Date: 2019-08-18
From: Mt. Jackson 

To: Lakes of the Clouds Hut 
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: mist

Day 139As before it rained at night. I slept well listening to the rain drops splashing on my tent. The matted floor of the fallen leaves from hemlock and fir was at least one foot thick, making it the most comfortable mattress in the world. I woke in the morning to find a thread of sunlight hitting a corner of the tent, painting it golden. It was a bright day. Partially cloudy with good amount of sunshine. When I was below tree line, the gold sun rays patched the rain washed forest  as if from a fairy tale book. Everything was so new and clean. The forest smelled so nice scented by pines and firs. The trail was still wet and muddy, the rocks still needed to scramble over, my pace was still slow. But I was making progress in a wonderland.After most of the morning hikes, we were finally above the tree line. The trails got easier there - no big boulder scrambling anymore. And the views were fantastic! White low clouds stayed in valley crevices far below us. Green mountains near by with stunned trees and blue mountains far away layers after layers. Mount Eisenhower, Mount Franklin, and mount Monroe came into view one by one and been passed one by one. The clouds over these mountains were also gradually moved away as the air got warmer near noontime. After a while, the peak of Mount Washington appeared with the communication towers into view. The clouds just loved to play with mount Washington peak. The view of the towers was in and out of the clouds every few minutes. I was excited and felt lucky to see the peak at all. It was said to be visible only 45% of the times.My hiking plan changed many times as I go. Just because it was really the terrain and weather determine how far I can go for the day. In the past 5 days, only one day I was able to complete the distance as I planned. Same for today. There was no chance for me to reach Madison Hut as I originally planned. After I got to Lakes of Clouds Hut just 1.4 miles before Mount Washington Summit, I discussed with the very friendly caretaker at the hut for 3 different options for tonight. At the end I decided it was the best to stay in this hut and do a short day hike to Mount Washington. It was a nice decision. We put our heavy packs at the hut and carried only a daypack to the summit. I felt flying through the trail without the big backpack. In a little over an hour I reached the summit. By that time we had been in the clouds for at least 40 minutes. There was a few seconds of an opening for the blue sky at the top. I only had time to capture a picture of a tower. There was also a long line of people (tourists) for photos at the summit sign. We waited about 20 minutes for our turn. Then we visited the historical hotel building and visitor center. We got soup and pizza as dinner- real food! After almost 1.5 hours at the summit, it¢s time to go back to the hut with about 2.5 miles hike. We took the A.T. down the north side of the summit, then took a side trail back to the hut. Tomorrow we can use the side trail continue our hike without the need to summit again, saving us half mile distance and 1000ft elevation gain.There were so many guests at the hut. Some were children as today¢s a Sunday. They paid about $150 for a bunk bed and breakfast & dinner. For the night, the hut allows thru-hikers to pay $10 to sleep on the dining room floor. There were about 20 hikers took this option. Some hikers choose work for stay option to get free sleeping and free food. But we wanted to get going early tomorrow before the work shift. So we paid that $10. At least I would be dry if it rains again tonight.The cloudy sky gave us a nice show for sunset. It¢s been a long time since I seen a nice sunset for this was the first time I stayed above tree line on A.T..