Moose, Thoreau Falls the AT and some very sore feet, . Day 4

The plan for day four was to hike (or see if we could hike) the 9.9 miles back to the car. The trip was beginning to take its tole on two relatively out of shape bodies. Back when I worked at EMS I would joke with people who thought they could just get up off their couches, strap on a pack and climb a mountain. Now, I understood a little better, but the joke was even funnier as it was on me and my feet. With every step they felt like they were flattening out another centimeter. And bending down to go over fallen trees, or climbing...aaarg.

However, there was something else to keep us occupied. Moose poop. Today's trail was on an old logging train bed. It was a wide, relatively flat lane through dense forests and it was easy walking. Apparently, hikers, were not the only one to use this lane. Every 5 feet or less there would be an enormous, but strangely tidy, pile of moose poop. My first concern was stepping in it, but then it occurred to me that with where there's poop there might be an animal. What does one do when meeting a moose on a relatively narrow lane? Sure I'd thought about bear encounters before, but never moose. This one could have actually been fun. Sadly it did not happen.

At 5 miles we arrived at Thoreau Falls. A gorgeous fall, and fantastic, moose-free lunch spot. The water was soooo cold. We were both tired and hurting but given it was only noon and we were over half way to the car, we thought we should push on. If we made good time we could even get in the car in time to beat the Memorial Day traffic through the New Hampshire tolls. (Nothing is worse that broiling away in your car, the dirt and smell of 4 days percolating away, while waiting to get through those tolls).

The trail from Thoreau Falls back to Zeeland is the AT. And it is a most beautiful stretches of AT. Running, again, on an old railroad bed it is easy walking. But as this railroad bed was cut out of the side of a mountain it has much better views than the morning's trail. Walking along we could look back over our entire 4 day loop. From Zeeland Hut and Falls to the East, along the ridge to Mountain Zeeland, south to The Bonds, southeast to the Pemigawasett River valley and the North along the River/train bed. The panorama was stunning, and a great way to end a great hike.