Date: 2014-08-16
From: Madison Spring Hut mile 327.2

To: Lakes of Clouds Hut Mile 334.2
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: clear sky

When we got up the hut was surrounded by a cold, wet fog. The weather report included good chances of rain and high winds on the mountain. The difficult jagged rock climb I had to come over last night to get here and the tales of dangerous weather on Mt. Washington intimidated me. I think for the first time on the trip I felt actually scared starting out alone on the morning trail. I had asked around the tables about hikers going south toward Mt. Washington who might be slow enough for me to tag along with them. I identified one group last night, but they were leaving before breakfast and I had decided that I needed the meal to start the day. I have been hiking in just my thin, now nasty, base layer shirt using my rain jacket for protection when the wind on exposed ridge lines made me cold. Since temperatures in the 30's were predicted on the ridge lines here, I had purchased a new fleece at the Carter Notch Hut. I am carrying a warm puffy jacket, but I did not want to risk getting it wet from sweat by wearing it while hiking. One of the rules of trail safety is to keep a set of dry clothes to wear at night when you are not keeping yourself warm by hiking. I wore the new fleece over my base layer shirt and under my rain jacket and pants all day. The combination worked surprisingly well. I stayed quite comfortable even when the wind howled and the temperature dropped. As is usually the case, the things you fear the most do not turn out to be as bad as you anticipate. Most of today's trail had better footing than I anticipated. There were lots of day hikers out on the trail so I was not as alone as I anticipated. I met and was passed by more people on the trail today than any other day of the whole trip, I encountered some light rain on the climb up Mt. Washington, but it was primarily just mist. On the way to the summit I got to see the cog railway and the train chugging up its track. The summit was so encased in fog that I could barely see the buildings there. I grabbed a quick hot chocolate and pastery in the snack bar and hurried on without exploring because because it was getting late and I did not know how bad the descent down to Lakes of the Clouds Hut would be. As I prepared to come down I found two nice surprises. Someone had stuffed a mini bottle of vodka into the phone case on my shoulder strap. I would have enjoyed the drink, but I did not need any alcohol to impair me until I was more sure of my safety and I did not want to pack out the weight of the empty bottle, so I reluctantly left it behind. Another hiker pointed out Joe to me. He is a 72 year old section hiker from Massachusetts who was part of the group who had left at 7:00. He had decided that the predicted conditions were too bad for him, so he had taken a shortcut down to the highway where they had a car and driven to the cog railway station where he and his pack rode the train to the top of Mt. Washington. He wanted to join his friends at Lakes of Clouds Hut, but like me was concerned about going alone. Happily we paired up and went together. Our paces matched and we found the trail down to the hut to be much easier than either of us had anticipated. Once we got below the very top of the summit we dropped below the cloud and had a clear view of the hut as we walked down to it. We also could see a famous old resort hotel on the valley floor far below us.I did not have a reservation at the Hut, and although May Louise had been calling for me they still did not have any cancellations when she called. When we arrived they did have a bunk available. For $100 I get an incredibly small cubby reminiscent of old Pullman berths but with less headroom, less luxury, and no porter. Still it is warm, dry, and wonderful. The rocks on the trail had shredded a leg of my rain pants making them useless for keeping rain out of my boots in a downpour, After stuffing myself at supper I made emergency repairs with my emergency supply of Gorilla Tape. One of the many traditions of the huts is that the croo wakes everyone up with music. Yesterday it was a harmonious "Hallelujah". This morning is was an Irish jig on a flute. Marvelous way to start the day.