Date: 2018-08-12
From: Mizpah Spring Hut

To: Lake of the Clouds Hut
Miles today: 4.7

We were already awake when the Croo started singing to us that it was time to get up. We got up and did a little organizing/prepacking. It was a grey, foggy morning and it had rained during the night.Breakfast was served at 7am. All the thru-hikers were hanging around the entry area because anything we don't eat, they get! Breakfast started with oatmeal with lots of different goodies to put on top. Next was eggs, bacon and pancakes...a much heartier breakfast than we usually eat! After breakfast we finished packing and hit the trail at 8:30am.The trail immediately began to climb steeply. The interesting difference from leaving a hut vs leaving a shelter is that since everyone in the hut eats at the same time, everyone leaves about the same time. Not so with a shelter. So as we headed out, the trail was pretty busy until it sorted itself out, based on hiking speed. Many of the hut guests were heading our way because they wanted to "bag" a 4000er, Mt. Pierce, about a mile away. After a 300 foot climb the trail became more level. Of course once at the top Mt. Pierce we could not see a thing because of the fog. Soon after the top, a side trail took off heading for the valley below and most of the mass of people left us as we continued on the AT.The temperature was 54 degrees and the wind was blowing the damp fog at about 20 mph... not bad hiking weather. Spider was hiking in shorts and a long-sleeved shirt and ET was hiking in long pants and a long-sleeved shirt. We were confortable, as long as we kept moving!!After Mt. Pierce came Mt. Eisenhower, then Mt. Clinton and finally Mt. Monroe. In some cases the trail went over the top, in other cases it went around the side with a side trail to the top. With the cool temperatures, we didn't need our normal break every 1 to 1.5 hours, so we hiked for 2 hrs before our first break. At our break we determined we were halfway to the Lake of the Clouds Hut...Wahoo!1 hour 45 minutes later the Lake of the Clouds Hut appeared out of the clouds. How appropriate! That is our picture of the day. The timing was good because the mist was turning to rain. We checked in and were assigned a bunkroom. We were the first to arrive in our bunkroom so we had our pick. After moving in we cleaned up a little, then sat down to a bowl of potato-dill soup and a hot drink. We were glad to be inside since it appeared the rain had intensified outside. Things were not looking good for getting any views from Mt. Washington tomorrow. At least the forecast is for mild winds. After lunch, we went to our bunks to relax, read and warm up. Dinner was at 6pm. Turkey soup (I bet they had roast turkey for yesterday's dinner too!), salad, stuffed pasta shells, peas, homemade bread and chocolate carrot cake for dessert. It's going to be tough to go back to regular backpacking meals!The windows of the dining room have grand views overlooking the valley 4000 feet below, on a clear day. What we had when we sat down was a view that looked like someone had pasted white paper over the windows. However, halfway through dinner several people jumped up and went outside to take pictures because the fog briefly lifted and we could see down into the valley. Just as quickly as it cleared, the fog came back, but maybe there is hope for tomorrow!To bed at 8:30pm