Date: 2006-08-22
From: Lakes of the Clouds Hut

To: Madison Springs Hut
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: clear sky

Whatta day! First the good news! After several impassioned calls to the AMC home office in Boston and the operating centers at Pinkham Notch and Bretton Woods, NH, I got the word out about Bama¢s camera. Shortly after lunch, Mike called me from Pinkham Notch AMC Center to say that someone had found and turned in a camera believed to be Bama¢s at the Mizpah Spring Hut and from there it would be transported by road to Pinkham Notch where she could pick it up at the AMC office. Wow! What can we say? THANK YOU to the wonderful person who found it and turned it in and the Croo that reported it. According to Mike, the camera was still in working order. That may not be Trail Magic, but we consider it magic on the trail.Bama woke up early from her place sleeping between two dining room tables and sat up in her mummy sleeping bag at 5:45 am to see the crystal clear view outside of Mt. Washington. To quote my sister-in-law Judy, "Fan-tas-tic!"Bama¢s job this morning was cleaning out the sleeping areas, so after breakfast and cleaning up, She was able to leave about 9:00 am. Others who got work for stay were FDR, Pi, Snickers, Comfortably Numb and Montreal. The weather was still not good, but the rain had all but stopped. Last night, Bama met a really nice section hiker on vacation named Michelle, from Washington, DC and the two hit it off and decided to hike together to the AMC Madison Spring Hut today. Bad news was that the hut was reportedly full, so lodging might be a little dicey. Snickers joined them for the hike out. Climbing 1,300 feet vertically up Mt. Washington, they encountered fierce winds forcing them to crouch on the rocks to keep from getting knocked over. The highest wind speed ever ¢recorded¢ in the world was on top on Mt. Washington - 231 mph (small tornado strength). See details that follow. By midday, the wind was 35 mph sustained and gusts were recorded in the low 50 mph range. The high temperature was 44* and the wind chill at 34-36*. The visibility was zero. The three of them staggered from cairn to cairn, offering and receiving mutual support. Snickers and his pack probably weight 250 lbs and it was very difficult for him to stay on his feet at times.Bama said it was one of the toughest and scariest days she has ever had on the trail. Eventually, they descended to below the cloud cover and actually had some sun breaks. It turns out Snickers is from New Hampshire and was able to tell Bama and Michelle a lot about the ravines and the surrounding skiing areas. Of course this happened after they got down where they could talk and understand each other.But before they were truly able to relax, they had to ascent Mt. Adams¢ 5,450 ft. Bama described it as a mile-high pile of broken, rocky rubble. Then there was Thunderstorm Junction at 5,520 ft and FINALLY, the Madison Spring Hut. This was a ¢hike¢ of only 7 miles today! When they got there, Pi had already arrived and was settled in, but it looked like there wasn¢t room for everyone. But one of the Croo, a girl named Liza, was a girlfriend of Justin (3 Dollar) with whom Bama had started out in Georgia and recognized her name. Long story short, there was now room. Thanks, Liza!In addition to Bama, work for stay was given to Michelle, Snickers, Pi, Professor and Jesse James (with whom Bama had hiked way south), Baldylocks, Green Peace (from Columbia, SC), and BP, who was hiking on contract with Backpacker Magazine testing equipment. He is doing a GPS of the whole trail.Bama's job tonight was to talk to the paying guests about her AT hike, and of course, there were many questions. Baldylocks, BP, Pi and Green Peace also shared their stories.BillMount Washington presents the most severe combinations of wind, cold, icing and storminess available anywhere in the world where people are on hand to take measurements. The summit lies in the path of the principal storm tracks and air mass routes affecting the northeastern United States, and it is, because of its elevation, biologically and ecologically similar to the subarctic zone. Check it out at http://www.crownweather.com/summitsforecast.html.· Elevation: 6,288 feet· Latitude: 44° 16' N· Longitude: 71° 18' W· Highest wind (world record, April 12, 1934): 231 MPH· Average wind velocity for the year: 35.3 MPH· Lowest temperature (state record, January 1934): -47°F· Highest temperature (August 1975): 72°F· Average temperature for the year: 26.5°F· Average annual snowfall: 256 inches· Maximum snowfall in a season (1968-69): 566.4 inches· Maximum snowfall in calendar year (1969) 495.2 inches· Winds exceed hurricane force (75 MPH) on an average of 104 days a year· The summit is in the clouds about 60% of the time