Day 10 - Leg Day & the Eliza Brook Shelter

Day 10 - Leg Day & the Eliza Brook Shelter

Romy Soa, 19/05

Daily Hours: 00.00 - 00.00

Total Daily Hours: 24hrs

Total Hours: 108.50hrs

Today we had a really big day. Our plan was to hike 9 miles from the Beaver Brook Shelter on Mnt. Jim to the Eliza Brook Shelter by Reel Brook on the Kinsman Ridge trail by going over Mnt. Wolf. Our morning was already difficult. 

Our main concern today was what our plan for Saturday (tomorrow) would be. Yesterday, after our talk with the motivational thru-hiker, we got nervous about the rain. We were expecting the rain, but were under the impression that it would be a light rain in the afternoon before it got harsher overnight. The thru-hiker was talking about washed-out trails though, and if that happens then we can’t hike, especially over the Kinsmans (two 4000 foot mountains) – our plan for Saturday. 

We started off the day with a really steep descent down the North side of Mnt. Jim. The best part of the morning was how beautiful the waterfall/mountain stream was next to us the entire way down - with an amazing view of Mnt. Washington and other nearby peaks. The descent was only 1.6 miles but it took us 2 hours. 

The most difficult part of the day was Mnt. Wolf, a section of trail 3.5 miles long but took us about 5 hours I think. This part of the trail was the most physically and mentally challenging of our entire hike. Due to our speed on other days and our previous experience, we weren’t expecting this section to give us so much difficulty. However, because of the lack of trial markers to reassure us on where we were and the constant up and down that was just too little to be marked on the map, we were unprepared for those miles. 

Despite our struggles, I’m really happy about our group and our collective efforts to motivate each other. Nobody excessively complained, we took breaks as we needed them, and we constantly checked in on each other and how we were feeling. By the end of the day, we decided to leave on Saturday afternoon via the Reel Brook Trailhead. Fortunately, the shelter has a little cellular service and we’ve contacted Kailee’s parents to let them know of our decision and our request to be picked up. It’s unfortunate that our hike will be ending early, however when we compare our original plan to what we did, when we reflect on our efforts, and acknowledge the weather and that the strenuous activity from today blew out our legs, I’m confident that the decision to leave a night or two early was the best one for our safety and our friendship.