Date: 2005-08-14
From: Madison Springs Hut

To: Carter Notch Hut
Miles today: 13.7
Weather: fog

8/14Day: 153Start: Madison Springs HutFinish: Carter Notch HutMileage: 13.7Weather: rainAfter breakfast and some hut-related chores, I spent some time fixing some busted seams in my shorts. Col. Mustard got in touch with his friends through telephone and found out that they got off the trail to go to Burning Man. So once I was ready to go, the Col. and I started hiking. There was some light rain as we went over Mt. Madison, but it got better after we descended below treeline and there weren't as many wet rocks. From that point, the hiking was pretty nice until Pinkham Notch, going up and down over relatively gradual terrain.We arrived at the Pinkham Notch Visitor's Center expecting a buffet-style lunch as the thru-hiker's companion described. To our dismay, however, the lunch was not in the style of the buffet, but we ordered food anyways. It started raining pretty heavily outside so we bought dessert (Chaco Taco for me) and checked out the book selection.The rain subsided and we started up the Wildcats. This climb was really difficult and the returning rain made it even harder to climb up and down the rock slabs. I saw a building and thought that it must have been the hut. But the building definitely wasn't in any sort of a notch and (as much as I wanted to be done) we did get there suspiciously fast. So I waited for Col. Mustard and we found out together that it was not the hut but rather a ski gondola. So we kept walking.We started talking about photography after we passed the gondola and, before we knew it, we arrived at yet another gondala. The scenery was very familiar and I discovered that we were, in fact, at the same gondala. So when we got to the same respective points that we were originally standing, I re-opened the same conversation about photography with the same introductory sentence. Self-inflicted dejavu. I got ahead of Col. Mustard and, because of the wet pine trees that were encroaching upon the trail, I became drenched within minutes. The sun started to drop and the temperture went with it and before long I was wet and cold. This was miserable. I questioned whether I could have been successful on this trail during a wetter year. I couldn't come up with a definate answer to that question.I arrived at the trail junction to Carter Notch Hut and waited for Col. Mustard. We had originally planned on camping shortly before the hut, but the sites were already occupied when I passed by. My thought was that we could try for work for stay at the hut (they don't usually offer work for stay at Carter Notch) and at least dry off there and discuss our other options. But Col. Mustard never came and I was getting pretty cold, so I left him a stick note reading "CM >" pointing toward the hut. I went into the hut where everyone was warm and dry and saw Pac-man, Knees and Dr. Nick. They told me that the caretaker would probably let me stay and when I approached him shivering and dripping water on the floor, he agreed that it was best for me to stay. So I got dry and put on all my cloths and went back into the common area. I was hoping to see Col. Mustard there, but he never showed up. I ate dinner, played Pac-man in chess and slept like a rock.