ground... I'm a half day behind where I want to be!

Also staying at this hostel: Jordan! I haven't seen that kid since Erwin, TN, roughly 1500 miles ago! (He sends his regards, Mr. Burns.)

This post would be more coherent, but I spent most of my day screaming expletives at the uncaring trees and cursing the unending wilderness. That plum tuckered me out.