Date: 2004-09-10
From: Lakes of the Clouds Hut NH

To: Osgood Tent Site
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: fog

09/10/2004GatherWe all get up and eat, pancakes were great! Wish ole Slimer was here to have some. Still rough out side. Wind howling, raining. We can¢t stay here forever, we decide to push on north.Below are the comments from the observer on the summit of Mount Washington this morning. Weather is not good!! http://www.mountwashington.org/cam/deck/index.phpComments from the Observer at the summit of Mount Washington 03:52 AM Fri Sep 10, 2004 EDTToday's heavy rain and stronger winds (peak gust of seventy miles per hour)made for a quiet summit as people simply stayed home. In fact the onlyaction I saw was tonight in the dark kitchen. There I stood holding a fullcup of boiling water, when from under the oven, a startling clatter precededan uncomfortable event in my life. Out ran a defenseless target with afleshy white fur ball in hot pursuit. Up my leg ran the mouse, followed byNin (summit cat). Hopping from leg to leg in a furry fury, I instantlybecame a prop in a "Tom and Jerry" cartoon.I have no news on the fate of the mouse, but I'm sure it fared better thenmy leg.Jeff De Rosa ¢ ObserverMount Washington Observer's Comments:04:35 AM Sat Sep 11, 2004 EDTYesterday, Sep. 10th, we managed to squeeze another 0.96 inches of rain out of the remnants of... what hurricane was it again? They have been so abundant thatit is hard to keep track. Aside from the rain, we had a peak wind gust ofeighty-six miles per hour, which far surpassed our highest wind gust sinceJune. Eighty-six is strong, though we are quickly approaching the time ofyear when eighty-six will simply be the lull we've been waiting for to getback on our feet!Jeff De Rosa ¢ ObserverI ask myself how I could pick the worst weather so far this year, I guess some people are just lucky.When Slimer came across here earlier in the week, there were near record high temperatures of almost 52 degrees and clear sky¢s. They say the weather on this mountain can change from good to evil in 30 minutes, and I believe it.Finally make it to the summit around 10:30 am, go inside. There¢s a small post office and a snack bar here. I spy a telephone!Call home, talk to mom. We talk awhile. All ok at home. Freckles is still hanging in there, doing good mom says. I tell her I have to go, gotta get off this wicked evil mountain.As we were leaving the snack bar at Mt. Washington they were telling hikers not to even think about attempting to go across the ridgeline in this mess. They were offering free shuttle down the mountain. Hikers were turning back, It did look awful bad out there, can¢t see 20 feet. Weather is not good at all, we decide to sneak by the park officials and head out.Winds 57 mph & gusting to 77 & 86 mphDriving rainTemperature 43 degreesWind chill 25 degreesWe claw our way along the summit of Mount Washington (6,288 ft). I¢m convinced if I spread my arms I would fly away, the wind is that strong. The rain is coming at us sideways, feels like sand hitting you in the face, it stings. I had bought another pack cover down the trail, I had it strapped on tight, the wind ripped it off, I mean as in torn, ripped off. My bandana I have fixed to my pack strap flew up and wrapped around my face. I was blown over and tumbled several times. You could not stand up straight, if you did you would sail away. I heard later there were 86 mph gusts on the mountain as we were crossing it. Also the rain blew right through my rain pants. I have never in my life been through anything like this!We cannot stand up-right, walk all bent over as low as possible, we get blown over and tumbled several more times. Having trouble finding the trail. This is about the most stupid decision I have made the entire trip. We keep moving forward using our trekking poles to help brace ourselves.We finally make it to Madison Springs Hut (5,363 ft). We go in and warm up, get something hot to drink. After a while we start saddling up. One of the workers started telling us we were crazy to go back out there, he says we¢re going to be killed! He gets mad at us for not listening to him. He wants to know which direction we are heading so he can send a crew out to find our bodies in the morning. This man was really upset with us.We head out anyway, storm seems to be slacking off somewhat. We make it about 3 miles to the Osgood tent site and decide the man was right. Osgood is below tree line and some what sheltered from the high winds on the mountain. Still pretty windy, very challenging trying to pitch a tent in this wind and rain. Finally get it halfway done.I hear a loud noise in a creek near us, awful sound! Look closer, it¢s a ¢moose¢ big ole cow moose! She¢s splashing around in the creek and making these growling screeching sounds at us. Then we hear another one off in the distance making the same noise. This thing is looking at us, stomping, growling, snarling. We are getting scared! It would run at us then stop, and make this awful noise. This went on for a while, then it walked off and left us in peace. We all three had a tree picked out, fact is, each of us were standing behind a tree. This was a lot worse than the bear that charged me in the Shenandoah¢s!¢ONE MEAN DAY¢!!Don¢t even think about trying to cook, eat some snacks, and TRY to go to sleep.Lake of the Clouds Hut ¢ to ¢ Osgood Campsite - 10 wicked, brutal, miserable, scary miles!09/10/2004SlimerWake early, eat breakfast. Gray Panter and Blue leave out early. They are going to do some big miles today they say. I have to stay here and work until about 10 am for my stay. Wash dishes, sweep and clean up again.Still rough outside, but not as bad as yesterday. I hit the trail, sloshing my way along. Normally where there were small branches, they were now rushing creeks. Some I waded through waist deep, very swift. Gotta be careful and not lose my footing and get swept down the creek. I am going to make a push for Gorham NH today, that¢s 15 miles of rough going, but I¢ve set my mind to it. Hope my body agrees.Pushing hard, making good time. I see someone coming up the trail toward me hell bent for leather. He gets closer, it¢s the Gray Panter!! What¢s he doing coming back, I first think, Oh no, there¢s some high water he couldn¢t get across! I asked him what the problem was? He looked disoriented, his glasses were all fogged up. He tells me I¢m going the wrong way! I know I¢m not going the wrong way, I¢m headed north and I know it. We talk a while, I convince him he is headed the wrong way.So he heads north with me. Not too far along we see Blue flying down the trail like a bunch of demons were chasing her! Blue gets up to us and lets out a few colorful words! She knew immediately when she saw us she was headed back south bound!We get on up the trail a ways and see where they made the mistake, another trail veered off slightly to the right and nether trail was marked very good. My guess is this is a trail that winds back down the mountain, around and back up to the hut for day hikers. Gray Panter said there were some awful hills he had to climb out of there. I would have probably made the same mistake hiking in the mess we are. After a while we all laughed about it, no one laughed at first though!! Felt sorry for them, busting their butt half a day and not going anywhere. Chalk it up for experience I guess.Made it into Gorham at last. There¢s a hostel there called the barn, everyone all up and down the trail stays there. I go in stake me out a spot. Paparazzi, Doc Gnarly, PA Mule, Shaggy Stix, Carp, Stitches, Blue, Gray Panter and a bunch of others are here. I last saw Shaggy-Stix my second day from Springer Mountain GA!! He remembered me too. Man there¢s a crowd of people here. Doc Gnarly tells me Gather is not far behind!I go call home. Find out Gather called this morning at 10:36 am from Mount Washington that¢s 2 12 days behind me. Still good to hear he¢s still moving, hope his knee gets better.Go out and eat, hiker comes up to me and says I know you. Its Gary (One Thing) and K-Bear. They did a flip-flop and are headed back south. It¢s good to see them again. Last time I saw them was back in VA. Gary had got off the trail to call home only to find his mother had passed away 5 day¢s prior, and they buried her the day before he called home. His family said they tried to find him, but to no avail. K-Bear had gotten sick about the same time and Gary stayed behind to take care of her. K-Bear is from Sidney Australia. Looks like they have fallen for each other.I¢m 16 miles from the New Hampshire / Maine border. Will be crossing over into the last state tomorrow some time I hope, thought it was 12 miles, book says 16.5. I have the Mahoosuc Notch trail to go through. They say that¢s the toughest mile on the entire trail. Nothing but a mountain of house size boulders. Some you crawl over, others you crawl under. All the pro¢s here have advised me to hook up with someone to go through there. They say big slabs of ice stay there year round.That one mile takes up most of the day they say, we¢ll see. Everyone told me the PA rocks were easy, and they turned out to be the rocks straight from the bowels of hell! So maybe the Notch will be easy.Andover Maine will be my next re-supply stop.1,876.2 miles behind me297.9 miles to the big ¢K¢ ¢Yippi- Ki- Yay¢!!