Date: 2011-08-30
From: Gorham Storm wait 2

To: Madison Springs hut
Miles today: 6.0
Weather: broken clouds

I got up with the intention of being on the road hitch hiking to the auto road so I could continue hiking from the top of Mt Washington where I got off before the storm. I got breakfast then waited for the hardware store to open up to get another water filter. MSR couldn't send me a new pump that I needed for the rest of the trip. The only thing I knew to do was to just buy another filter. My hydration bladder is set up where I can filter water directly into the hose that I drink out of. That way, I don't have to take the bladder out to refill it. Without the water filter, I'm forced to take out the bladder which is more time consuming especially in the middle of hiking. Also, I was getting tired of the aftertaste from the chemical treatment that I carry. I thought I'd be efficient and brush my teeth and take my vitamins while I waited for the store to open. When I got back to the room, I couldn't find the bag that had both of those items. The toothbrush and toothpaste weren't a big deal but I had just spent quite a bit of money on the vitamins. After spending some time looking for the bag, it was time for the store to open up. I got the water filter then took the pieces that I didn't need to the post office and shipped them home. After doing that, I went to the other hotel in hopes of finding the missing bag. They couldn't find it. I just bought another toothbrush and more toothpaste and headed back top the hotel. As I finished packing up, I found the missing bag. Arrrgh! I wasted all that time walking to the other hotel to look for it! I finished packing and headed down the road to get a ride. Fortunately, it didn't take long to get one. In very little time, I made it to the place that operated the shuttles only to find out that the auto road was closed because of damage from the storm. They wouldn't even let me hike up it. The only options I had was to wait one more night in town (another hotel bill) or get back to town and get a shuttle to the cog railroad station which was operating. Other than hiking up a trail to the top, the cog railroad was the only way to the top of Washington. I went down to the road and stuck out my thumb. The second car that came by stopped to give me a ride. It was a father and son who were trying to get to a particular trailhead but could not go the way they were going because a bridge had gotten washed out. They were on their way back to Gorham when they stopped. While heading back, they talked about their options. It seems that everyone's hiking plans had gotten messed up by the hurricane. One option was to go around the longer route around the north of the mountains which they decided to do. The cool thing was that took us right by the cog railroad station! They dropped me off about a mile and a half from the station and continued on their way. I was very thankful and was sure to let them know before they drive off. I hiked up the road, bought a ticket and was on the 1:30 train. The ticket was a little expensive but I realized it was much cheaper than another hotel stay, it got me to the top of the mountain today and I got ride a very unique train. It was definitely worth the ticket price. The cog railroad solves the problem of reasons going up steep mountains by using a cog that engages a strip that resembled a bicycle chain laid out. Power is transmitted through this gear arrangement. Once at the top of the mountain, I got lunch and waited a little bit to see if the clouds would clear out. There wasn't a rush to get going because there was no way I could make it to the camping area on the other side of Mt Madison. My patience paid off. The clouds cleared out enough to have a great view from the top of Washington. After enjoying the view for a while, I double checked the weather report, layered up accordingly and headed toward Madison Spring hut. The trail actually goes over three mountain peaks before getting to the hut. The entire time I was on the ridge, the great gulf was to my right. The bottom of the gulf is about 2500 to 3000 feet below the ridge on which I was hiking. Again, it was one of those truly magnificent scenes that can't be captured on a camara. The hike was pretty slow going because it was over a boulder field the entire way. By the end of the day, I was convinced that the Whites didn't have mountains, just very large piles of rocks. I got to the hut just as they were finishing up dinner for the guests. Fortunately, the thru-hikers eat afterwards so I didn't miss dinner. I didn't do work for stay but slept in the dining room so didn't have to pay much to stay. My thought was to just rest my arm as much as I could. The last work for stay really caused a lot of pain. I set up my mattress and sleeping bag. Because of the cold, I crawled in right away and just listened to music until I was ready to sleep.