Date: 2023-06-22
From: Mitzpah hut, NH (1859.2)

To: Madison Springs hut, NH (1871.0)
Miles today: 11.8

On February 4 of this year, Mt Washington recorded a temperature of -47 degrees Fahrenheit. Combined with the 127 mph gusts, wind chill was -108 degrees F. A colleague advises that that is colder than the surface of Mars. Hikers don¢t mess with Mt Washington weather - there have been too many tragic casualties because the weather changes so fast. This June has been the snowiest on record. So imagine my delight to discover that today it was going to be 60 degrees, clear skies, and 5-10 mph winds. Possibly the best hiking weather over Mt Washington in 9 months.And so my planned leisurely dawdle through the Presidentials was adjusted: instead of doing a short day to Lake of the Clouds hut, I did a long day to get up and over Mt Washington, summiting in a tshirt. The day started off early from Mitzpah hut, summiting Mt Pierce and skirting Mt Eisenhower and Mt Monroe before arriving at Lake of the Clouds hut for a snack break.  Today¢s trail to Mt Washington largely followed the Crawford path, the oldest continuously maintained footpath in the US, first cut in 1819 by Abel Crawford and his son. Steely-eyed trail designers if you ask me - it was one of the better trails I have hiked in the Whites. Above tree line the entire way, the views were stunning. I took many, many pictures, and am totally unable to capture the grandeur of the vista. From Lake of the Clouds to Mt Washington the trail got steeper, although not as bad as I anticipated. The Mt Washington summit itself was a bit like Disneyland, with a cog railway, restaurant, gift shop, and crowds. Today there were paragliders as well. This looked like a great way to get down the mountain, but I did not take advantage of it. After lunch on Mt Washington I headed off to Madison Springs hut, and the trail skirted Mt Clay, Mt Jefferson, and Mt Adams. While the grade was gentle, the trail condition was completely different than the morning, with 4 hours of rock-hopping that became very tedious very quickly. There were many different trail designers in the Whites, with many different philosophies. The push and pull between keeping trails as natural as possible vs making them more accessible continues today. 30 minutes before the end of the hike I snapped another trekking pole that had sunk into a crevice between 2 rocks¢¦the Whites have been pretty tough on my gear. I encountered a brief patch of snow (June 22), but largely the snow has melted on the traverse. One of the features that was much more prominent this afternoon was the presence of cairns along the trail. Topped with white rocks (quartzite?), these were very helpful in spotting the path through the many rockfalls of this section of the Whites. During foggy/rainy conditions they can be lifesavers, as there is no obvious treadway through the rocks. It was great to finally reach the hut. Long day, gorgeous views, tired legs, happy hiker. Settling into my bunk tonight after an excellent dinner by the croo. There are a lot of day hikers here tonight, and I have fielded a lot of questions about thru-hiking. The verdict is split between really cool thing to do and really odd. Sunset here was beautiful. * Stephen Hawkings