I spent Friday/Saturday of Memorial Day weekend up in the White Mountains. The weather could not have been better. However I was battling a head cold and didn't do myself any favors by driving up Thursday night and hiking on only a few hours of sleep. I pushed myself through a big day on Friday morning and subsequently planned to hike into a different place on Friday afternoon. However I was feeling worn out by the time I reached that trail head and wasn't sure how the night would go.
It was 2.5 miles and 1500' of gain to reach the Ethan Pond campsite - a trip more arduous than it would normally be. The caretaker asked that I not use a tent platform for my hammock so that they could be saved for tenters. Fair enough but I was still a bit salty since it was already late in the day and only one platform had been claimed at this point (one other tent would show up but the other three platforms would remain empty). Despite his claims there didn't seem to be a ton of great spots to hang - I had to do a bit of clearing to make one work. It ended up being a fine spot and I wound up using the nearby platform to boil my water and relax. I felt pretty bad by the time my hammock was set up and around 5:30 PM I crawled in and promptly fell asleep, waking every 30 mins or so and then finally rousing myself at 7 PM. I had hoped the rest would do me some good but I actually felt worse - now I had a full fledged headache and even woke to chills (it was about 50°F at this point). The chills abated after a few minutes and a mixture of aspirin and time finally relieved my head. Around 9 PM my appetite returned with a vengeance and I devoured my rehydrated meal of beef stew.
I woke up at 4:30 AM feeling 300% better. It may have been the best night of sleep I had in the hammock with minimal bathroom calls. My original plan, which I had already sort of given up on, was back on the table. With a light pack, I went over the Willey Range Trail, grabbing three 4000 footers and even jogging much of the descents. I felt so good that I decided to scrap my original plan of an out 'n back and instead continue on to a big loop. It added about five miles to the day but eliminated much of the elevation by going back over the ridge. And it allowed me to experience Zealand Notch which features some truly impressive vistas and boulders along some really scenic and flat trails. As a bonus I got to visit Thoreau Falls which were very remote and very splendid.
So a rough start to this trip but it turned around and I had a fantastic second day. Glad I forced myself to hike up to Ethan Pond!
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