Date: 2007-08-04
From: Madison Spring Hut

To: Pinkham Notch
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: broken clouds

I didn't get very much sleep last night. I sleep much better in my tent. The noise from people moving around or snoring seems to be magnified in the enclosed huts. Dinner last night was good. We had chicken pot pie, salad, broccoli, and bread. I woke up at 5:30 in the morning and heard the croo preparing breakfast. I packed up my stuff and put my pack outside the hut so it would be out of the way. It was a cool, foggy morning. The temperature was probably in the low 50s. I tried to stay outside, but I got cold and went back inside. I sat in the bunk room while the guests ate breakfast. After breakfast 2 of the croo did a skit like Hans and Franz from Saturday Night Live. The showed people how to fold blankets, pickup trash, and stuff large heavy bills into the tip jar. It was hilarious. After the croo had cleaned up after breakfast, they invited us in for breakfast left overs. We had oatmeal and coffee cake. After breakfast, Walking Cowboy, Red Beard, and I swept out the bunk rooms and dining room, folded the blankets, and changed pillow cases. We finished by 9 AM.I hiked up and over Mt Madison. It was a steep rocky climb followed by a steep descent to Pinkham Notch. I passed some day and section hikers on the way down. It took me 3 hours to cover the first three miles down to Osgood Campsite. Gut was there talking to a sobo named Nolan. I heard him mention Dirty Ernie as I approached. I asked about Dirty Ernie and Nolan said he had been hiking with him for a while and he should be there in a few minutes. I sat down to take a break. Dirty Ernie showed up a few minutes later. I hiked a lot with Dirty Ernie in North Carolina, Tennessee, and southern Virginia. I had not seen him since Damascus, VA. He lives in Pennsylvania and hiked north to PA and then flip-flopped to hike south from Mt Katahdin to his home in Pennsylvania. We talked about how things had been going and where other people were at on the trail. It seems like most of my hiking buddies from the early days are still on the trail, which is great. They tell you only about 15% of the people that start will finish and you look around in the early days wondering who will be the ones to that make it and hoping that you will all make it. It was great to see Dirty Ernie again and he is lucky to get to pass everyone again on the trail. He noticed I had lost weight and told me he had gained 5 lbs. This is not hard to believe once you see all the food he carries. Dirty Ernie had seen a moose just a few miles up the trail at a road crossing. He had a great picture of the moose standing next to an AT sign and hiker crossing sign.After an hour break I moved on towards Pinkham Notch. I passed some more day hikers. I met one teenage kid with his parents. He said he wanted to hike the AT someday. They had also seen a moose on the trail. I proceeded a little further and met some more day hikers who had seen a moose, but I never saw the moose. I caught up to Gut just before the Pinkham Notch visitor center. He had also seen the moose. We went in to the deli and ordered some sandwiches. The lodge was full so we hiked a couple tenths of a mile up Gulfside Ski Trail (or something like that). The trail was obviously not used much this time of year. We stopped at the third bridge and used it as a tent platform. It is about 8 feet wide and 25 ft long.We went back to the lodge. Gut wanted to get cigarettes and they didn't sell them at the visitor center store. We saw Dave, who we had seen at Madison Hut the previous night. Gut asked him to give us a ride to the store in Gorham (10 miles away) and he said he would. I bought a sub sandwich, potato chips, and a drink for dinner and a energy drink for the morning. We met Hitch there. She hiked the AT last year and is working as a croo at Greenleaf Hut off Franconia Ridge. She said they have 2 AT thru-hikers at that hut and none at any of the others. Not many thru-hikers stop at Greenleaf because it is a mile off the trail.When we got back to the visitor center we found Walking Cowboy and Squirrel. We told them about our camping spot and they joined us out there. I hiked less than 8 miles today, but still felt tired. It is good to get plenty of time to relax this evening. I reached the visitor center at 3 PM. Tomorrow I am planning to do 13 miles including over 5000 feet of elevation gains. It will be a difficult day.So ends another beautiful day on the AT.