Date: 2003-09-21
From: Mizpah Hut

To: Lakes of the Clouds Hut
Miles today: 4.8
Weather: broken clouds

Sleep did not come to me last night...I had to get up a couple of times to use the bathroom, and I couldn't achieve a comfortable temperature, so I tossed and turned all night long. I went downstairs to set up for breakfast, and Chafe Master J joined me soon after. Big Bird was still sleeping when I left the bunkroom. After setting up the tables, I spent some time talking with croo member Ben's mother, who was visiting him for the weekend. They're from the Boston area, and she is a member of the Mystic Chorale (hope I have the name right)...we talked music till she went to eat breakfast. After breakfast, the croo put on the most hysterical skit to let the guests know what they needed to do before leaving the hut (fold their blankets, pack out their trash). They have a box full of dress-up clothes, and make full use of them...this croo really works well together, and with their guests. I definitely must say that they are the best croo I've met out here...they made ever!yone's stay (even ours!) most enjoyable. After they cleaned up, we were able to eat breakfast...I had three pancakes with butter and brown sugar...yum! Then we swept the dining room floor and cleaned the gas jets from the stove. We went upstairs and rested for a little while...Chafe Master J went to sleep, I nodded off for a bit and Big Bird was reading Charlotte's Web. I decided I should really get my act together, so I packed up, as did Big Bird. We left Chafe Master J at 11:30ish...he said he'd join us at the dungeon later. That's right...we were headed to the dungeon at the Lakes of the Clouds hut. The hut itself is already closed, however, there is a small emergency shelter in the basement of it that remains open. We figured that we could stay there for the night and get to the top of Mt. Washington early tomorrow for our mail drops. It meant a whopper of a day...4.8 miles...woo hoo! We'll be picking it up over the next few days, though, as we still have many! miles to cover! Anyway...we started off, passing the MA people from the night before. They had gone on a short morning hike before they had lunch and headed home. They wished us well...who knows, I may run into them when I get home. The Trail started off with some steep rock scrambles, but soon evened out to a kinder, gentler ascent. We soon topped the first of the Presidentials, Mt. Pierce. The Trail doesn't summit all of the mountains in the Presidentials, but you can take side trails to get to the ones that it doesn't go to. We chose not to go to them, however, as the clouds were covering most of the higher peaks, and we couldn't have seen anything. We passed through clouds for most of the second part of our hike, after we'd stopped to eat a quick snack and put on jackets and hats...it was cold! I was feeling a litle dizzy after walking through the clouds for over an hour, so I was happy to see the hut appear on the horizon sooner than I expected. We found the dungeon, and it is aptly named. Stone walls, a heavy metal door, bare,! dirty bunks and poor lighting...yup, it's a dungeon all right. The pathetic thing is that when the hut is open, the AMC actually charges hikers $6 per person to stay in this room. We chose bunks, set up our sleeping bags, then ate lunch. The only thing to do after that was get into our bunks. It was too cold and windy to be outside, and the hut was closed. I finished the book that I've been reading, and Big Bird napped for awhile. Time passes slowly in the dungeon. A couple of times other hikers opened the door to check out the room and acted shocked to find us in here. They apologized for interrupting us, yet all we were doing was lying in two separate bunks, in two different sets of bunks, even. We thought about acting as if we'd been stuck here for awhile, begging for help, the next time it happened, but no one else showed up. We had a good laugh just talking about it though. Yup, time passes s-l-o-w-l-y in the dungeon. At about 6, though, Chafe Master J show!ed up! We were thinking of placing bets as to whether we'd see him ornot. We got up and went outside...it had actually warmed up a little. Then we all had some dinner...CMJ made us all salami sandwiches, yum! Now we're just hanging out, probably hitting the hay soon, as there's nothing else to do. Maybe I can make up for some of the sleep I didn't get last night. Tomorrow...Mt. Washington!   P.S. Happy birthdays to two very special young ladies! To my fabu niece, Sierra, have a super birthday, and remember to keep on taking after your Aunt Elizabeth! To my good friend Tasha, have a wonderful birthday...I'll see you, Sam and the new baby (and your parents!) when I get home!