Date: 2006-09-02
From: Lake of the Clouds Hut

To: Madison Springs Hut
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Today's journal is dedicated to the very cool crew (croo) of Madison Springs Hut.For the 2nd time in a week I made the trek up Mt. Washington. This time I was hiking with the FDOM in a cloud, fighting 40+ mph winds. It made the ascent something of an adventure.Because the croo drafted us to help wash breakfast dishes, we got a late start at about 10am. I reached the summit at about 11am with Veto, and we took each other's pictures at the summit sign before decamping to the snack bar for a hot drink. Soon BigFoot and GreyGoose came in. We decided to eat lunch in the hiker room since it was cold and windy outside, and we had been swept by the wind while walking above treeline all morning.We got going again shortly after noon and found the hiking very slow going, not only because of the wind but also because the tread required stepping from rock to rock. The clouds/fog had lifted, allowing long views into the valley under an overcast sky. It was far too cold to moon the cogtrain, as is a thru-hiker tradition. There were lots of ups and downs, but we skirted most of the summits. Along the way and we found our progress was very slow -- about 1 mph.In the late afternoon we met a forest service ranger, who described the trail down to Osgood Tentsite, our intended destination. It was obvious we wouldn't make it there. The weather forecast also called for rain from the remnants of tropical storm Ernesto in the early morning. We changed our goal to getting work-for-stay at Madison Springs Hut.We arrived at Madison about 4pm, and the hutmaster granted us work-for-stay. There was already one hiker doing WFS. With us it made five, one more than they usually take. Our chore was to wash down a plywood-lined attic area used for food storage, first with soapy water, then with a bleach solution to prevent mildew growth over the winter. Goose and I did that one and enjoyed the warmth of the attic, which got the warm air rising from the dinner being cooked in the kitchen below.Later 3 additional thru-hikers arrived, and they also got WFS due to the dangerous weather. Ordinarily this hut would take only 2 to 4 hikers for WFS. The croo here was very cool and flexible. We hung out in the very cold bunkroom adjacent to the warmer but still chilly common/dining room, while the croo served the paying guests dinner and cleaned up the dishes. I had nearly all my clothes on as it was very chilly, and I used the time to expand the outlines of my journals and bring them nearly current. The crew brought us some gingerbread to tide us over until it was our turn to eat. Finally, about 7:30pm, it was time to eat with the crew in the kitchen. We had ham, mashed potatoes, green beans and peas, salad and a slice of bread with more gingerbread for dessert. Everything was very good, especially the ham. I had many helpings. While we ate, two of the croo gave an informal bluegrass concert on guitar and mandolin. The croo here was very supportive of thru-hikers.After dinner the guests lingered a long time in the common room, playing cribbage, talking, etc. in the common room. Finally about 9:15pm enough guests had drifted off to their bunks to permit me to start setting up camp, again on the floor -- lights out is at 9:30pm, so I jumped the gun a little.On! On!