Kinsman Notch and Glencliff NH

When I woke up this morning, I knew it wasn't going to be a high mileage day. My back was hurting, probably from the cold and from hiking in the rain the other night. By noon, we got as far as Kinsman Notch, where we took a break for Trail Magic and I gave my wife a quick call. I knew that there was a 6-mile stretch coming up with no water, and I didn't really want to hit it today. One option was to hitch forward to the hostel in Glencliff (Mile Marker 398.7) where my next resupply package was waiting and then come back here in the morning to slack pack back to there. Another option was to catch a shuttle to a donation-based hostel that was 6 miles away, but in the wrong direction.

At 4 p.m., I realized that it was a good thing I chose to go to the hostel that provides slack packing because my overloaded ZPacks pack had a major failure. I had WiFi service, but no cell service, so I couldn't call home. Believe it or not, Facebook saved the day. I posted a request for someone to "tell my wife to send my black GoLite Jam and orange Osprey packs to the Hanover Inn," where I should be next week. Within minutes, one friend (thanks, Bear!) had sent a message to my wife, and my mother had called her. She left work immediately and went home to find my other packs, box them up and drive them to UPS for shipment (over $100 to have it delivered next Thursday; figure that cost every 50 miles or so, and it gives you an idea of how much money is going into resupply for this hike). Hopefully, I'll be able to keep the ZPacks together for the approximately 53 miles that it will take to get to the Inn.