Date: 2009-09-01
From: Campsite near Galehead Hut

To: Lakes of the Clouds Hut, NH
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Seeing as how it was a pretty cold morning Bark and I were not too thrilled about waking up and getting out of our sleeping bags at 6am...but it had to be done! We camped close to Stickcakes, but it seemed like they weren't too excited to wake up either. We knew we had a big climb ahead so we headed out by 7:15. It didn't take long to get warm along our climb and we soon found ourselves making stops along the way to shed some layers. Once at the top of Webster Cliffs we had some incredible views. For a few hours of hiking time we had great scenery and beautiful landscape all around. We stopped for a couple of breaks along the rocky cliff lines and sat to enjoy the ridgelines and valleys. Just like in an airplane, we could look down and see tiny cars riding along the highways beneath us. A bird's eye view for sure! Just about a mile after the cliffs we were collapsing our poles in order to do some real climbing. Almost straight up we went hand over hand and we had a great time doing it. The best part was looking around at the landscape. We finally made it to the top of Webster Mt. and with about 3 miles to Mizpah Hut we pressed on to Mt. Jackson in order to make it to the hut for a lunch of hot soup courtesy of the hut crews. Finally we rounded a corner and there in the distance we saw the rooftop for Mizpah Hut. It was just after noon and we were feeling pretty good about our timing and mileage. We went inside and ordered 2 bowls of the leftover Moroccan Lentil soup- it was very good and perfect on a chilly fall day. Before we started eating Stick Cakes came into the hut too, and not long after Dragon Breath joined us as well. We all enjoyed a good lunch break inside the hut, but knew that we had better keep going the next 5 miles to Lakes of the Clouds Hut to make in time to do "work for stay". Only 0.8 miles north of Mizpah Hut, we hit the Alpine zones of the Whites. We all found ourselves hiking the remainder of the afternoon up and over the first section of what is known as "The Presidentials". The entire trail is above treeline so the views are like something you would see in Scotland. Massive rock covered mountains with short shrubbery and moss covered rocks- beautiful. Because we were up so high we could see down into the valleys and in between the spurs and draws of each mountain. Bark was stopping about every 2-3 minutes to snap a picture in order to capture every angle and every change of scenery. We were getting so close to the hut we started to speed up a little. The AT skirted around the summits of both Eisenhower and Monroe- both incredible mountains, but we were thankful to go around instead of up and over. Finally, we started to see a lot of section hikers and day hikers and we knew we were close to the hut, our stopping point for the day. We rolled in to the hut right at 4 o'clock, perfect timing. Dragon Breath was already there and sitting with one of the hut crew members named Cory. We asked him if they had room and luckily they were incredibly friendly and welcomed us in. For the next few hours we sat around outside in the warm sun, but quickly moved inside to stay warm. There are 8 thru hikers here tonight and we have had quite a time hanging out at a side table in the hut. We watched the hut crew put on quite a show during dinner and even took a survey for Cory, who is working on his PhD dissertation on thru hikers- ha! We are all so glad to be here seeing as how it is just plain cold tonight. We were even able to watch a beautiful sunset from the dining room windows. The hut crew has been so friendly and fun to interact with. Tomorrow will be the climax of our time in the White Mountains- we will summit Mt. Washington in 1.4 miles and then complete the Presidential range about 10 miles later. Big day ahead, but for now we are getting ready to enjoy some hot lasagna in exchange for our cleaning services. What a deal!