Date: 2010-08-17
From: Crawford Notch

To: Valley View Campsite
Miles today: 18.2

17 August Tuesday ¢ 18.2 miles to Valley Spring CampsiteAfter last nights fiasco I didn¢t manage to calm down enough to sleep. Tossed and turned a lot despite the river singing my favorite lullaby. I guess the nap at the hut yesterday served me well. Packed up and put on my jacket because it felt chilly. Thought about how hot I¢d be while climbing 5000ft today. I¢m feeling apprehensive about this whole Washington thing. The ¢Most Dangerous Weather in America¢ welcome sign out from lets you know you¢re not in Kansas anymore. The forecast is extremely favorable and it¢s my intention to move as far as time will allow. Will I get a view from Washington? That seems to be the question on my mind. I¢m so hopeful and wishing for it. How many thru-hikers get the chance to see from the highest point in NH? How many have waited for the weather to clear only to be disappointed? There¢s only 40 days out of a year when it¢s clear, but I believe in my general good luck. That combined with hard work.I left camp at 5:30am! I woke Tree and Jenn as I left. We talked about the raccoon incident. It¢s pretty funny that the creature took his bagels and chewed through his tent. I guess using your food bag as a pillow has its advantages.What¢s immediately noticeable about the initial climb this morning is that it¢s in fact going over the ridgeline that I saw yesterday! It¢s exciting to climb straight up the cliffs on the side of Webster. The cliffs get my heart pounding and my face smiling early this morning. It¢s very windy and at times it¢s hard to stand up. The climb resembles Lehigh Gap. Rest Stop told me I¢d like New Hampshire if I enjoyed that superfund site. He¢s right about it! I love it! The sun is rising and the valley slowly loses it¢s shade as I advance farther north. It¢s hard making progress when you take pictures from every cliff vista. I could see the entire ridgeline running away from Webster Mtn. summit. There were several giant intimidating challenges ahead. I wonder if I can see Tuckerman¢s Ravine but I find out later that it¢s on the NE side of Washington. I can tell that the trail will be completely above tree line for a while. The sky is crystal clear, except Washington. Not a cloud around except right over the top of the biggest one. I kid myself by thinking I can see Washington, but it¢s only Monroe¢s summit. Monroe looks tiny in the shade of Washington 6288ft tall body. I can¢t mistake the two because I can see the neck of the mountain just below the cloud. The sight of the long ridge walk makes me drool. My heart is racing from adrenaline, not from the effort it takes to climb Mt. Jackson¢s summit. It¢s going to be worth the work it takes to see this place. I take a short Nutter Butter break and wash it down with lots of water. Can¢t take many before reaching Washington! Somehow I believe it¢ll clear off for me! I sing ¢She¢s so Heavy¢ all the way to the next AMC hut, Mizpah. Hollywood is there complaining about having to hike today. San Gabriel and Ladybird stayed here last night. They will be leaving soon. I lost my spoon so I borrowed the hut¢s silverware to eat my peanut butter. Wizard was outside and he looked great! The conclusion I¢ve reached is that Wizard¢s my favorite grey haired thru-hiker. He¢s extremely nice and I get a kick out of his Massachusetts accent. He tells me I¢ve gained weight. That¢s another reason why I like him, he¢s honest. I tell him that I¢d fallen 6 times since leaving Crawford Notch this morning. Maybe rushing is making me clumsy. Each time I landed on my pack and ridge-rest seat cushion.I don¢t recall many of the mountains before Eisenhower. I remember that one because I didn¢t have to go over it. I got confused and went over it anyways. The cairns are a little deceiving and the AT isn¢t marked with white blazes anymore. The world up here reminds me of the lunar surface. On the southern side of the ridge is an enormous valley with trees that look like toys. The ground is shaped like a meteor dented the earth. The valley walls are immense like the Death Star. Eisenhower, Monroe and Washington mountains look like stone mansions. The Presidential mountains front yard and sidewalk are rocky ridge lines resting 500ft below their doorsteps.Just as I summit Eisenhower the clouds part and I see the top of Mt. Washington! I wasn¢t expecting the structure built on the top. For a moment I let myself feel satisfied enough with seeing the top at all. San Gabriel and Ladybird tell me that they don¢t think it¢ll be clear. I inform them of my luckiness and they decided they¢d stay close by me today so maybe it would wear off on them. I can be happy with just this view right now though. The top of Eisenhower might be good enough!The clouds look like moving buildings or barges on a calm baby blue sea. Their appeared to be traffic jams forming on top of the prize for the day. I rush myself a little to get to the promise land. San Gabriel seems doubtful of my chance for the day.Plenty of tourists out for a stroll today courtesy of the maze of side trails and cog-railway train. I¢m carrying 10lbs of things to keep me alive and they¢re wearing polo shirts and panama jack hats. Every few minutes I hear the sound of the cog trains whistle announcing another load of people on the summit. It feels kind of pointless to have all this winter gear put the wind reminds me of why I¢m carrying the kitchen sink. The wind really wants to see if it can knock me down.I respectfully decline to take the side trail up Monroe. It looks like a pile of rocks and nothing like a mountain. I think it resembles a giant cairn. I¢m completely focused on navigating the ravine around Monroe and barely noticed the clouds. Just as I turn the corner around the last mountain before¢¦WASHINGTON!!! It¢s clear all the way round! Not a cloud around! Now, I¢ve got to hurry. The clouds in the distance don¢t seem to be a threat but all I¢ve dreamed of since Georgia is standing up there in shorts on a sunny day! If it weren¢t so hard to walk here I¢d already be there. I can¢t stop laughing because it¢s so much worse than PA. I thought we were finished with rocky trails back in NJ!?Walking into the Lake of Clouds Hut felt like being at the zoo. I filled up my jug of water and got out. Tree and Jenn are here right after me. I¢d been looking back all day expecting them. I crammed my water bottle full of blue Gatorade powder and hit the road. Lish didn¢t send the pouring apparatus for the powder and I make a mess. I take off with 1 liter of water and a stomach full of knots!1.5 miles of pure fun lead to the summit of Mt. W. The appearance of it¢s summit gives the impression of being close but it¢s not. I blow past the tourists like they¢re standing still. Most of them are standing still and trying to catch their breath. I give the climb all the hell I imagined. I remembered that night at Overmountain Shelter when it was so cold and windy. I remembered being afraid of what the Whites had to offer. Here I am! I¢m covered in sweat and passing people in shorts, sunglasses, new hiking poles and two giant family pets. Glad I¢m carrying that fleece jacket! I race up the mountain so hard I feel like my eyes are going to pop out!When I get close to the summit I realize that Washington wouldn¢t be what I¢d imagined. It¢s like Disneyland. The cog railway is pumping tourists by the hour into the restaurant. People smile by the Washington summit like they¢d actually ¢summited¢.Oh well, I¢ve got 360 views baby! It¢s incredibly windy here. Top of the world BABY! Topped out at 6288ft at least. I finally lay my eyes on Tuckerman¢s ravine. I haven¢t been able to stop wondering about it since I saw the pictures back at the Long Trail Inn. Do you think I¢d ski down that thing? I¢m not sure if I would or not. I also realized that my day is far from over. I¢ve committed myself to making Madison Hut by coming herre today. Madison looks like it¢s a long freaking walk from here. The Presidential ridge line continues on the opposite side of the one I¢d climbed already. It¢s equal in distance and difficulty! The thru-hikers have all disappeared in the crowds. I feel so strange and alone with all the nicely dressed people around. I feel pretty funny about the fact that I can see the entire PRESIDENTIAL RIDGE LINE!!! I knew my luck would hold! How incredible! My prayers: answered.I wade through the hive of people and reach the post office to mail some cards home. The post office attendant pointed me towards the gift shop for post cards. I loathe gift shops. I waited in a long line of great smelling customers just to pay $1.00 cash. I should have just left the money on the counter on the way out. I have got to smell like a sasquatch. One kid asked me how long it took to grow my huge beard. He seemed envious of my facial hair for some reason. I didn¢t want a hot dog from the restaurant when I saw the number of people waiting. I practically ran out of the building for fresh air. I¢d hoped to get a summit picture on top of Washington but the people for anyone much less if you walked 1845 miles to get here.I pack up as I write postcards to Lish and Dad. Not sure where all the thru-hikers are but I¢ve got to go. Now! Glad I got to summit with Tree and Jenn at least. I had to ask the park ranger to help me find where the AT exits this theme park. Walked over the cog railroad track and watched as the train rolled by pumping black smoke into the air. It blows a loud horn every time it arrives at the top and bottom. It¢s a thru-hiker tradition but I can¢t bring myself to moon the train as it passes by.The second part of this day is obviously going to take me a very long time. The ridge from Washington appears to be just as long as the approach. It¢s surprisingly similar in shape. Walking along the ravine edge makes me nervous. There¢s still a little remaining respect for heights in my brain. Tall grass whips with fierce wind gusts as the fields fade off into either sides of the valley. It¢s hard to stand with the aerodynamics of my vapor trail. The grass whipping sounds like rice falling on the pavement. My turkey falcon feathers are taking a beating too. The straps and feathers on my pack keep hitting the back of my head when the gale force wind changes in every direction. The wire holding the feathers on keeps twisting off and I have to reattach them several times. In the turmoil I lost my Bard owl feather. It¢s always interesting to hear people take guesses at what kind of bird the feathers belonged to. I¢ve gotten all kinds of responses and questions about them. Ladybird thinks I have three hawk feathers. I laugh on the inside but don¢t tell her any different! Hawk feathers sound a lot cooler than the truth!I have to leap out on faith at a few trail intersections. Not really sure where the AT went to but I miss it greatly. Where¢d all the white blazes go? I¢ve had to ask a few people where the hell I was at.I¢d love to camp out on the only spring up there, but I can¢t stay in this wind. Maybe I can stay here in another life. To afraid of the weather to sleep exposed on the side of this island of no where to hide.I was four miles from Madison when I caught a disheveled thru-hiker named, ¢Sticks¢. Sticks fell and gashed his hand when he hit his face on the rocks. I caught up with him just as he was getting up. Walking is hard here. Tons of ankle cracking holes everywhere you step. The rocks have of painful toe and heel wedging spots where you can get stuck. My foot became entrapped at one point and had to remove my stuck shoe from between rocks. Sticks decided that he¢s getting out of the rocks when he finishes the Whites and he¢s walking the highway to Maine. Sticks says, ¢I¢m eating lobster every day and staying in hotels every night until I get to Katahdin.¢ Sticks isn¢t having fun anymore. Instead of enjoying himself, he¢s only trying to finish. He can¢t seen the heavenly beauty of this place for having to stare at his feet and not slip on rocks.He¢s focused on the wrong thing.¢I¢m still having fun!¢ I tell him and leave it at that.Sticks seems to cheer up later. I know because I hiked behind him making sure he was okay. He did say he fell and hit is head. We walk together for an obscenely long period of time before seeing a sign that said we had 4 more miles to go! The last 4 miles has taken SO long! I think they use the same rulers to measure distance as those fools back in PA. It seems like 0.2 miles is more like 0.6.I¢m real tired. I realize that I¢m probably thru-hiker number 5 or 6 to ask for lodging down at Madison Hut. Sure enough the Croo member tells me they¢ll charge $12 to stay even if I don¢t eat. I¢m tired but I¢ve got enough energy to be to stubborn to pay. I decided to stay down at the campsite below. It¢s free and that¢s a rare quality here in AMC land. Valley View campsite is 0.6 miles straight down but I don¢t mind. The tent sites are full I find a spot by some tree roots that looks nice. I have to smile as I eat my dinner knowing I haven¢t forked over any money to the AMC hut system. Tree and Jenn are here also.I still can¢t find my spoon so I have to use a stick. I eat mash potatoes with a stick and marvel at how ultra-light I¢ve become. I¢m so ultra-light I use disposable sticks as spoons!No spoon revolution!