Date: 2007-08-16
From: Lake of the Clouds Hut

To: Madison Hut
Miles today: 7.0

The promise of a beautiful new day with which we were sent to bed last night was fully delivered this morning upon awakening! Glorious sunshine, clear skies, moderate temperature, and light wind - a hiker¢s dream, especially for this day when the AT crosses the summit of Mt. Washington. I arrived at the top around 9:30 am and spent two hours taking pictures, writing postcards, and drinking coffee while my phone was being surreptitiously recharged in a pirated outlet. At 11:30 am, I started down the trail toward Mounts¢ Clay, Jefferson, Adams, and Madison - an arc of mountain peaks that curl in a north-northeasterly direction forming the Great Gulf Wilderness. As I descended, I realized that I was on a course to intersect the Cog Railroad Train filled with tourists on their return trip to their cars down in the valley. As I got closer to the coal-burning engine with its single car of passengers, I noticed that everybody was looking out the side of the car that I was on - no, more accurately; they were all looking at me! And they were smiling and waving and gesturing - yes, of course, the conductor had told them to be alert for AT hikers because of the longstanding tradition amongst hikers to ¢moon¢ the descending Cog Railroad Train. The thought raced through my mind, ¢Should I, or Shouldn¢t I?¢ The last time I had mooned someone intentionally was in the Phi-Delta House in 1966 or thereabouts - surely I am too old for this type of behavior. NOT! There were two men with cameras ready standing on the rear platform of the train as it passed by. I gave them a shot for their family album they will certainly remember. I was rewarded with a couple of big thumbs up from the two photographers and a cheer of delight from the passengers when they heard from the photographers that the tradition had been maintained, albeit somewhat discretely and out of site of the majority of the travelers. The next hour and a half was nothing but concentrated hiking for me and, in spite of the fact that the entire afternoon¢s path was comprised of rocks and small boulders; I made excellent time at approximately a two miles-per-hour pace. At 1:00 pm I removed my pack and began to take a break when through my monocular (which I have used often in these mountains!) I spotted ¢Grasshopper¢ and ¢Two Dogs¢ having their lunch about 12 a mile away. I managed to catch up with them just as they were beginning to head out, which permitted me to join them and enjoy both their camaraderie and a slower pace in the afternoon sunshine. We arrived at Madison Hut around 3:30 pm, and they soon headed to their tent site three miles from here, while I took a nap and hung out with ¢BooBoo¢ and ¢Teddybear¢ (who were given paid-for reservations by people at Lake of the Clouds, who decided to cut their trip short, apparently to go to Wal-Mart and shop) along with Patty, Amy, and ¢Becca, whom once again, are in the sleeping room with meat the hut. Just as we all sat down for dinner, a thunderstorm rolled through, and after dinner two of the men at our table told the hut Crew Leader, James, that earlier in the day they independently had run into a father and 13-year-old son, who said they were coming here but who had not yet shown up. James went out and found them, wet and cold, straggling toward the hut, having dumped their packs one mile or so earlier to lighten their load. Since they arrived, they have been wrapped in blankets and fed warm food while the crew members went out and retrieved their abandoned gear. I do not think the two of them realized in how much jeopardy they had placed themselves in. *take out this part, it isn¢t necessary and may be considered judgmental and harsh as a result of not appreciating the risks of mountain hiking. Tonight I am sleeping in the top bunk, stacked four high in a room with 24 others, by choice, no less. While it is a long way up (and down), it has the most headroom and probably will be warmer than at the lower levels. Today was nothing short of an excellent day from all aspects. I am so very thankful that things worked out the way they have. *you need to explain how this happened. How did you decide to rest it. Was it by sleeping in and taking an easy day as you had previously explained? It doesn¢t make sense just thrown into the middle of the paragraph randomly. Had I not strained my ankle, I would have gone over Mt. Washington yesterday afternoon in the fog when the temperatures were 35 degrees, and the wind gusts were measured at up to 75 mph, as opposed to climbing over its summit today in the morning sunshine with a relatively balmy 50 degrees and a 20 mph ¢breeze.¢ What a difference a day makes¢¦