Date: 2017-06-30
From: Lincoln, NH

To: Lakes of the Clouds Hut, Mt. Washington
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I am climbing Mt. Washington and my thoughts turn to a burning moral question: To moon or not to moon?Frodo drops me off at Pinkham Notch at 6:45. The weather forecast is ominous. In the morning, mostly cloudy with rain. In the afternoon and evening, thunderstorms and more rain. What¢s one of Mt. Washington¢s claims to fame? It¢s reputed to have the worst weather in the U.S. For decades it held the record for highest recorded wind speed: 234 miles per hour. That speed put an Indianapolis racecar to shame.I knew the first five miles should be pretty civilized, a moderate ascent, decent trail, and the rain ended up being pretty civilized ¢ it stopped just before the start of the day¢s big climb. Mt. Washington and The Presidentials don¢t mess around ¢ over 3000 feet of vertical gain in just over two miles. And what was with the grumpy northbounders I saw today? ¢You¢ve really got your work cut out for you.¢ ¢This goes on forever.¢ I would have settled for ¢Have a nice day.¢But the topper was the NOBO I met just after having lunch at Madison Hut, as in President Madison. (Frodo: I¢d write ¢duh¢¦¢ but I think that¢s a bit snarky, even for me.) I¢d covered 8 miles (in 6 hours) and had 5 more to go to reach Mt/ Washington¢s summit. A NOBO hiked up to me and said, ¢I have to tell you, that¢s the worst sustained rock-hopping stretch of the trail so far.¢ He was referring to the next 5 miles to the summit. He HAD to tell me? Was there some rule? Did I look so happy after lunch, happy to be on the Presidential Ridge that he HAD TO prick my bubble? ¢You have an easy half mile to the Madison Hut,¢ I replied.As for the question of the day, do I observe an AT tradition and ¢moon¢ the paying passengers on the cog railway that runs to the summit? I decided to put the question out to an impeccable moral compass. My divine committee of right and wrong, my panel of three gurus, aged 12, 10, and 8. The princesses! Catherine, Sophia, and Jessica will decide. I wrote their father on my zero day yesterday and here¢s what he wrote back: ¢Later today I will ask the girls to vote on mooning the train. Of course, that will require explaining mooning. Ah, parenting does get interesting when you are friends with a thru-hiker!¢ Later I learned that the princesses did not know what mooning was until their mother explained it. (Sorry, Monica!) They were unanimous: ¢Ewww, that¢s yucky!¢ But since they didn¢t have to do it, they voted YES. The northbounder was right that the trail was an irregular rock field, but we¢d been subjected to worse in Maine. It slowed me down some, but for the first time the AT didn¢t insist on hitting every summit top. For Adams and Jefferson the trail rounded the mountain a few hundred feet below the summit. Now there¢s a concept. But as I neared Washington¢s summit, the trail pulled in close to the cog railway and I realized that this raised an age-old question: If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there, does it make a sound? For me the question was, if I drop my pants near a deserted railway (the last train passed by an hour ago), have I mooned anything? I kept my pants on. (Frodo: Phew! I was hoping it would be a moot question. Some hikers were arrested for mooning the train a year or two ago! Imagine how silly that would be for a 65-year-old!)  Here's the cog railway: http://www.trailjournals.com/j...It was amazing to reach the top. There¢s a large visitor center, cafeteria, and store. All closed. But I could get in the entry and even ¢ luxury ¢ use the flush toilet. The fog even lifted momentarily.A mile and a half later and I¢m in the Lakes of the Clouds AMC Hut. I¢m in ¢The Dungeon¢, the basement bunkroom where AT thru-hikers may sleep for $10. It does look and feel like a dungeon. But I¢m indoors and happy.  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...Finally, a shout-out to a hiker from our PCT Class of ¢07. Sunwalker is now married with three kids. We were at his wedding in New Zealand several years ago. He wore a full tux ¢¦ and his hiking shoes. (Frodo: I think he had PCT cufflinks, too!) Sunwalker has been reading my journal to his six year old, Reuben. He wrote me that Rueben has taken to calling himself ¢Reuben Scout.¢ I consider that high praise. Here¢s Reuben about 18 months ago: http://www.trailjournals.com/j...¢Night, all!