Date: 2017-08-15
From: Madison Hut

To: Lake of the Clouds Hut
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: broken clouds

I woke to cool clear weather.  I went to the bathroom when the work-for-stay AT hikers were asleep on the floor, did my morning routine and returned to my bunk when the hikers were stirring and the croo was starting to make breakfast.  At 6:30 am one of the croo wandered the halls playing his instrument.  It sounded like a cross between a mandolin and a banjo.  A very gentle way to awaken us.  I packed my bag and got to breakfast when there appeared to be no seats.  I also wanted to find Murray and exchange the pictures we had taken of each other yesterday.  I did not see Murray.  I asked the croo to help me find a seat.  Guess who I sat next to?  Murray!    Murray was wondering if there was an easier way to get back to the White Mountains Hostel in Gorham, where his wife was.  I said yes.  The Valley Way Trail that I took last year to get off the mountain.  It ends in a large parking lot named Appalachia.  There was cell service there last year.  He could call his wife to come get him.  He was happy with this information.  For breakfast at every hut, they give the weather report from Mt Washington Observatory, for the summits and valleys, for today and tomorrow.  The guests are very attentive.  Today's summit report was 40's with chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon.  The croo also gives a ridiculous, silly, creative skit with three pieces of information.  1.  Fold your blanket once length wise and twice width wise and put at end of your bed.  2.  Pack out your trash.  Whatever you do not pack out, the croo has to pack out.  3.  Tip the croo.  There is a tip jar on the check in desk.We finished breakfast.  We tried to use Air Drop to exchange pictures but it did not work.  So we exchanged contact info, promising we would send pictures when we had access.  Murray sent me pictures two days later.  I sent him pictures when I got to my hotel room in Portland Maine.  I finished packing up and left the hut.  Murray hurried after me.  He confirmed with the croo about taking the Valley Way Trail.  He asked me to show him to the start of the trail.  It is a bit tricky.  We came to a sign for another trail that had an arrow for the Valley Way.  From this sign, he could see another sign for the Valley Way.  We parted company.  Today I was going to hike the same terrain I did yesterday, from Madison Hut to Mt Washington and then 2 miles more to Lake of the Clouds.  I climbed the rock steps to the top of the mountain and looked back at Madison Hut.  I expected to see a long line of people following me but I was alone.  In the cairn forest I met Nose Flute, an older man with flourescent orange duct tape.  I was surprised to see him.  I thought yesterday he was going to Osgood Campsite.  He said shortly after I passed him, he met Laura.  He and Laura hiked together many days months ago.  She was going to a stealth campsite.  Nose Flute turned around and joined Laura, to spend time with her.  In the outside world, this might seem creepy but here on the trail, we form friendships fast and hard.  Nose Flute and I agreed we were both crazy to do this cairn field two days in a row.  I hiked the 0.5 miles of the AT I missed yesterday because I climbed Mt Jefferson.  I looked back and a young woman was coming toward me.  I thought she was 14 and asked if anyone was with her.  She said no.  She had just finished her third year as a medical student.  Boy, I judged her age wrong.  She said her mom had wanted to be a doctor but in her generation it did not seem the thing to do.  Her mom was in school to become a Physicians Assistant (PA).  I told her I had thought of being a doctor.  My father was willing to pay for it.  But I was afraid of two things.  1.  I did not think I could stay up 36 hours.  She said we all think that, and then we do it.  2. I was afraid of people yelling at me.  I grew up with a father that yelled when the milk was spilled at the dinner table and many other occassions.  I said I had since learned that his behavior is not even close to normal.  She asked how old I was when I figured that out.  I told her it was when for years I watched 1000's of patients and their families in the oncology office.  They did not yell and they were obviously under stress.  I did not tell her my age at that time.  I was 42 years old.  Sad it took me that long but thankful I did figure it out.  We came to the summit of Mt Washington.  I wanted a picture of me here, so we stood in line while a few families had their picture taken.  She took my picture.  We headed off to the bathrooms.  A woman with makeup asked weren't we cold?  We were both in short sleeves.  I explained we generate a lot of heat as we hike.  The med student continued on down the trail.  I sat at one of the many tables inside the building and ate lunch.  There were no views at the summit.  It was socked in with fog.  A couple hundred feet below the summit, no fog.  I came out of the building, wanting to continue south on the AT, toward Lake of the Clouds.  The sign was confusing.  I went up on the summit and met Kat and her hiking partner.  They were south bounders that I met briefly at the Barn Hostel.  I came down the summit and walked down the road, away from the bathrooms, toward a very tall and big cylinder.  The trail went to the right of it, to the Crawford Path (AT).  I followed the sign to Lake of the Clouds and turned left/south.  I knew 3 people who got on the wrong trail near the summit of Mt Washington.  I am grateful I was not one of them.  On the rest of the trail, you can follow white blazes because if you stand at a white blaze, you can see the next white blaze.  In this area, I saw three white blazes in the 5.7 miles from Mt Washington to Madison Hut yesterday.  Today, I saw 6 white blazes from Madison Hut to Mt Washington.  The trails are marked with signs that state the name of the trail and AT in parenthesis.  There are no signs between trail junctions. The rock cairns do not indicate the trail.  So if you choose incorrectly, you will probably hike on the wrong trail to the next junction, that may be over a mile away.  Guthook and a paper map are very helpful with navigation in this area.  The rocks on the trail to Lake of the Clouds were easier than the stretch I did today and yesterday.  I even got to pt my foot on dirt occassionally.  I came to a beautiful still lake and took a picture.  An AT hiker came around the corner.  I was startled.  "You didn't pee in that lake, did you?"  He teased.  Lake of the Clouds was within sight after I passed the lake.  Lake of the Clouds is my south bound friend, Dori's favorite hut.  It was not mine.  This was not the best day to come to Lake of the Clouds.  The view from the dining area was beautiful but also included a view of the large unburied drain field and the construction needed for that to take place.  Lake of the Clouds is at too high elevation to use the Clive system.  A toilet lid in the women's bathroom was left up for a long time.  With the lid up, the system was not able to keep positive pressure.  The women's bathroom smelled poorly until after dinner.  After this, at every hut, I checked the lid of all stalls not in use, whenever I used the bathroom.  At the presentation at Carter Notch Hut, they said Lake of the Clouds used a wind turbine to generate their power. At the presentation at Lake of the Clouds, they explained that they got too much wind for the turbine and the damper was not properly set.  The turbine blew off and had not been repaired as of yet.  There is so much precipitation here that all the wood in the hut including floor boards and paneling, has to be replaced every 10 years.  Lake of the Clouds is the biggest hut with 92 bunks for reservation and 4 for emergency.  Work-for-stay hikers stay in the "dungeon".  A fellow hiker said it was damp and cold with cob webs.  In the dining hall, hanging from the ceiling was an alpine butterfly.  They were trying to find what it ate.  Lake of the Clouds has the most croo.Kat and her partner did work for stay here.  They were also hiking south bound with Rogue Bear, who was in his 60's.  Rogue Bear had a reservation and stayed in a bunk. I joined Rogue Bear at a table when he was answering questions about thru hiking.  I felt like I stole his thunder when I told of how close I was to finishing the trail.  I wanted to be away from so many people but there was no where to go.  Sleep is a great escape sometimes.