Date: 2003-08-12
From: Lakes of the Clouds Hut

To: Osgood Tentsite 
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: light rain

The Dungeon wasn't too bad really. As I was warned, my stuff came out a bit damper tha when it went in, but not too bad. I slept pretty well, once the paying guests left the dining room, which was right above the Dungeon. The scooting of benches and tables, and clomping of footsteps was pretty loud, and provided an alarm in the morning as well. That just meant that Hotdog and I were ready to hit the trail around 8am. Destination: Mt. Washington! I was ready to get there!It was very foggy this morning, and on the climb to Mt. Washington, I could barely see from one cairn to the next. Soon, a dark shadow appeared on the mountain. It was the summit! Yippee! I was wearing my usual, shorts and short sleeved shirt, and was sweating on the way up, but at the summit, just standing there in the blowing mist, I started to get a little chilly. We waited our turn for pictures at the sign, then headed into the summit building to drop our packs, look around, and rest a bit.We were going to try to get on the Deckcam, a camera showing the observation deck, where the pictures are updated every 15min and posted on the internet. Hotdog called Mrs. Hotdog, and I called my dad, then we headed out to get on camera. It was quite foggy, still, and we waited until we thought the picture had been taken then went inside to see if it worked. As Hotdog checked the monitor, I called my dad again, and he said "I saw you! You were wearing your yellow rain jacket!" Yep, that was me! We were barely visible in the fog, and tried one more time, getting closer to the camera. It worked again! A yellow-coated person holding Ted's Flag, and a blue-coated person waving! That was fun! But we had to do some hiking, after spending about 2 hours there.As we headed north, down the mountain, there was one more thing we had to do, and when the opportunity presented itself, we took advantage. We mooned the Cog Railroad car! It was going down the mountain just as we were about to cross the tracks, so we stood there waiting for it, waved to the engineer, then turned around and mooned the passengers! Hotdog said he snuck a peek and saw the people laughing, plus we heard some applause too! When it had passed by, we pulled our shorts up and I looked at the car as it slowly went down the mountain. A guy was standing at the back waving and laughing. I gave him a celebratory fist pump in the air, and we went on our way. It is tradition for thruhikers to moon the Cog, although southbounders mooning the train as it goes up the mountain run the risk of meeting those passengers on the summit. I'm glad I participated! I'd feel something was missing from the hike if I'd let the chance pass.The hike to Madison Hut started off well. Or maybe I was just so amped up about the successful mooning that the time and miles passed quickly. But soon, the trail became more rocky, and we had a steep descent on those rocks. Combine that with the damp, if not wet, conditions, and I was moving pretty slowly. That is my least favorite part of the trail: steep descent over slick, wet rocks. We stopped for lunch about an hour before we'd reach Madison Hut, where we took a lunch break. It was around 3pm when we arrived, and we were planning on going 3 more miles to a tentsite for the night. My knees were aching from the downhills we'd already done, but we moved on anyway, leaving the Hut around 4pm.We had a 500ft climb (up to about 5300') to the summit of Mt. Madison, then a 3000ft descent. Lucky me... it was mostly rocks. And it was damp. And it rained lightly off and on. I was getting frustrated. I go so slowly in those conditions. Only part of that is because it's safer to go slow, but a larger part is that I'm afraid of falling and getting injured. I get nervous, or stressed, or anxious about those descents. I didn't think I'd EVER get to the bottom. The all-rock pathway finally gave way to rocks, dirt and roots, and toward the bottom became much less steep. Thank goodness! My knees were screaming! We got to the trail to the tentsite around 6:30, and I could feel myself immediately relax. I had survived! I knew I could, but when slowly making my way down the all-rock section, I wanted to cry. I wished I could go faster, but my slow pace was my top pace. I get nervous that I'm not seeing the rocks clearly; that I'm not judging their distance from me ! or their angle if tilted. I use my poles to help me figure those things out. I know I don't have great depth perception, and at those times, it bothers me. But, like I said, I survived. And I feel good about it now!I'm sharing a tent platform with a girl from Massachusetts, who is out here hiking around until Thursday. We talked a lot. Well, I talked a lot, about the trail and trail life. I must've been releasing some of that anxious energy I had from the descent, because I found myself being Chatty Cathy! I guess my platform-mate didn't mind, because she kept talking to me too. Whenever I shut up, that is. Hotdog is one site over, sharing a platform with some dude. From what I have seen and have been told, this area is quite full tonight. I'm glad I got a place on a platform, because, if it rains tonight, I don't want to wake up in a swimming pool again! Once was enough!The White Mountains are pretty darned awesome. Even though I didn't care much for today's hiking conditions, I made it, and I still think being above treeline is the most incredible thing. I wish I'd had some views today like yesterday, because I'm sure it would've been awesome! I will definitely have to come back here and explore some more!Now that Mt. Washington is conquered, I'll have to look for more goals. Up next is getting to Maine. I will be very excited to get there, and it will probably be within a week, even with a planned day off coming up soon. That will be so awesome to get to Maine! I have started writing in the registers, instead of 'GA to ME', 'Springer, GA to Katahdin, ME'. After reading Jean Deeds' book "There are Mountains to Climb" where she got injured soon after getting to Maine, I think I'd better 'watch what I wish for' and wish for the right thing: ending my hike at the summit of Katahdin! I'm getting there, slowly, but surely getting there. Unbelievable! But true. And what an adventure it's been!