Date: 2011-09-10
From: Madison Spring Hut

To: Lake of the Clouds Hut
Miles today: 7.5
Weather: few clouds

Day 173 ¢ Burr, what a chilly morning. The hut is not heated, so I actually slept in my down jacket with my hat on. The winds howled all night and were still blowing hard this morning. We had to be up off the floor by 6:00am so that they could start setting the tables for 6:30am breakfast for the guest. We are not allowed to eat until the kitchen and dishes are clean, around 7:30am. I guess cold oatmeal and cold, stiff pancakes are better than nothing but it would be a close contest. When I hiked in my wind pants up to Carter Dome the other day, they kept falling down and I would step on the cuffs. This was quite dangerous because they would get caught on rocks or roots and snag me. I had not worn these pants since March and they are too loose on me now. I cut six inches off the bottoms so at least when they fall off my hips I will not snag them on anything. I was happy to have them this morning. I had on long pants, my wind pants, a long sleeve shirt, a hoody, a jacket, hat, and two pairs of gloves. For the first time ever, other than the food I was carrying, my pack was light. I had all my weight of clothes on me, which is easier to carry. I was on the trail at 8:30am and again this would be another short mileage day as I only intend to go to the Lake of the Clouds hut, on the other side of Mt. Washington. It was a gorgeous day, high scattered clouds. Mt. Washington is in the clouds 60% of the time, so I was happy to be able to see it and looked forward to the views from it. The weather observatory there reported visibility to be 120 miles today. With the sunshine and wind and being above tree line, I actually put on sunscreen today. There are dozens of trails that criss-cross over these mountains. I did not realize that the cairns marking the trails had white quartz rocks on top; I assumed it was the AT. During the first 10-15 minutes of hiking I was hiking away from Mt. Washington and it just did not feel right. I checked my map but it did not have enough detail or all the local trail names on it. I walked a total of 25 minutes and knew I was on the wrong trail. I back tracked, got my bearings and once again headed for Mt Washington. After hiking for 2.5 hours, with the sun warming up, I started shedding my layers. I ended up hiking in shorts and a tee shirt and with all that weight back in my pack. I crossed under the Mt. Washington cog railroad which goes up the back side of the mountain. It started operating in 1869 and is about 2 miles long. It is quite an engineering feat but also very commercial too. For those that do not hike or want to spend $60.00 or so to ride the cog railroad up to Mt. Washington, one can drive. There is a road that was initially built for wagons and carriages that goes to the summit. It too is fairly expensive but it is quick and allows another portion of the population to enjoy the views atop Mt. Washington. I summited Mt. Washington at 2:30pm and looked around for a while. There is a small restaurant there, I had some tomato soup and a baked potato; I am still carrying all that food in my backpack. I walked through the small museum fairly quickly and started down the mountain around 3:30pm and arrived at the Lake of the Clouds Hut at 4:30pm. This was their last night to be open so I hated to think what chores might be waiting. When I walked in, Gardner was doing dishes, so I asked the hut master if I could help out in the kitchen and he said yes, so I was pleased to be rinsing dishes versus dispersing compost. There will be 90 guests tonight and only 3 thru hikers, very interesting how the thru hikers go in bunches. They had cooked a bunch of large whole turkey breasts, risotto, salad and brownies. I ate as much turkey as I would at Thanksgiving, it was very tasty. Even though these huts will close, this hut has an emergency shelter for those winter hikers who might get stranded going up or down Mt. Washington. It is referred to as the dungeon and has six bunks. Of course, during the winter, the snow and ice builds-up so much on the buildings it completely locks the door. Again, another short day hiking, only 7.5 miles. This brings my totals to 1,455.4 miles completed with 725.6 miles remaining.