Possibly the most difficult section of the trail is under foot now.

This entire week Hollywood and the whole new crew have and will be hiking one of the most incredible stretches of the Appalachian Trail.

They will hike over eight '4000 footers' this week helped by Hollywood's sister who will slackpack them this week. Every one of these mountains are on the '4000 Footer club' list. This is a NH hiker badge of honor. The goal is to hike every New Hampshire mountain that is over 4000 ft in elevation. The definition of a 4000 footer means the peak must rise at least 200 feet above the ridgeline connecting it to a higher peak. There is over 20,000 feet of elevation change in this range they are hiking now. This particular stretch is the first half of what is considered the toughest part of the entire Appalachian Trail by many. The second half includes two of the Presedentials, Mt Washington, and Mt Madison. They will hit 15 of the 48  4K footer peaks while hiking NH. 15 peaks over 4000 feet with drops valleys that drop 1000 -3000 feet in between.

Nights are down into the 40's so cold weather gear is needed again. As I type this, the temperature with wind chill is 38 degrees atop Mt. Washington. The link to the left is observatory weather page. Hollywood posted a quick note from Lincoln NH 1808.5 NoBo about five minutes ago. This means they will probably do Lincoln, Haystack and Lafayette tomorrow. 

Some of the most incredible AT huts are here as well. The Greenleaf Hut, Zealand Falls Hut, and very soon one of the most beautiful locations in the world, The Lake of the Clouds Hut. These are only three of the The High Huts of the White Mountains. There are eight huts in all. The design of them is similar to the Huts in the Swiss Alps. They are about eight miles apart. In The Whites, eight miles is considered to be a typical day hike for a thru-hiker on the six month plan.

These past few days, Starting with Sunday, will have them over:
Mt Moosilauke 4802 Ft
Mt. Kinsman 4358 Ft
Mt Lincoln 5089 Ft
Little Haystack 4840 Ft
Mt Lafayette 5249 Ft
Mt Garfield 4488 Ft
South Twin Mountain 4902 Ft

Little haystack is not part of the 4000 foot list because the elevation change is less than 200 feet.

As you may be able to tell by my multiple links and talk of the trail and not Hollywood or Backtrack, this post is all about this section of the Appalachian Trail. I'm going to take a selfish moment here and talk in the first person. It is the only stretch of the AT I have hiked personally. Many of the readers of the blog have hiked these trails with me and I hope every link brings back all the memories they do for me. If you ever get a chance to hike a section of the AT, this is the one you should do. The vistas are incredibly breathtaking, the huts and shelters are near the mountain peaks, and the hiking effort needed to get to these heights is incredibly hard and grueling on the body. You feel a real sense of accomplishment when you summit even one. To summit eight in a week is mind blowing. I am looking forward to her call the next time more than any other the entire adventure. The slackpack day tomorrow is going to be most earned.

They are dropping their packs in Glen, NH when Trail Angel Rachel meets them. I'm not sure which part they are hiking during the slack. I will tell you more details soon.

COCONUT IS BACK ON THE TRAIL!!! She is in Vermont and still putting in the big mile days. Her breathing is still getting the best of her on the long days of sucking wind at high elevations. The lure of completing the Appalachian Trail is so intense that you sacrifice your body toward achieving the end goal. I'm going to get a location report from her tomorrow and will catch you all up as she progresses as well. Keep up the encouragement both here and on Facebook.  Both of them read the blog and appreciate all the positive energy that you give them.