Date: 2018-09-06
From: Pinkham Notch

To: Madison Spring Hut 
Miles today: 7.8

Today was an epic day. It began with some bad luck.We thought we were pretty well prepared last night when we went to bed thinking that we could get up at 6 and be ready to go on the 7 AM shuttle from Rattle River Lodge to Pinkham Notch. We were ready for the shuttle, but somehow this morning felt discombobulated. Zeroes in trail towns can do that; breaking the routine of trail life can cause confusion. And several things that happened added to that sense. First, after we were dropped off, I realized that my pocketknife had fallen out of the front pocket of my pants in the van. Secondly, as we discussed the plan for leaving the White Mountains next week, I panicked for a few minutes thinking that we had sent our tent too far ahead on our journey. (We don¢t need our tent for the next seven nights because we will be staying in the AMC huts and a shelter before getting to Glencliff, NH, and I want to travel as light as possible.) I had forgotten the logic of why it made sense to forward the tent all the way to Glencliff.   Next, we had a hard time finding the trailhead to head south from Pinkham Notch. And finally, it started raining an hour into our hike . . . and it rained and rained and rained.  The forecast was for two to three hours of showers followed by clearing skies and cooler temperatures. When the air temperature is above 60 degrees and it rains, I put on my pack cover (Laura¢s pack is waterproof), and we just hike in our hiking clothes and get wet. There¢s little sense in putting on our rain gear because, if we did, we¢d get soaked from perspiration. Today¢s hike was from Pinkham Notch at 2000 feet up and over Mount Madison at 5400 feet. When we started at 8:30, the air temp was 65 degrees. The first five miles were in the valley and, though we were wet, the physical exertion of hiking was enough to keep us warm. At around 11:20. The trail took a left turn and started up Mount Madison. Shortly after we¢d begun the climb, we passed a young man going the other way with eyes as big as saucers who said, ¢I wouldn¢t be going up there if I were you. It¢s an exposed ridge. I got hailed on. Lightning was striking all around me. The rain was coming up at me because of the wind, and the wind is blowing at 60 to 70 miles an hour with gusts well above that. I weigh 185 pounds and it picked me up and moved me.¢ I said, ¢Thanks for the report,¢ while registering the alarm in Laura¢s eyes.Not long afterward, we ran into another hiker coming down off the mountain and we asked him, ¢How was it up there?¢ He gave a similar picture - that it had hailed, there had been lightning strikes and that it had been very windy, though he was far less alarmist than the first guy we talked to.  About a third of the way into the climb, I suggested to Laura that we stop and eat lunch. Though at first disinclined to stop, she agreed that she needed energy to make it up the mountain. We dined our raincoats for warmth and stood by the side of the trail in the rain eating our Italian sub and chips. As we finished up lunch, Laura looked at my incredulously and asked, ¢What are we doing?¢ I replied, ¢We¢re going to Madison Spring Hut.¢ ¢But what if it¢s really bad up there?¢ she asked. I responded that a) the forecast was for the storm to break up after 2 to 3 hours so it probably won¢t be as bad this afternoon as it was this morning, and b) if it is really bad once we get to the tree line, we can turn around and go back down. ¢Oh, right¢ said Laura. ¢Like that¢s ever going to happen.¢Shortly after we resumed our hike, a young woman through hiker weighing 125 pounds at most met us coming down the trail. In contrast to the first guy we met, she smiled and asked how are day was going. She said that the hail and lightning had been a bit unnerving, but that the storm hadn¢t been that bad. Laura asked about the wind up top, and she said that, yes, the wind is strong, but if you keep a low profile you¢ll be fine. This assuaged Laura¢s concern somewhat.About twenty minutes later we met a couple from the DC area who said, ¢You should be alright.¢ As we parted, the woman said, ¢I¢ll be praying for you.¢  Finally, just before we got to the tree line, we encountered a couple in their 70s. They had spent last night at Madison Spring Hut and were doing the reverse of our hike for the day. The gentleman of the couple had injured his right shoulder a day or so earlier so could not use his right arm. He¢d also fallen earlier in the day on top of Mt Madison and cut his cheek. Though moving slowly, they had made it over Madison, and Laura commented that maybe it¢s not so bad after all.So we pressed on steadily into the clouds and wind above the tree line. The rain had stopped, but visibility was maybe 200 feet. The trail, if it can be called a trail, was nothing but large, wet rocks with few flat surfaces. Fortunately, the rocks were not slippery. Large rock cairns marked the way; there were few white blazes. After climbing about five false summits, I thought to myself, ¢Well, this next one must be the real summit.¢ I checked the Guthook¢s Guide on my iPhone to see where we were. We had more than 500 feet to go. Bummer.We kept on, slowly but surely. The wind was 20 to 40 mph and was mostly crosswind so didn¢t cause us to work much harder. On several occasions, we had to stop and steady ourselves against particularly strong gusts. About 10 minutes shy of the summit, I noticed a good sized patch of cranberries right next to a large blueberry patch. I got pictures of both but we didn¢t sample them. At 2:45, we finally reached the actual summit of Mt Madison where we paused briefly for a selfie.  As we began the descent, the sun broke through the clouds, and for about five minutes we saw blue sky above us. The descent to the hut was only four tenths of a mile, but it was quite steep and all rocks and boulders. At about 2:30, we finally entered the warmth and protection of Madison Spring Hut.The hut¢s guest capacity is 52 and there are 36 guests expected tonight. It was rebuilt in 2011 and it¢s spacious and light. We are in a bunk room with nine bunks and three other guests, so we have room for a clothes line to attempt to dry our wet hiking clothes. We relaxed in the warmth of the common area in the afternoon and enjoyed the company of some of the other guests.Dinner was pumpkin soup, salad, lasagna, green beans, focaccia bread and chocolate chip brownies for dessert. I had two pieces of lasagna. After dinner, while listening to the naturalists talk on weather in the White Mountains, the sky began to clear and we were treated to an incredible sunset that lasted for what seemed like an hour.Days like today really make me feel alive. I am thankful for the challenge of getting here, that we made it safely, and for ibuprofen for our sore knees. I am thankful for everything about this Hut and for the incredible sunset. And most of all, I am thankful that I could share it all with Butterfly.