Date: 2010-06-30
From: Mitzpah Hut

To: Madison Springs Hut
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: broken clouds

Madison Springs Huti2. Report. I was tired last nite, probably from not getting too much sleep the nite before. I went to bed without too much supper: couple of plates of lasagna, bowlof soup, plate of salad, broccolli bunch and a plate of cookies. At lights out, I was thinking about sleeping in the upstairs library. However, there was a group there playing Scrabble. I then went to far end table to set up my pad and sleeping bag, climbed in and immediately feel asleep.  Used To Could said there was another group chatting from a nearby table, nheard me snoring and then decided they needed to retire as well. I woke up in the middle of the night and discovered that the saw mill (UTC) set up sleeping under my table.  I slept well, we got and then started our work for stay project, defrosting a gas freezer. We had breakfast leftovers and then contemplated the day's play. The wx forecast wasn't very good for the summits: 35 deg, high winds, mixed precipitation and wind chill in the 20s. We started hiking for the Lake of the Clouds Hut. It was a beautiful, clear day, light wind and a relative easy, short hike. The vistas were outstanding and I took a lot of photos. We gt to the hut and had the "bottomless" bowl of soup. It was a very good bean soup, I had 4 bowls and got a loaf of 3 day old honey molasses bread. The wx was still very good and UTC and I decided to climb the Mt Washington summit and hike on the next hut. Mt W is highest peak in NE US, location of some severe wx, and site of numerous fatalities. We climbed the mtn with a stiff breeze. The summit was quite cool and very windy. We went to snack bar for a cup of clam chowder and hot cocoa and then proceeded to the hut. This section of hike was pretty tough.  The trail was on the ridge line and mostly rocks. The cog railway tracks crossed the AT just below the summit.   A train came up beside us and I was able to participate in another thru hiker tradition.  I'll let a picture say a 1000 words.  Ccheck the photo files in 3 or 4 weeks  You really had to be careful and slow down hiking.  The trail wasn't marked with blazes, rather granite rock cairns with a big piece of quartz on top to distinquish from the other piles of granite.  We saw snow piles in several places  The wind was also major factor, blowing 30- 50 kts. I don't know how much we climbed. I originally thought it must have been a mile. But that probably should be revised upward of 6000-6500 ft.  It started sleeting at one time and I saw a good windbreak if we were to settle down, but decided to press on. We got to the hut late, just before dark. Another 5 minutes and we would have been hiking in headlamps. There was a SOBO pair of thruhikers here already but the hutmaster decided  to take us in anyway. We hit the leftovers again I had two very large Sandwiches- thick ham on fresh Monterrey jack breadP2.2. Report. I was tired last nite, probay from not getting too much sleep the nite before. I went to bed without too much supper: couple of plates of lasagna, bowlof soup, plate of salad, broccolli bunch and a plate of cookies. At lights out, I was thinking about sleeping in the upstairs library. However, there was a group there playing Scrabble. I then went to far end table to set up my pad and sleeping bag, climbed in and immediately feel asleep.  Used To Could said there was another group chatting from a nearby table, nheard me snoring and then decided they needed to retire as well. I woke up in the middle of the night and discovered that the saw mill (UTC) set up sleeping under my table.  I slept well, we got and then started our work for stay project, defrosting a gas freezer. We had breakfast leftovers and then contemplated the day's play. The wx forecast wasn't very good for the summits: 35 deg, high winds, mixed precipitation and wind chill in the 20s. We started hiking for the Lake of the Clouds Hut. It was a beautiful, clear day, light wind and a relative easy, short hike. The vistas were outstanding and I took a lot of photos. We gt to the hut and had the "bottomless" bowl of soup. It was a very good bean soup, I had 4 bowls and got a loaf of 3 day old honey molasses bread. The wx was still very good and UTC and I decided to climb the Mt Washington summit and hike on the next hut. Mt W is highest peak in NE US, location of some severe wx, and site of numerous fatalities. We climbed the mtn with a stiff breeze. The summit was quite cool and very windy. We went to snack bar for a cup of cl chowder and hot cocoa and then proceeded to the hut. This section of hike was pretty tough. The trail was on the ridge line and mostly rocks. You really had to be careful and slow down hiking. The wind was also major factor, blowing 30- 50 kts. I don't know how much we climbed. I originally thought it must have been a mile. But that probably should be revised upward of 6000-6500 ft.  It started sleeting at one time and I saw a good windbreak if we were to settle down, but decided to press on. We got to the hut late, just before dark. Another 5 minutes and wenwouldnhave been hiking in headlamps. There was a SOBO pair of thruhikers ( Easy and Swahili name for White Boy) here already but the hutmaster secided to take us in anyway. We hit the leftovers again I had twovery large Sandwiches- thick ham on fresh Monterrey jack bread.  I set up my sleeping gear on a table and crashed hard. Life is Great!