Date: 2003-09-11
From: Mizpah Hut

To: Madison Hut
Miles today: 11.8

Yet another glorious day in the great White Mountains!! Woke up early in the comfort of the rodent-free food storage room after a restful night's sleep. 42 loved Pipes' 15-degree sleeping -- it was a joy to sweat at night (doesn't it sound great to be a thru-hiker?). Got on the trail by 7:15!Hiked up & over Mt. Clinton (4310') and entered a mostly-above-treeline stretch of trail, extending for the next 12.7 miles. The weather was good -- pretty clear with some white fluffy clouds in the distance. Followed the trail around the summits of Mt. Eisenhower (4450') and Mt. Franklin (5004'), then arrived at the Lakes of the Clouds Hut (5040'), where we had a hot chocolate break. There we met up with Iron Chef, Blip, Pipes, Phlegm, Heather & Torch, Cruiser & Reason, and we all started the remaining 1.5 mile climb up the famed Mt. Washington together. After about 0.1 mile, we came to a sign warning us that Mt. Washington has some of the worst weather in the US, which has caused several deaths and, if there are any signs of bad weather, we should TURN BACK NOW. Very comforting. We headed on. The cloud cover hanging over Mt. Washington was kind of thick (but white & fluffy, so we didn't fear impending peril), but the sun broke through often enough to remind us it was still there and to tantalize us with views of the summit. The climb up wasn't very pretty, being mostly rocks and the summit was covered with buildings and weather equipment, but it was awesome by virtue of its height, with the summit at 6288', making it the second highest point on the AT (second to Clingmans Dome @ 6643' in the Smokies). During college, Moo had twice skied down Tuckerman Ravine on the other (southeast) side of Washington, so he was very excited to be there, and we were all thrilled to be reaching this milestone.When we reached the top, the sun was shining through. We couldn't believe our luck re: weather in the Whites -- Moo had hiked up Mt. Washington in a T-shirt! The cog railway -- a coal-powered train that transports tourists up and down the mountain (you mean we could have taken a train up this thing???) -- had just arrived, and we took photos on it. We also took summit photos, of course, and admired the views that emerged as the clouds went away. Then we went inside the snack bar to eat! Some thru-hikers get annoyed by the abundance of tourists and tourist amenities, but we were thrilled to eat pizza & French onion soup and hang out inside for a while. We took care of some errands, such as ordering 42 a new 15-degree sleeping bag to make the increasingly colder nights more comfortable -- whatever it takes to get us to Katahdin (Moo thinks that 42 just cannot resist the urge to shop!). After a few (yup -- we like those snackbar kinda breaks) hours, it was time to hike on. By that time, there was almost no cloud cover and we had an amazing view of the upcoming peaks -- Mt. Clay, Mt. Jefferson, and Mt. Adams. The hiking was great. The weather was even warmer, and the above-treeline terrain was beautiful. We crossed the cog railway tracks (several hikers mooned the train as it went by). Had a great hike around (sometimes it's OK that the AT doesn't bag all the peaks) Clay, Jefferson, and Adams, then hiked down to the Madison Springs Hut. We got there after everyone else, but they had saved us some leftover cake and pancakes to munch on while we waited to find out if work for stay would be available.The croo at the hut was awesome and gave us all work for stay. We got a good meal of rice & beans, soup (Moo was quite crazy about the tomato potato dill soup), bread, and dessert. We hung out for a while, talking to some of the real guests (read: paying guests), hanging out with other thru-hikers, and tracking down Sleepy Floyd (we found him at a hotel in Crawford Notch, after some good sleuthing) & leaving him a "get the hell back on the trail" message.We'll do our work for stay in the morning; time for bed now.