Day #21, Welcome to the Whites, miles hiked: 14-15ish

This morning we set off for what many consider the most difficult section of the entire Appalachian Trail--the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The first mountain is called Moosilauke and includes an incredibly steep 4,000 vertical feet of climbing. Did I mention that Moosilauke was also my first time ever above tree line? So exciting!

It was a very calm day and the wind was still whipping quite quickly--imagine doing it in a storm!

Above tree line, cairns like this one take the place of blazes on trees:

We thought the challenge of the day was complete until we headed down the other side which included a 2000 ft vertical drop in just 1.3 miles.

To put that in perspective, a difficult trail in the Smokies changes elevation around 500 ft per mile...this trail followed a cascading waterfall down the mountian. Watch your step!

We finished hiking for the night at Eliza Brook Shelter and are preparing for another day on the glacierally carved peaks.