Surviving the Flood

We have talked recently about how it seems we can't catch a break with the weather. In the winter people told us that this was the harshest winter they had seen in years, and now people from New England continue to explain how this weather is so uncharacteristic of the time of year. Despite the rain recently we have been in very good spirits. We have accepted that we are going to be wet much of the time. Luckily we have been able to utilize shelters as a refuge. In addition to this we have enjoyed some great company and talked about movies, books, and current events. A couple of nights ago the weather was calling for severe floods yet again. This is extremely unfortunate seeing that fording brooks and streams has become part of our everyday activities. I woke up and it was still raining. As I walked up the hill to the privy it was apparent that the trails had become streams, as they usually do with this kind of rain. Right away I knew it was going to be a challenging day of walking. We trudged on for sixteen miles of muck and water that had replaced a once nicely worn trail. We decided to bypass the hostel at the base of Moosilauke due to questionable conditions and hiked another mile to the shelter. There we met a father and son who are flip flopping the trail together, and a super nice guy doing trail magic. The next day would start our adventure in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. We went to sleep ready to climb the beast.

The second picture below is not a creek. This is what the trail often becomes in heavy rain.