Date: 2008-08-31
From: Lake of the Clouds Hut

To: Madison Spring Hut
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: scattered clouds

The wind howled all night and you could hear the wind generator blade whipping around making an eerie moaning sound. We were hoping for sun in the morning, but were greeted with dense fog. The weather forecast called for 35 to 40 mph wind at the summit of Mt Washington. Sandbagger and I decided not to hurry to see if the wind would diminish a little. We had cream of wheat and pancakes for breakfast. By the time we dug out all of our cold weather gear, our packs were pretty light.  It was 8:40 when we started up Mt Washington. It was 1.4 miles to the summit, and we had heavy fog with approximately 25 mph winds. As we got closer to the top, the wind picked up and I had a terrible time trying to keep my balance. I am sure it was blowing steady at 35 with gusts in excess of 40 to 50 mph. When we arrived at the top, the historic cog rail road train was coming up the mountain backwards. It is a coal fired engine belching black smoke. There is a restaurant, gift shop and museum at the top.  Everyone was hurrying inside as fast as they could because of the high winds. Both Sandbagger and I had a snack and bought fleece hats. We still had six miles to go to the Madison Hut. To summit Mt Washington at 6288 feet, you walk out of the restaurant and climb about fifteen feet to where a sign is anchored to a rock. Like all others we got our photo taken in front of the sign. Just as we were leaving a scout master turned to Sandy and said would you take my troop¢s picture. He made the comment that he knew a thru-hiker won't mind the wind because they are out in it all day! Sandy was nice enough to take photos with some five cameras! Finally he saw me holding onto a building trying not to get blown away, he told them he had to go.  What happened next still amazes me. The wind was really blowing and I am doing all I can to get off the top. Sandbagger spreads his arms and leans into the wind and starts running down the rocks! Almost as soon as we get down from the very top, the wind let's up enough so we can stagger from cairn to cairn. The clouds begin to break up. We are rewarded with the most spectacular views of the surrounding peaks and almost vertical drop-offs into valleys below. We cross the cog railroad and shortly there comes not one, but two engines each pulling a single passenger car. It didn't take long for the clouds to clear and we were able to see mountains 70 miles distant. We couldn't get over how colorful the scene was. We could also see that our trail was going to make a huge circle along a ridge line. The wind was blowing up the ridges making it a slow hike. Mt Jefferson was the next peak. The trail didn't go right over the top, but close enough to say we climbed it. Most of the afternoon was very windy.  We climbed through and over a saddle. It took another mile before we could see the Madison Spring Hut. Then it was a mile descending large rocks into a bowl where ee found the hut. This was the first hut built in the White Mountains in 1888 at an elevation of 4825 feet. It has been rebuilt after a fire destroyed the original in 1940 and it can now sleep 53 hikers.  We were stuffed into two rooms in four layer bunks. This hut could use some remodeling mainly in the bathrooms. Unlike the other huts that had composting toilets, these were flush types, but they didn't work as well as the composting ones.  Still had a great dinner: black bean soup, homemade garlic cheese bread, garden salad and stuffed florentine pasta shells with applesauce cake for dessert. The day started out questionably, but ended up being one of the most beautiful.  I think Sandbagger is gaining an idea of what it is like to hike the AT.  Fly Right,Ravon