Date: 2013-08-19
From: Mizpah Spring Hut

To: Madison Springs Hut
Miles today: 11.8

There's always one bad apple in the bunch and I think that one bad apple at Mizpah Hut is why that hut gets a bad rap! That¢s the only hut that I¢ve heard other hikers complain about. Enough said about that.Our work for stay went like this: after all the paying guests were finished eating at 8pm, Cash and I were able to eat leftovers (and not from other peoples plates). We had lintel soup, pasta shells, cut green beans, homemade bread and carrot cake - not bad! Then I went to the basement and chiseled out the ice in the freezer, wiped the inside out and then made a list of everything inside. Cash, on the other hand, had to clean and reorganize a lot of cabinet space. Both chores took about fifty minutes. Then we had to wait for lights-out at 9:30pm before we could set up our sleeping bags on the dining room floor. And at 5:15am, the cook was making breakfast and we had to be out of there by 6:30am. I'm glad I was able to experience the work for stay at one of the huts, but I don't think I'll be doing it again unless it¢s POURING rain - just not enough beauty sleep time for me! So I'm up at 5:15am from the first pot banging and I start getting ready and at 5:45pm, Cash asked what time is it and I tell him. He just rolls he's eyes and covers back up and about ten minutes later he gets up. Sky Pilot walks in and he and I leave at 6:15am. We tell Cash he'll catch us before we summit Mt. Washington and he doesn't believe us, but I assure him that he will and we leave. The hike out of the hut was in the woods and straight up. We¢re having to stop every few feet ¢ it¢s killing us! Soon we were on top of this mountain and the wind was a constant blow. Later on we were above tree line and every now and then we stopped and looked down the mountain for our leader. About an hour and a half later I spot him. I swear the kid was running - you could actually see him moving and we were more than a half mile away. Needless to say, he caught us and passed us just before Lake of the Clouds Hut, where we ate free pancakes and warmed ourselves before the climb. After an hour inside, we put on our jackets and head gear and we started our 1.4 mile climb. The winds had picked up and were blowing us all around. We would put our foot down and a gust would move it. This went on all the way up Mt. Washington. So on August 19, 2013 at 11:03 am, Boo Boo summited one of the mountains he'd been thinking about since he started hiking back in Georgia, Mt. Washington in the state of New Hampshire. This is also a place that my mother and father in-law have visited and have pictures of the cog train that goes up to the top. There's only one more mountain I have my sights on now.We're all here on top and the views are incredible. The skies are mostly clear and the winds this high up (6288 feet) this morning have already hit 55 mph with sustained winds of 41 mph. We go inside and eat lunch and look around for an hour and a half. Then we head out into the gale force winds and wait our turn to have our picture taken with our straw hats on at the Mt. Washington sign. Cash and Sky Pilot are ready to go, but I'm not. I've hiked over 1,853 miles and I want to look around so I sneak off towards the platform on the edge of the mountain and I felt like all those weather men reporting from the beach as a hurricane comes in, less the rain and flying debris of course. (I posted a video - just click VIDEOS on the left blue side panel). Then I started walking back and Sky Pilot sees me and says, ¢Over here.¢ They¢re hiding behind a building trying to escape the wind. At 1:05 pm we start down the mountain. It¢s rough going - stepping on rocks, boulders and fighting the winds and the crowds of people was a challenge and then there are the tracks for the cog train that we have to cross over. We have about six miles of bald mountains to go over with rocks of every size to step on. Cash stuck around for awhile and I was able to get a couple of photos to send to his mom and then, you have it, he was gone! That left me and Sky Pilot, who I find funny, because he's scared of heights and he used to fly planes. I'm taking pictures of him to send to his wife because he's always taking photos of mountains and there's none of him in them. Both of us are dog tired, not just our feet and legs but mentally drained from having to constantly fight the wind and gusts. We¢re starting to make mistakes and I make the first one. My foot rolls off a rock and down I go. Luckily, I fall over on a short tree and that helps cushion my fall. Then after that, Sky Pilot says something and I look back and he has stepped into a hole. He was lucky - that's a good way to break a leg. There were times today that we had to just hold on or bend over a big rock to keep from being blown away. We finally make it to Madison Springs Hut were Cash is working for stay. Me and Sky Pilot hiked down the mountain side six tenths of a mile to the tenting area and I'm not happy about it being so far away and downhill and neither is Sky Pilot.