Date: 2022-07-23
From: Nauman Tentsite

To: Osgood Tentsite
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: clear sky

There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.   from Luke 16We set out from Nauman Tentsite just north of Mount Jackson at 7:00. Mizpah Hut is directly next to the tent sites. Joni had gone inside, poured a cup of coffee, and was looking for the cash box so she could pay. ¢Coffee is only for the hut guests.¢ She was told. Oh well. She came outside with a free mug of coffee. Baxter and I wished we had done the same. Less than a mile in we were on top of Mount Pierce and got our first view of Mount Washington¢s summit almost 2000 feet higher and 6 trail miles away. It was cloaked in a robe of clouds that showed signs of a strong northeasterly wind. The surrounding sky was blue and the sun was rising clear and strong. I felt like it was the makings of a good summit day. Anything can happen on Washington, though, so we just nodded and got back to work. We came next to Mount Eisenhower, ¢Ike¢. Years ago the AMC moved the AT off the summits of the high peaks (excepting Washington and Madison) and rerouted the trail using the ¢bad weather¢ bypass. Too many hikers were making poor decisions to stay in the trail despite bad weather. Here was the first time the AT would skirt a peak instead of going over it. We elected for the summit and set out for the top. It added a quarter mile and 500 feet of total elevation change to the day; not a big deal when you¢re fresh. I had the Presidential Traverse on my mind. The Traverse is completed when a hiker bags the summits of the 11 peaks in the range over 4000 feet. I figured (with Jasper) that as long as we were here we should just knock it out! Grayson and I later took the short side trail to the open summit of Franklin. The summit of Washington was still trying to sort out the clouds. We started to hear the first trains pulling out of the cog railway station in the northern valley below. At the 4-mile mark we came to the summit trail for Monroe. The distance was roughly equal to the side trail but the summit would add another 500 feet of total elevation change to the day. Joni decided here that she wasn¢t going to pursue the presidential traverse. She knew the mileage and now was familiar with the trailbed. She wanted to save her energy for the descent of Osgood Ridge at the end of the day. She took the side trail and said she¢d meet us at The Lakes if the Clouds hut just 0.8 miles ahead. (This was, it turned out, the smartest move any of us made that day.) As we topped Monroe the hut and it¢s namesake lakes came into view below nestled into a high saddle 1.5 miles south of and 1300 feet below the summit of Washington. Baxter and Grayson had gone ahead and left Jasper and I to take in the view. As we watched, the sun finally burned off the last wisps of Washington¢s clouds. The observation tower and the many antaenna atop the mountain were now clearly visible! We could see, too, 3 guys in the largest lake below taking a morning swim. Our minds became singularly focused - we must swim!We bombed off Monroe, met up with the three others, and were all soaking in the lake in no time. We spent only a brief break there since it was now 11:00 and we were only 5 miles in. We headed back outside to wait in line for a summit picture with dozens of other people - some we knew from the trail, others had their yippie dogs dressed in sweaters.We hit up bathrooms and refilled water. Then faced north to study the second half of the day: close at hand lay a sharp descent to the Gulfside Trail, then Mounts Clay,  Jefferson, Adams, and Madison. It was also the first view of the Great Gulf Wilderness, the bottom not visible from our summit vantage point.Less than a half mile down the trail we came to the cog railway tracks. Baxter saved the molar he lost last night to see if he could get the cog rail train car to crush it. Success! Another half mile brought us 800 feet below the summit to the first view into the bottom of the Great Gulf. I was almost more impressed with the depths of the Gulf than with the heights of the mountains around it. The relief between the two is stunning. Upon arriving at Mount Clay¢s summit trail, we learned that it sometimes isnt counted as it¢s own peak in the peak-bagging world but rather is a sub-peak of Washington. Tired, and having just seen the ¢menu¢ for the day, we all elected to skip the summit of Clay. Also, Henry Clay was not a president and so, by the loosest definition, isn¢t included in a presidential traverse. We took a short ¢packs-off¢ afternoon break in the sun at breezy Edmonds Col. The wind, while sometimes pushy and gusting into the 30s, had been fresh and steady through the day. The sun was hot but a 15 mph wind cooled the body. We ate a mid afternoon snack. From here, the trail rises for the next mile over a low bump (Adam¢s V) and skirts Mount Sam Adams. The wind was strong here and the 2:30 sun was very hot. We pulled into Thunderstorm Junction about 3:00. Mount Adams loomed high to our right. One of the six trails leading out of this junction headed to the summit. We were all pretty beat.  Another 500 foot of vertical wasn¢t appealing to any of us. We were still more than 5 miles from camp with Madison to climb and Osgood Ridge to descend. We all took the side trail. We¢ll leave the Presidential Traverse for a different trip.We arrived at Madison Springs Hut at 5:00. ¢Twas a hopping place. We decided to do dinner here since there was plentiful water and since we all needed a good long break. A meal in bellies would help fuel the miles ahead. We boiled water and had Mountain House entrees. Snickers for dessert. Snoopy was here and scored a ¢work for stay¢ deal. Hikers get dinner leftovers and can sleep on the floor of the dining room. They help with breakfast, strip bunks, and get the breakfast leftovers. Most huts take only 2 workers per night. Clean Machine and Not Yet were also hanging around. I met Timber, a SOBO who seemed to be taking his time towards Springer. We shouldered packs and climbed 500 feet to the summit of Madison. The sun was on its descent now. The second half of our day¢s hike was in full view back to Washington¢s summit 4.5 trail miles across the Great Gulf fixed. We could see, too, for the first time today, the descent down Osgood Ridge to Pinkham Notch. As the shadows of the western ridge swallowed the Great Gulf we gingerly picked our way amongst boulders down to the tree line. At this point, now out of the alpine zone, we were searching for a suitable campsite for the night. The light was still favorable and we came across several sites that would fit one or two people. Finding a place for 2 three-man tents, however, is a challenge. After several hopeful prospects, none of which panned out we resigned ourselves to the Osgood Tentsite a mile ahead and downhill, hoping it wouldn¢t t be full when we arrived. We donned headlamps when the forest became too thick for the twilight to pass through the hemlock canopy. We found Osgood in the dark. We were all very tired having hiked 14.5 miles above tree line though rocky terrain across a toothy profile. Joni found an open tent platform in the back of the area. We were set up and supine in record time. What a day! Great weather! Alpine views of terrain unmatched this side of the western mountains! Chili Dogs for lunch! We¢ll have about 180 days of walking when we finish this journey. Many are like the day before and the day after, blurring together into a green tunnel. Only a handful will stand out from the others like I¢m sure today will. * a few of the perjoritive names I came up with are ¢The Devils Quarry¢, ¢Cripples Cobbles¢, and ¢StoneUNhenged¢