Hiking Again with "Pilgrim" and Now "Deadman" Too

This is how I spent my day on Friday (8-5)--hiking over rock, after rock, after rock.  This is the trail, believe it or not, and it was like this for almost the entire seven miles.  It seemed like 21 miles though.  It was the most physically and mentally exhausting day since I started in Georgia back in March.

I was so glad to finally reach the hut and be done for the day.  I expected to do kitchen work at Madison Spring Hut for my work-for-stay obligation.  Instead, the hut manager asked me give a talk to guests/vacationers on thru-hiking the AT.  I spoke for about 10 minutes and then answered several questions.  People were very attentive and seemed to be quite interested.  Several people told me they thoroughly enjoyed it.  I slept on an air mattress on the floor again as did two other hikers who also did work-for-stay.  I started hiking on Saturday (8-6) at 6 AM and went from the hut (4,300 ft) and over and down Mount Madison (5,366 ft).  Here is a picture looking back after I had already climbed it.  You can see the narrow dirt path in the front of the picture.  That is the AT.

When I reached Pinkham Notch, I was picked up by a hostel shuttle.  When Pilgrim and Deadman finally arrived at the hostel, I was able to surprise them!  They have been hiking together since I got hurt on July 28 and they were really happy to see me.  Deadman is a great guy about my age who lives in Georgia.  They had planned a zero hiking day for Sunday and agreed to take another zero day on Monday so I could catch up with them since I was two hiking days behind.  The three of us hope to finish the AT together.  Pray that this happens!  In the evening we resupplied and enjoyed dinner while we rehashed what has happened since we had last seen each other.  I hiked 7.8 miles.  On Sunday (8-7) the hostel shuttle took me back to Pinkham Notch at 8 AM to resume my hike.  I hiked from Pinkham Notch (2,050 ft) on a rainy and dark day up Wildcat Mountain (4,422 ft).  I had to rock scramble (rock climb, use my hands) the entire way.  In one very precarious scramble position, in my head I could hear my deceased mother say, "Bobby, get down from there!"  I thought to myself, "I'd be glad to!"  I descended to Carter Notch Hut (3,350 ft) for lunch and then climbed Carter Dome (4,832 ft).  Again, I went 7.8 miles.  I started hiking at 6 AM on Monday (8-8).  Rain started mid-morning and continued intermittently for several hours.  I descended to 3,915 ft, climbed back up to 4,618 ft, descended again to 3,100 ft, and then climbed to 4,000 ft.  My final descent of the day was to 780 ft when I reached the hostel at 4:45 PM.  I hiked 13.3 miles.  After 20 weeks (140 days) I have hiked 1,880.4 miles for an average of 13.4 miles per day.  Once again my ankle is getting a little bit better with each passing day.  I hope it is 100% soon.  I plan to wear the ankle brace for extra support all the way to the end of the trail--300 more miles!  I'll be entering Maine, the last state on the AT, on Wednesday (8-10).