Date: 2003-08-30
From: Madison Spring Hut

To: Stealth camp at Pinkham Notch
Miles today: 7.8
Weather: overcast clouds

What a day! As planned we got up early so we could clear off the tables before the hut guests got up for breakfast. An early start for us--how rare! It was very foggy and windy as we started up Mt. Madison. Our intentions were to make good time and get to Pinkham Notch for lunch. Were we in for a surprise!   I know I said it was windy. Allow me to rephrase that. It was WINDY--gusts of easily 75 miles per hour, perhaps higher. The cloud cover was so thick, I had to take my glasses off because of condensation. We were being blown all around. At one point Sean-O and I stepped off the trail to try to get better footing. That was a big mistake. Away from the rocks, we got caught in severe wind gusts. As I tried to step forward, a fierce gust threw me against a big rock. I hit my hip and elbow on it. As I struggled to my feet, I could see some other hikers coming up from behind. As they caught up with Bump, who was just ahead of us, my pack cover was torn off my pack and was blowing away, along with my highly treasured toilet paper! Fortunately, the pack cover got caught on a rock and Sean-O rescued it. The TP is probably on Mt. Washington!   The hikers who had caught up with us turned out to be 2 gentlemen and 2 boys from the hut Sean-O had talked to last night. They are actually more interested in rock climbing. Coincidence? One of them came over to me and helped me get my bearings. He suggested reducing my hiking poles and putting them away and getting out my gloves I had foolishly not worn. He blocked the wind for me as Bump got my gloves from my pack. Then he told me to just keep low, keep one hand on the rocks and keep moving. He had me follow him up and back onto the trail. Meanwhile I realized my light 3M jacket was shredding in the wind! He kept asking if I was warm enough. I was, I was sweating! We slowly crawled our way up the mountain. The rock climbers in front, then Sean-O and then me with Bump close behind me.    When we reached the peak, the wind was just horrific. All you could hear was it roaring all around. We picked our way over the top and had a brief reprieve for a few minutes. Unfortunately, the trail follows the ridge for a couple of miles. It seemed like an eternity! The fellow that helped me waited for us and again asked if I was warm enough. I assured him I was and that I had extra clothes if I got cold. Apparently a man had died of exposure under similar conditions on that very ridge.    Anyway, we kept moving and finally reached treeline. It had taken us 3 hours to go perhaps 1.5-2 miles. It was such a relief to get under cover and out of the wind! We started our descent toward Pinkham Notch. We had only about 5 miles to go. We started running into lots of day hikers and weekend backpackers. It was fun telling them we are thru-hiking. They're always amazed and have questions for us about the hike.    Well, we walked and walked and didn't seem to be getting any closer. I mentioned to Bump it had been quite awhile since we had seen any white blazes. Sean-O, who was ahead of us stopped and asked if we had seen any. Uh-oh! We finally asked some day hikers if we were still on the AT. Much to our dismay, we had somehow missed a turn-off several miles back. We were still headed toward Rt 16, but came out of the woods 4.5 miles too far north! The AMC often uses the local trail names on the signs instead of calling it the AT when trails overlap. Apparently we just didn't interpret one of those signs correctly! We started waking down the highway trying to hitch a ride to Pinkham Notch. We finally got to another trailhead parking area and I saw a couple of guys getting into a truck. I called over to them and explained our situation and asked if they could give us a lift. They did--trail angels! :)   At long last, we got to Pinkham Notch. The lodge was full, the buffet lunch was over and the last shuttle to Gorham was long gone. What to do? We decided to eat at the snack bar and find a stealth campsite nearby back up the trail. As we were putting our packs on, a hiker looking guy with a trailcrew t-shirt went by. Sean-O caught him and asked if he knew where a stealth site might be. He told us about the site we are camped in and said he'd see us in a couple of days. He's the caretaker at one of the upcoming campsites! So, to end our latest tale, we are camped by a stream just across Rt 16 from the visitors center. Safe, sound, a few bruises and very tired!