Date: 2008-08-15
From: Lakes of the Clouds hut

To: US 302 Crawford Notch
Miles today: 11.4
Weather: broken clouds

Lakes of the Clouds hut to US302 Crawford Notch11.4 milesWhat a day. The night in the hut was restless: the bunkrooms were on the opposite side of the dining room from the bathrooms, so everyone who got up in the night came tromping through past my bed. Several found it necessary to shine their flashlights directly on me, and one of the bathroom doors squeaked and whined really badly. It was also very short, quite a few people stayed up late reading and talking, and there were some very early risers. I can understand the hikers that wanted to get up and out to summit Mt Monroe or Washington for the sunrise, and they were generally very quiet, but there was also a lady that was up just before 6am that yelled into the kitchen inquiring for coffee. The croo (that's what they call the staff at the huts) don't officially wake the patrons until 6:30, which usually means that the dining room occupants can sleep until around 6:15 then quickly get up and pack up to be out of the way before the table setting process begins. Coffee lady got her cup then started calling to some unseen companion for further instruction about how they wanted their coffee, so no such luck laying in this morning. It was a beautiful clear start to the day. You could still see patches of fog down in the valleys, but it was crisp, clear and beautiful blue skies up here. Being up early and getting an early start would have been great except that I still had some morning work to do to complete my work for stay, and that meant hanging around here until the guests had eaten breakfast. That is the big downside of a work for stay with work in the morning. I agreed to it when I arrived though because I thought I would only be hiking to the next hut less than 6 miles away today. After breakfast was finished I ate leftovers and was instructed to sweep out the bunkrooms and dining area. The bunkrooms obviously had not been swept in a while, they were dusty and trashy, especially under the beds.It was 9:30 when I started out hiking, and the weather was perfect: clear skies, sunshine, light breeze, and mid 50s temperature. I set off over Mts Monroe, Eisenhower and Clinton. I regretted somewhat that I had mailed ahead my short sleeve t-shirt, I was hiking in a thin sweatshirt, which was OK when exposed to the breeze and hiking level, but too hot when sheltered or ascending a peak. The sweatshirt was on again, off again so many times today that I lost count. The views from the peaks were full 360 degrees and awesome. As the day progressed and warmed some clouds started to appear, but they just added some shadows and depth to the view. I passed many of the folks that had been at the hut overnight and were just headed for the next like me. Or so I thought. It's an easy hike of less than 6 miles between the huts. In the past several weeks of nasty cold wet weather and mud we have actually been struggling to cover the same distance in a full day, but today I arrived at Mizpah hut in less than three and a half hours, and I had been taking it really easily. The huts won't generally allow a thru hiker to stop so early, so I had a choice, either hang around for 3 hours or so to wait for another night of work for stay and a restless night's sleep, pay to stay in the campsite here and just laze away the afternoon, or hike on.The next campground or hut are too far away for me to get to today, but there is a highway about 6 miles away with a real campground and a general store and hiker bunkhouse about 3 miles down the road. They have showers, a big incentive. The only thing standing between me and a hot shower is 6 miles of hiking, a couple of 4000 ft peaks, and the dreaded Webster cliffs. You see, northbound hikers like to play a little "scare the SOBOs" game, maybe especially to women, where they try to convince us that whatever we have achieved so far is peanuts in comparison to their hikes. So some NOBOs had been talking about how hard and scary the descent down Webster cliffs was going to be. I knew I wanted to hike on, and the eleven and a half miles was definitely doable in a day on such a nice day, even with the late start. In most places on the trail I would not even have hesitated, because if it had started to get late I could just camp on a flat spot somewhere. However, in the Whites the AMC has their monopoly on camping and lodging, and it seems that so far, everywhere that it would be possible to camp there has been a "no camping" sign.   From the description of the Webste cliffs descent I also assumed that once I started the descent I would have no choice but to continue down. Adding to my indecision was the big dark grey clouds now gathering all around. But the shower is a big incentive, so I decided to eat lunch at Mizpah and go for an attempt to reach the road. For the record, there is definitely a difference between the "tourist" trails in this area and the boy so touristy Appalachian Trail. I had passed about 40 hikers this morning, but after leaving Mizpah I saw no one for several hours (more on that later). I managed a couple of miles, and over the first peak before the rain started. It wasn't particularly heavy but enough to chill me a little when I was exposed to it, increasing the on again off again sweatshirt cycle. The cloud looked like it could let go and downpour with rain any minute, but didn't. I had resigned myself that it if did downpour I would have to find somewher to pitch the tent rather than attempt the steep descent on wet rocks, so I was scanning for campsites as I hiked. The summits of Mts Franklin and Webster were probably both officially above the tree line, though they were only around 4000 ft, and both had small conifers. I saw spots on both that could have held the tent in an emergency, but it still wasn't raining hard, and I really wouldn't have wanted to be this high in a storm anyway, in case it turned to lightning. As I approached the top of Webster Cliffs there were several rock ledges that again could have held the tent. These were likely campable as I'm fairly sure they were below the treeline camping prohibition, but again they were rather exposed and also still had the issue of no water supply. Of course if it had been raining hard that would not have been an issue anyway, but the rain was still light, and actually easing off completely occasionally so I still continued.I have to say, the top of the descent was a little challenging at times due to the steepness, and the wet rocks, but unlike some of the steep descents I have already tackled, this was not sheer slickrock, but more fragmented cracked rock and boulders. There weren't any places where I had to stop to figure out HOW am I going to get down that, but there were several places where I could see how to get down, just really didn't want to! For the most part, when in doubt I just went down on my butt and scooched myself down. There were also a couple of sloping traverses where my pack wanted to throw me off balance, but I was always able to lean inwards to the rock face instead of outwards to nothing.The steep descent leveled off for a while and actually became a gently sloping dirt path, unfortunately the slope was ascending, as a couple of the rock plies had been. I know I shouldn't, but I get very frustrated by these short areas of ascent when I'm headed downhill, and descent when I'm headed up. At the end of the gentle path was anothe rock outcrop, and a nice sheltered level area in the trees that would have made a great campsite. It's the first I've seen since being in the Whites that didn't have a no camping sign or trees and rocks strewn across it to make it unusable, maybe because there is no water nearby. Again, I was tempted, but the rain was holding off, it was only 5pm and I really didn't have enough water left for overnight, and I wanted that shower! So I continued down. This is where the trail got steep again, but not over rock faces as before, just steep trail with rock steps in places, roots and loose dirt in others. Someone had obviously been up here very recently doing trail maintenance, downed trees and limbs were piled by the side of the trail and a couple of the water bars were obviously new. Judging by the downed trees and limbs there must have been quite a storm up here recently.It was in this section that I met the first hikers I had seen since leaving Mizpah hut about 4 hours earlier. They were a man and a boy of around 5 or 6. The man was carrying all their gear in a massive external frame pack and the boy was scampering up the rocks behind him. Knowing that there was nothing much behind me for the next several miles, and that it was already after 5pm I asked where they were headed. He answered that they were going to the campsite at Mizpah hut. When I told them it was a good 4 hour hike from that point at my pace (I know I hike slow, but I'd like to think I'm faster than a 5 year old) he said (and I quote), "it is what it is, we were thinking we'd do a little moonlight walking." Now I know I don't have kids, but this just seemed a little extreme to me to be taking a small child up steep cliffs and a four plus mile additional hike with such a late start. I'm fairly sure that the child would probably have to be helped up some of the ascents, and with the cloud cover there is not likely to be much moon anyway. With the exception of the last nice little possible campsite, there was nowhere else in the past four hours that I would have particularly wanted to be stuck in a storm if one develops. I told him about the campsite in the trees ahead, and the lack of suitable places or water beyond and we all continued on in our respective directions. I wish them luck.My descent continued. It was steep and followed a stream bed for a while. My knees already hated me, but them my toes joined in too. I think this is the first day of hiking that has been predominantly downhill all day and so steep over such a distance. For the first time, my toes have been forced into the toecap of my shoes. Or maybe it is just that my feet are mostly dry, and not frozen and I can actually feel it today. Whatever the reason, nothing south of my waist is happy. To add to my misery the straps of my hiking poles are rubbing on the outsides of my thumbs where I am having to put so much pressure on the poles to prevent an uncontrolled downhill speed descent. I have been wearing thin fingerless kayaking gloves up until this stage of the hike, but they have been shredded by all the rock climbing. I have been looking for a replacement pair with no luck. A couple of days ago I found a pair of fleece fingerless gloves that I thought would make a reasonable replacement. If it had remained cold and wet they would have been ideal, but I found out early today that I can't wear them when I'm hot. I was fairly sure I had not yet thrown away my old gloves, so I actually stopped, unpacked the contents of my pack and found the old gloves. It was just in time: the skin at the base of my thumbs is red and sore, but not quite to the blister stage, and not yet totally raw or abraided.Finally I made it to the highway. I had no cell signal so had the choice to walk 3 miles on the road, walk and try to hitchhike at the same time, or just return to the woods and camp for the night. The pull of the shower was strong, but I barely had a hour of daylight remaining. I know I could have covered the 3 miles hiking under normal circumstances, but right now I feel like I can barely walk on level ground. I decided to attempt it, with my thumb out. There is another campsite listed in my guide that is about halfway. If I have not got a ride by there I will just camp there for the night. I got lucky. Less than 10 cars passed before a car stopped. It was a French Canadian man and his son. They are out for the weekend to do some hiking, and looking for a campground. I told them where I was headed and he decided to try there too. In minutes I was standing in the general store. Richard the owner spotted me in the checkin line and asked me if I was looking to stay in the bunkhouse. He handed me a towel, tokens for the shower, soap and shampoo and directed me to go down to the bunkhouse, shower, and come back to check in when the line went down later.That attitude to a tired hiker is totally in line with this entire place. It is called the Crawford Notch campground and general store. The hiker bunkhouse is very clean and in great condition. There are 4 sets of bunkbeds with mattresses, each with an individual electric light, shelves for the top bunks, indoor picnic table, chairs with backs, a fan and clock. Outside is a barbeque grill, a fire pit, small deck with more picnic tables, a deep sink, and a camping area in the trees. Across a small parking area is the bathhouse. I wasted no time grabbing my clean camp/night clothes and heading over for a shower. Unfortunately my wonderful hot shower experience was rather tainted by my slipping in the shower when my shaky legs just couldn't take any more. I jarred my right shoulder quite badly, I'm sure it will bruise but I appear othewise unscathed.After getting clean and reasonably presentable I walked back to the office to register. I grabbed a Pepsi, an individual pizza, bag of chips and a pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream while I was there. That is supper taken care of, and now I'm tucked up warm and dry in my bed while the rain comes down outside. I'm alone so far in the bunkhouse, and probably will be for the night now the store is closed. It should make for a peaceful night after all the interruptions of last night. Come to think of it, this is the first night I have spent alone in a couple of months. I think I'm going to sleep good.