Date: 2007-09-24
From: The Barn, Gorham, NH

To: Osgood Tentsite, NH
Miles today: 8.7
Weather: scattered clouds

I woke up and went and got a cup of coffee and went and updated one day of my journal at the Gorham Library. On my way back, I heard from a drifter staying at The Barn that "Topo" had broken her ankle and was headed back to "Ar- Kansas"(A South Eastern Conference Joke). Man, I felt sorry for her; 1900 plus miles and has to go home. That is why I cherish everyday and I knew today would be an epic hike across the Presidentials. The drifter dude gave me a ride to where I got back on the tour up to Mt Washington. I was starting to develop some vertigo as I looked down the steep slopes. I have not ever had this sensation before. I just tried to look up. I did learn from the driver that we went trough four different ecological zones. It is something like: hardwood forest, conifer forest, alpine zone, and then sub-artic! Sub-Artic, what, please lord help me! When we got to the top, it was a little better than yesterday. The gusts were only in the upper 70's and sustained in the mid 60', child's play. I went and talked with the Rangers in the tourist trap of a post office and restaurant, yesterday. I asked if it was safe to hike across the ridge with winds like this. They were very flip. They said that people were out hiking in it and said that all you have to do is "hunker" down when you hear a gust coming. OK, I am a thru-hiker; but, not "Superman"(he hiked the trail in 2000); I am just a mild mannered reporter. Well, I found out that 6 people were injured yesterday up here, with one lady breaking her nose when she fell. Well, as I was getting ready to go, I met "Diesel"(NOBO) and his dog. When I introduced myself, he got kind of mad at me and said, "quit signing the registers as 'the last NOBO'. There are about 30 thru hikers behind you!" I couldnt believe it! I got going an only had to crawl for about .1 miles, until I got down off of the summit. It was still about 60 mph sustained. I now know that a man can walk erect up to around 70mph. I also had my full pack which made me feel much more safe; just in case I had to stop and camp. I dont think slackpacking up here is very safe. It was another classic hike as I went across the ridge. All above treeline. The rocks were different, though. They have this rough exterior, like the outside of a good cantalope. It was good for gripping and planting a foot; but, exposed skin that brushes up against it, cuts(foreshadowing). I went over Mt Calhoun(want to be president); then Mt Jeffeson(Massa Tom); then Mt Adams(ancestor, Terry Adam[s]Stewart); and then I went down to the closed for the season, Madison Hut. This was the first Hut. It was contructed in the 1880's, after 2 travellers died here. I wondered how many people had actully died along this ridge. I was really wishing it was open now. It was around 4pm and I had over 3 miles to go to the Osgood campsite which was the first place to camp off of the exposed ridge. I talked to a southbound thru hiker who said that the wind was terrible up on Madison. I said a prayer and kept going. As I climbed Mt Madison(Dolly's husband & introduced to each other by Aaron Burr) the wind got more intense and more intense and more intense. When I got to the top; A sign said that I had only gone .5 miles. That meant that I had 2.5 to go and I was crawling. I am soooo glad that I am a thru hiker! I really dont know if I could have done it. My hands and shins were bloodied. I looked down the ridge to treeline and fought my thoughts of quitting and just gettng in my sleeping bag behind a semi-windbreak, behind a rock. As the flippant rangers said, I could hear the gusts coming and I would brace for it. In and of it's self the 95 mph gusts were not bad. It was the instant right after a gust; where all that wind pressure stops and then the anti-gravity hits my body that is braced against 95 mph wind and I have to like, stop my momentum. It is nearly impossible; and "I tell you ole son", I came close several times to flying 1000 feet(I grasped my cross several times). "It's a good day to die!" (yall with have to forgive me....I am having one of these overly dramatic emotional responses to writing my journal that I have had once or twice on this trip). Somehow, I "rumbled, bumbled, stumbled"(Chris Berman)crawled, prayed, concentrated; until I got to the tree line. Then it was a terrible descent down to the Osgood campsite. On this trip, I have been so happy to get to shelters/campsites; but, this was the largest since of relief that I have had on this trip; and the most sense of relief I have had since coming to a standstill(alive) in a car wreck that I was in 20 years ago. As I went to sleep, I heard, who I thought was Diesel, yelling for his dog. The wind was still intense; but, it was very warm.