Hurricane Irene 8/26

Without fail, if I say I don’t expect to hear from him, he calls.  He is in Glencliff.  They spent the night at a trail hostel.  His phone is not working well in the area but the hostel had a phone they let the hikers use.  Most of the discussion revolved around Hurricane Irene.  He said he’s been really surprised at the local reaction.  There are a lot of preparations being made for the storm which is predicted to center over the area Sunday morning.  With the White Mountains to the north and a predicted path over central New Hampshire the locals are predicting heavy rain and high winds.  They are throwing around the term nor’easter. 

There are many people moving inland from the shore.  In anticipation of being stranded in the mountains in a tent Ryan and Bluefoot have made reservations at a motel in West Woodstock for Sunday night and Monday if necessary. They will need to cover 28 miles Friday and Saturday.  Kipper stayed behind in Hanover and should catch back up mid week.  Chimp is off the trail for a week to attend to some personal things at home.  He rented a car in Hanover and is driving back to the Midwest.

New Hampshire so far has been described as “awesome”.  The terrain is rocky with lots of shear rock faces and rock scrambles.  A good day in this terrain is 13-15 miles.  Glencliff marks the start of the Whites and they will have their first 4,000 ft + climb today in order to get to Woodstock.  This storm represents the first time Ryan has decided to hunker down for any weather since leaving Georgia.  The banter of the locals have put some concern in his head and it’s probably a good thing.  The Whites can be rough in good weather. 

He said the absolute priority now is to protect the dream of finishing the 2,181 miles of the Appalachian trail.