Date: 2004-09-18
From: Lake of the Clouds Hut

To: Madison Springs Hut
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: moderate rain

Today was my favorite and most memorable day on the AT! I can honestly say that even summitting Mount Katahdin can't compare. Although, today didn't start off well at all.We awoke to rain. Cold, cold rain. Some of the hikers decided to just head out, but the weather report said the rain should stop in the late morning and be partly cloudy during the afternoon. So we waited and it worked out great. Once the rain stopped, we headed up Mount Washington. We made it to the top in the early afternoon and went into the cafeteria to warm up and get some snacks.This is when the clouds began to break up and the views became incredible. The valleys were covered in clouds and the mountains jutted up above the clouds and we had blue sky above us. This made for some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. The hiking was all above ridgeline and although it was rocky and difficult, I barely even noticed due to the amazing views.As we were hiking down from Mount Washington, the Cog Railroad was coming down from the summit. (There is a road and railroad tracks. The Cog railroad has only one passenger car and an engine to bring people up to the summit.) It is tradition for thru-hikers to moon the Cog railroad if it goes by....So Wideload, Mickey, and I bared our bottoms to a passenger car and the engineer. We had heard that if you mooned the Cog, the engineer would throw coal at you. I didn't believe this until I saw coal flying through the air towards us.After our mooning, we had such a great ridgeline hike all above treeline. Mickey and I even did a little bit of 'peak bagging' and went up and over a few peaks that were just off the trail. The views began to disappear on us, though, as clouds began to roll in. With the clouds came a lot of wind and cooler temperatures. The wind gusts were enough to push us around and make the rocky hiking even harder. With the wind chill, it was downright cold, and we were all wanting to just be at the hut.When we finally made it to Madison Hut, we went in to find 6 other thru-hikers in the hut already. Not to mention that the hut was full with guests. Luckily they were not going to be turning us away with the bad weather. So 11 of us thru-hikers got to sit along the back wall of the hut and watch the guests eat. So the day started out rough and ended rough, but was fantastic in the middle. But, the day was not done yet...After dinner, the huts give a small talk and introduce each hut worker. Then they will have a question and answer session for the guests. (All while thru-hikers wait to eat.) As the questions were winding down, Wideload raised his hand and said "I have a question, but it isn't for any of you (hut croo)." So he stood up and told the whole room of about 50 people (guests, thru-hikers, and hut croo) how he had been hiking with Butterfingers since Georgia and how they started dating. Then he turned to Butterfingers and said "So my question is," as he knelt down, "will you marry me?"!!Of course she said yes, and the place went crazy! Practically everyone came up to them and took their picture and congratulated them. The croo came up to them a bit later and told them that they made a special "Love Nest" in the storage area, complete with pillows, candles, and handcuffs (apparently there was a plastic pair laying around?).So as you can see, it will be very tough for there to be a better day on the AT. There was bad weather, good weather, nakedness (white butts, anyways), beautiful scenery, and a proposal to end the day.**********This entry posted on 10/6/2004**********