Date: 2006-08-14
From: US-302 Crawford Notch 

To: Lakes of the Clouds
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: broken clouds

We all had a great night's sleep last night after a meal from The Crown Restaurant in town and the sound of the Saco River nearby. It was quite interesting this morning because Charles has never done any backpacking before and we have been living in the woods now for over four months. Everyday things like pumping water, packing up tents, packing packs, and eating seems so easy to us but someone who has never done it before sees it as a challenge. Since we camped at 1270' last night and tonight¢s target is at 5040' most of today's hike is going to be up hill. Our first steps out of camp started this assent and brought us up to Webster Cliffs. The cliffs were beautiful with views of the valley below from which we just left. From here you could also see the old rail tracks that served the area, Crawford Notch trailhead, and the mountains from the past couple of days. Thankfully it was cool outside but not near as cold as the past several days because from here the next 13 miles of trail is above the tree line. Without the trees for protection it can get quite windy on the ridges creating a cold wind-chill. Our next stop was at Mizpah Spring Hut for lunch after making several pictures of Mount Washington off in the distance. Heather, the crewmember on duty when we arrived, fixed us up with some really good ham and corn chowder. There was also a little black bean soup left over as wall but left it for Shasta since she is the vegetarian of the group. Heather also let us finish off the left over apples and pancakes from breakfast. The best part of this stop was the sunlight that was shining into the dining through the large windows because it was warm and made way for some good napping after lunch. We ended up getting back on the trail around 2:00pm on our way to Lakes of the Clouds. The next section of trail was completely awesome because Mount Washington could be seen in the distance and the trail was all above the trees. To the left of the trail in the valley was the cog railroad that runs from the valley up to the summit of Mount Washington. Most of the trail through this section is marked with rock cairns due to the lack of trees so as far as the eye can see are piles if rocks marking the trail. It was only a short distance over to the hut but we took it slow enjoying the views. At one of the break points Shasta, Jane, Baro, and I sat on a rock watching Charles and H-Bomb off in the distance as they approached. When we got to the Lakes of he Clouds hut it was really packed. Since it was suppertime the hut crew was preparing and everyone else was waiting to eat. Our whole group was able to get work for stay keeping us out of the dungeon. It is a room in the basement of the hut for thru hikers. It only sleeps six people and isn't very cozy. Doing the work for stay option we could sleep upstairs in the lodge and eat the leftovers in the kitchen with the staff after dinner. Our only chores were to sweep out the lodge and bunkrooms tonight and in the morning before leaving and straighten up the beds. We were very thankful for this work because around midnight a storm front that we were told about earlier hit and it ended up being a very rainy night. Tonight at Lakes of the Clouds: Shasta, H-Bomb, Charles, Jane, Baro, Red B and LP, Tortoise, Grey Fox, and I.