Date: 2014-08-28
From: Ripley Falls

To: stealth site off Mt Clinton trail
Miles today: 6.9

Very fun hiking day except I only made 6.9 miles of progress. I saw the forecast today had a chance of thunderstorms. I slept in today thinking I may have to hang around US302 if the weather looked bad. It was hard looking through the trees at this lower elevation to see what the clouds were doing but I figured I'm way better off waiting out a storm at a road near a diner instead of up the side of the mountain.This time it didn't work out for the best. I eventually ran into a day hiker who enlightened me on the weather saying it was only going to be scattered rains throughout the day at the worst. So up I went. It's the Whites after all, it could be much worse! But it's a good thing it didn't rain much because I found myself using my hands a lot. That makes the down climb not fun. The winds were strong which kept me from breaking a sweat. People kept on commenting that I must have been freezing cold. Everyone was wearing windbreakers and long pants but I was in shorts and shirtless. That's the counter intuitive thing: more clothes = sweat on these rugged climbs. No sweat means no chill when getting blasted by wind in the exposed areas. Take it with a grain of salt of course. All I had to say to people climbing down while I was going up was jokingly saying "well, it's a good thing I'm not wearing a sweaty shirt!" in response to their concern. It's weird saying something I mean but in a joking manner so I'd hopefully not come off as a dick. Oh yeah, the only people going the opposite way as me that did not remark on my bare nipples in one way or another were SOBO thrus that were following this journal. That was really cool. Unfortunately I didn't get their names. Or I forgot. I'm not sure.Made it to Mizpah hut around 3pm which is where I had to make a hard choice. I really wanted to keep going and get to Lakes of the Clouds but the estimated time to get there in ideal conditions is 4 hours. I'm taking a risk in the Whites by sticking with my 45degree down bag because the windchill in these mountains can be brutally cold at night. That wouldn't be a problem if I can stay in the hut which is very likely but I have to account for emergencies. Plus I'm sure that hut would be the most crowded one. The temperature tonight is forecasted to be in the teens tonight at that elevation too. Stealth camping isn't even an option at that section anyway from what I hear. With that it mind it was obvious that I would be taking unnecessary risks if I went for it at this time of the day. To help me accept cutting the day short, I rationalized that I really didn't want to get caught in heavy rain and get chilled to the bone.My alternative was to wander down a side trail looking for a stealth camp since it was too early to get work for stay at Mizpah. I hiked 1 mile out beyond the Forest Protection area (loosing elevation too) but couldn't find anything tentable. Hurricane Irene trashed a good portion of these lower areas which resulted in the Dry River Trail getting shut down. I can totally see why from the Mt Clinton Trail. While hiking it, I started thinking that it looks like a hurricane hit here. Go figure... It did get hit by hurricane. Well, tomorrow's forecast is sunshine! Should be a great day for Mt Washington.