Date: 2006-07-17
To: Mt. Washington
Miles today: 0.0

Okay, so last night I was rewarded with the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen. It was so clear and being above ridgeline afforded a view that made me gasp. I have never seen a sun so red and combined with mountains larger than life it was beyond words. I watched the sun slowly dip below the horizon, listening to the increasingly active birds. After such a beautiful display by Mother Nature I got a chance to learn all about the birds I was hearing from a Hut Croo member. I even heard a specific thrush that's endangered. Super cool. Of course all of this happened when I was so food drunk from the huge Italian dinner that was provided. Hmmmm....stuffed shells and biscotti. It rocked. Today started out with lovely, light drums waking me up and a huge pancake breakfast. I even tried cream of wheat for the first time in my life. They ain't got nothin on grits. I don't think I ever have to try that stuff again. I've heard people say grits are tasteless but cream of wheat is like mush. You have to add so much fruit and brown sugar to it to even make it edible. I miss grits. After breakfast I was treated to the most amazing hike. Twelve miles almost all completely above treeline. I could see my path miles ahead and even though it was very rocky terrain I thought it was one of the best days out here. With one exception, the Cog railway up to Mount Washington. I want to immobilize that horrid thing. First you choke on the coal spewing smoke for a mile or so then you see it. In my case I came head to head with it. It reached the part of the tracks I had to cross just as I came to it. And what did I get? First I got a whole lot of people taking my picture, which was kinda cool but then I got sprayed with charcoal. My whole right side was covered. It looked like half of me had been tarred. Hell, I'm dirty enough, I didn't need to be hosed down with charcoal. I really wanted to moon it after that but considering the amount of small children I had seen I really didn't want to traumatize them. The bruise on my backside is something else th! ough and I would have loved to have shown it off. But alas, excersized some control for once in my life.So after being hosed down with charcoal, I went to the top of Mt. Washington, bathed myself in their bathroom sink and made myself a rootbeer float. I sat outside on some benches, watched all the tourists, ate lunch, and saw the clouds rolling in. Knowing how quickly and extremely the weather can change here, and knowing I still had 6 miles, I booked it. I really didn't want to be caught in any t-storms, especially being the tallest thing around and having shoes that don't grip wet rocks. But the clouds cleared for me and I spent all day hiking in the glorious sunshine. It was nice feeling it beat down on me, especially since the high was 60. I did get a wee bit burned but it's the type that will be nice and brown in the next 2 days. And yes mom, I'm using sunscreen. So now I'm at Mitzpah hut, no other thru-hikers in site to take advantage of my open space. I did meet a few nobo's today so that was fun. I also fell twice today, nothing serious, just some skint knees. I'm looking forward to dinner but will have to have a snack. Hmmmmm.....someone cooking dinner for me. I could really get used to this kind of hiking.