7/12/06 Wednesday: Firewardens cabin to the Hikers Welcome Hostel, Glencliff, NH (20mi)

PICTURES:
1,2.3. 0650: Views from Fire Tower on Smarts Mtn.
4. 1026: View from Mt. Cube.
5. 1050: Another view with Dan and I from Mt. Cube.

What a beautiful day to start off... Temps continued into the 60's and 70's with clear skies :)... I got my pics from the tower, and we took off down the Mtn for another long day but one that would be considerably easier, with fewer and easier ups and down. We took a few breaks in the morning, having the opportunities to take some nice pics along the way and still trying to dry our socks and boots in the midday sun... By 1300 we arrived for lunch at the One Hill Shelter meeting Dudley and Sweettea there, Donkey having already pushed on.. We had all decided to make it to a hostel in Glencliff for the night and still had about 9 miles to go... The afternoons hike proved relatively easy and besides the recurrence of the rain, we made it into the hostel by 1715... We had to walk about .2mi east on the road but were greeted warmly by the host. We soon were settling in with our showers, bunk selection, and getting ready for our trip into town to pick up a few items for the hike ahead.. Tomorrow we enter the White Mtns and start with a challenging climb... I do hope the rains stop because much of the hike tomorrow goes over open rock faces which I hear are quite treacherous when wet... We will see wath tomorrow brings... The shelter here is full for the night, many hikers like me trying to get out of the rain and maybe dry off a bit...