Date: 2014-07-30
From: Mount Washington Summit

To: White Mountains Hostel via Pinkham Notch
Miles today: 13.5

All aboard the White Mountains Express! This train is heading for Maine after finishing up the last section of the Whites - super exciting!Another excellent breakfast by Marni (breakfast burritos - yum!) and then we waited for Golden Waldo to pick us up from the hostel - the earliest cog train back up we could get is the 10:30 special.An uneventful and quiet ride back to the train station and we killed some time in the main building waiting for our scheduled departure - looking ahead and I typed some of yesterday's journal up. Soon our train was boarding and we were back on the cog again - with much clearer weather too!Lots of nice views going up to the summit - better than the previous ride up! The brakeman was pretty humorous on the ride up and reminded us that all the buildings near the track were "perfectly level" even though they looked crooked - perspective is key here!Back at the summit we decided to eat lunch at Madison Springs Hut and headed out with the plan to make tracks to Pinkham Notch at a reasonable hour - going to be a big push but we can do it!We had amazing views along the Presidentials today - even better than the first time! It was great seeing all the mountains and the surrounding valleys - the auto road, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Clay, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Madison! All could be clearly seen and it was spectacular!The trail from Mt. Washington to Madison Springs Hut was all rocks - but not terrible rocks just a lot of rock stepping, rock climbing, rock hopping, and rock descending. It was much more enjoyable walking over the rocks instead of slippery roots and muddy trail - and the rocks were dry!On the way to the hut we ran into the four SOBOs who had left Carter Notch Hut when we were there and exchanged hellos as we passed each other. We were making pretty decent time along the rocks and still enjoyed the views along the way - although I had to make sure I didn't lose Big Dawg! I was walking a bit faster than him - must be excitement of finishing up the Whites!Strolled on into the hut and ate our lunch indoors after chatting with some old friends. Kristo, Critter, and Shivers were all outside the hut resting and it was cool seeing them again! Bypass and Songbird were also inside the hut resting and deciding their next steps since they were wiped from the climb up Madison - more on that later. The lunch was very tasty especially with the new crackers we uses - delicious but we didn't remember what they were called! From the hut we had a steep climb to the summit - not terribly long but terribly up! Took a lot of effort to get up there but some awesome views from up high! As we neared the summit we saw another familiar face - Marni's son Ben and his friend had hiked to the summit via another trail and were heading back down. So we all walked together for a little bit on the way down Madison.Boy that was a long steep down from Madison - rocky near the higher part but rooty and slippery and rocky near the bottom! The upper part was much nicer to walk on and we soon parted ways with Ben and his friend as we continued down the AT. We thought we might make good time going down but were moving slower than anticipated - mostly due to slippery terrain!We had told Marni we would be at the notch by eight pm so we had to keep pressing on - we couldn't call and tell her if we were going to be late because of no cell service! We ran into the group of guys hiking with their SOBO friend and his dog near the suspension bridge and said hello before moving on. Along the way I think we startled a moose or bear off in the woods somewhere - whatever it was it made a lot of noise! I was moving at a pretty good clip but it was a bit much for Big Dawg so when he caught up he led the group afterwards.Crossed the Mt. Washington Auto Road and rested before tackling the last two miles to the notch - the trail was called Old Jackson Road so I expected it to be nicer trail. It was nice for the most part and we made great time heading down - we even made it to the notch ahead of schedule! Conveniently enough we arrived right as Marni pulled up to pick up someone else - crazy how that worked out!At the hostel we ate ravenously and then chatted with the new guests. Mambo was at the hostel from Pinkham Notch and we chatted with him for a bit - great to see an old friend and hear that he is doing well and still on trail! Sharp Knife and Hiccup survived their adventure but Pooh Bear was still out hiking in the woods...in the dark! Only the bold will hike at night and we hoped he would return safely - luckily he was hiking with someone else!Sleepy time - long day but ready to head towards Maine and Mt. Katahdin tomorrow!