Date: 2013-08-14
From: Mt. Washington

To: Madison Spring Hut
Miles today: 5.7

I left the beautiful Academy Street Inn at 7AM and arrived at my shuttler extraordinaire's house a few minutes later. John was out front with the motor running, and within minutes we were on the road. I was happy to have a safe place to park my car for the next 3 weeks and a friend to watch over it.John is good company and the 2 hours passed quickly. I enjoyed the chance to see a part of Maine that I hadn't seen before, and to reconnect with John.I was deposited at the Cog Railroad, said my goodbyes, and thanked John for the 10th time. Inside, I purchased my ticket for my ride up the mountain and ordered myself a breakfast sandwich and cup of hot coffee. While waiting, John walked back in with my reading glasses which I had left on the seat of his car. So sorry buddy....and thanks for coming back!My rail car left at 10:31, one minute after the first car left and as we ascended, the clouds grew thicker and thicker. Bummer. I had picked this start date because of the weather report, but weather on Mt Washington which has "The Worst Weather on the Planet", cannot be trusted. The day proceeded to turn into the worst, nastiest, hardest day I have ever spent hiking....ever. EVER.While at the weather station, I met ChinMusic, who had hiked for a long time with B Rocket, a girl that I hiked all day with on our very first day out. At 11:30 I signed the log book and headed out. It took me several trys just to find my way off Mt. Washington and when I did, it was already noon. Hiking was tough right off the bat; solid rocks and straight downhill greeted me. After about an hour, my legs were turning to jelly. Most of the day was downhill with a 300 foot and a 600 foot climb later in the day. I was moving slowly, at about a mile an house pace.Mid afternoon, the wind changed from a steady 30-35 mph to a sustained 70-80 mph wind and I knew I was in trouble. I was above tree line and on an exposed ridge. I had no choice but to keep going. I was practically crawling across the rocks to keep from being swept over the edge....and I was beginning to get frightened.By now my legs were quivering from exhaustion. Going downhill I wasn't able to expend enough energy to keep warm, so I stopped and added my raincoat to act as a windbreak, and it was a huge help. Onward I crept, and about that same time, something happened in my left knee. Every step felt like a knife stab. This had happened to me only once before, coming down the steep, north side of Mt. Avery in Maine on my 2003 hike. I had taken off 2 days, iced it, and purchased an ACE bandage....and never had trouble since.I continued north toward Madison Spring Hut. I was now concerned for my safety as I hiked, was scouting places that I could put up my tent for the night if circumstances warranted it, but there was no place. Even after I got back down into the trees, there were still no places where a tent could be erected. I was hiking cold, exhausted and hurt in a very dangerous area. At my lowest point, I said to myself...out loud, "Stay strong", and seconds later I heard my Mom's voice whisper, "Stay strong". It was the first time I had heard my Mom's voice in the 12 years since she died. My eyes welled with tears as I hiked on. Within 2 minutes of hearing Mom's soft voice, three twenty-something hikers came out of the mist behind me. When hearing that I was injured, Magic Scout, Giggles and Silent offered to hike the rest of the way to the hut with me. We were still 3/4 of a mile from the hut, so two hiked in front of me, and one behind. I tried to suffer with dignity, but every step down was excruciating and from time to time, I let out a gasp. I was never in my life so happy to see a structure as I was Madison Hut tonight. As we hiked the last couple of hundred feet, the clouds that had plagued us all day lifted in a thin band along the horizon as the sun was setting on the mountains. A beautiful sight that brought smiles to all of our faces at the end of this most difficult day.I secured my bunk, pulled out my sleeping bag, put on my hat and climbed in. It took a full hour for me to warm up, of which the first 15 minutes, I cried.