Date: 2005-08-30
From: Lake of the Clouds Hut

To:  Madison Hut
Miles today: 7.0

The weather was spotty this morning but it wasn't socked in. The summit of Washington would clear and then cloud up again and then clear. It looked like we may get some views! We didn't get out of the hut till around nine becaue we had to finish up our work for stay as well as eat breakfast. Eventually we did get out and started our ascent. The climb wasn't that bad and we could see the summit. Views here we come! Tink and I got there about the same time and we walked over to the "cliff" edge where we we treated to some great views. I really can't believe how we have managed to hit both Franconia Ridge and Mt. Washington on days where we can see stuff. The weather gods must be with us! The group hung out around the visitors center for awhile and around 11:30 we started out. Mouth and Thrifty were in a hurry becaue they wanted to partake in a thru-hiker tradition here, mooning the cog railway. From the valley floor, a cog railcar makes many trips a day bringing tourists to the summit of Washington. It belches out a lot of steam and black smoke, completely ruining the "wilderness" feel of the mountain. Many years ago some hikers began to moon the train as it passed by the trail. It has become a tradition and now, the engineer warns the passengers and so when it does pass and there are hikers you can see the passengers with cameras. The engineer tries to throw coal at the hikers as he passes. All in all a lot of fun and no harm meant. We hustled to the place where the AT and ralway cross. Gypsy and I were behind but we were able to see the "festivities" from a little way back. It was pretty funny! From there we moved on but I decided to stop. I told the group that I was going to wait for Tink. She didn't come out with us because she was still taking care of business in the visitor's center. I told Gypsy we woud meet them at Madison Hut. Half an hour later Tink comes strolling down the trail! I told her I thought she had fallen of the edge of the mountain! This area can be a little treacherous and it isn't wise to hike it alone if you don't have to.We meandered along talking about various things. The hike took us over Mt. Adams and around Mt. Jefferson. At some point I mentioned to Tink that the terrain reminded me of being in the Scottish Highlands. She said she had thought the same. If you start up the movie Braveheart, you will see what we are walking through. Truly spectacular! As we neared the hut we were both feeling lazy and we wondered if the rest of the group had already pressed on to the campsite. We both could have stayed at the hut without even thinking about it if there was work for stay. We figured we would throw it out to them if they were there. Well, we didn't have to. When we got there Gypsy comes running out and yells, "Do you guys want to work for stay?" A nod from both of us and it was a done deal! Other hikers came in but the big surprise of the day was when Snowman came in. We had not seen him since the hiker feed in Duncannon so it was real good to see him again! By 9:30 we were bedded down. We had heard that the remains of hurricane Katrina, now a tropical storm, might hit us on Thursday but then, we also heard it might not. We will see. Tomorrow we go over Mt. Madison and then down into Pinkham Notch.