Date: 2011-08-26
From: Mizpah hut

To: Lake of the Clouds hut
Miles today: 4.8
Weather: broken clouds

The library stay worked very well. It was quieter than a bunkroom. The only issue was having to get up early because the guests wanted to go to the library in the morning after they got up. Since I normally get up early, this wasn't a big problem. I took my time packing because, like dinner, I had to wait to eat breakfast. I also planned on staying at the Lake of the Clouds hut which is short hike under five miles. The work I did last night didn't hurt my arm too much so I was confident that I could do the same at Lake of the Clouds hut. Most of the guests were on their way by the time I got going. It was cloudy so I knew that there wasn't any views off the top of Washington. I thought it might change later in the day but I wasn't depending on it. I took off and was immediately greeted by a steep climb. It was the only one of the day. The rest of the day's hike was fairly easy. I took the side trail to the top of Eisenhower. The fog was thick enough to obscure Washington but the top of Eisenhower didn't seem fogged in. As I climbed up to the top, the fog started to clear. Shortly after I got up there, the fog completely cleared off giving us a view of Mt Washington. I took lots of pictures. From what I've been told, this doesn't happen that often so I wasn't going to let the opportunity pass me by. The timing of all of this was also unfortunate. If I took off early in the morning so that I had time to summit Washington and make it to Madison, I wouldn't gotten to enjoy the view from Eisenhower. It probably would have been foggy on top of Washington also. By waiting, I got to enjoy the view on Eisenhower but didn't have enough time to make it to Madison. Part of me wanted to do the miles but the other part of me wanted to enjoy the hike through this beautiful section of the trail. Also, I'm not sure if my arm could handle going all the way to Madison. So I continued at my leisurely pace confident that a short day is the right thing to do. I got to the hut shortly after lunch. I was blown away by the setting. The Lake of the Clouds hut sits on a plateau at about 5000 feet. There are a couple of lakes (thus the name) that are spring fed. Because the water is constantly flowing, the water is very clear. As I approached the hut, Mt Washington could be seen to the right. Beyond the shelter and also somewhat to the left, there is a valley with smaller mountains scattered about. A small town sits at the bottom of the valley. There is a cogged railway that transports people from a station just outside of town to the top of Washington. When train is making it's way up and down the mountain, it can be seen from the hut. With the air completely clear, the view was just fantastic. The dining room faces this valley so one can eat a meal while soaking in this view. I was glad that I decided to stay there. From the standpoint of caring for my arm, I think it was best that I stopped. By the time I got there, it was aching a little. Certainly it would have been worst if I tried to go to Madison. Since I was the first through hiker there, I got work for stay. I had a could of hours before I had to work so got a bowl of soup and relaxed. There was a guy with his son that I met at the previous shelter that were there eating lunch. We sat together and talked as we enjoyed a bowl of soup. With the hurricane approaching, we were informed that all the huts were going to closed except for thru-hikers and emergencies. So they as well as everyone else has to make arrangements to get off of the mountain the next day. I decided that I would continue on to Madison hut as originally planned. So there was a lot of activity amongst the short term hikers as the worked out how they were going to get of the mountain and get to there cars. My work for stay was cleaning dishes. After about an hour and a half, my left arm really began to hurt. The constant moving around must have just irritated it. I got done and just sat on a bench supporting the arm like it would be if were in a sling. The rest of the night was spent talking to the other thru-hikers that came in after me. We talked a lot about what we were going to do about the storm. Most of the thru-hikers were going to go to a road crossing and head to a town. As the evening approached, I ran out to watch the sun set. Of course, I took several pictures. Later in the evening, I went out and looked at the stars. Because there wasn't light pollution from a nearby city, the faintest of stars were visible. There was even a denser band of stars that stretched from one horizon to the other. There was definitely more stars than could counted. Again, this isn't something that can be seen in most populated areas because of the light pollution. It's a shame that we allow natural beauty such as this to ruined by our modern technology. I didn't get a "private room" like I did in the previous hut. We all found a spot on the floor in the dining room to roll out our sleeping bags.