Date: 2004-10-25
From: gray knob cabin

To: hermit lake shelter
Miles today: 7.5

"clouds, tourists, and the walking wounded"how nice it was to wake up in a fully enclosed cabin this morning.i didn¢t have to mess with a frozen tent. i didn¢t have to eat breakfast in the cold. i didn¢t have to hit my frozen boots with a stick so that i could get my feet into them. instead, i got out of my already unzipped sleeping bag, walked downstairs, and made a nice breakfast of piping hot oatmeal in shorts and a long-sleeved shirt.outside was a different story. the cabin was enveloped in the clouds. the temperature was in the twenties. there was a steady wind blowing.ross and i ate our breakfast and packed our gear. we left caretaker alex and the french-canadians behind in the warmth of the cabin. we opted to follow the randolph path to pick up the Trail at edmands col, a little over a mile from where we¢d left it. the randolph path seemed to take longer than it should have. the going was a little slow due to the fact that the trail was covered in snow and ice. not much snow and ice, not enough to warrant strapping on the crampons. the randolph path, like much of the trail through the whites, was nothing more than a rock hop from boulder to boulder.we finally reached edmands col and decided to take a break. the air was thick. visibility was at most thirty feet. the temperature was in the low thirties. this is the kind of weather i expected to be seeing in the whites this time of year. there was absolutely no wind blowing at all. just thick clouds. the air was completely still. it was an eerie kind of stillness. it was somewhat comforting having someone else there with me. otherwise, i probably would tried to psych myself out and get the heck off that mountain.we started the climb across the eastern flanks of mount jefferson. thankfully, we were guided by the rock cairns that have been painstakingly built on all of the trails above treeline for this very reason. if it weren¢t for the 3-foot tall piles of rock every so often, i wouldn¢t stand a chance in this kind of weather. even though visibility was at a minimum, i still thought it was a beautiful morning. the tiny world that i was hiking through was amazing. i appreciated it for what it was. i think that sometimes when i¢m above treeline on a clear day, it can just be overwhelming. it is just too big and too much. today, i focused more on what i could see thirty feet at a time.ross and i stopped for another break on the side of mount jefferson. it was during this time that the clouds around us burnt off and we were again left with nothing but clear blue-sky (except for the black plumes of smoke from the cog railway making its way up mount washington) and cloud-filled valleys. the temperature instantly shot up to the low fifties and i started shedding layers. i couldn¢t believe how quickly the weather changed. in the clouds-out of the clouds. just like that. the sun was bright even with my sunglasses on. the snow on the slopes of mount washington reflected in the morning sun. the great gulf wilderness was full of clouds. my perspective of things completely changed. like i said, it was almost overwhelming.i think i¢d almost rather not be able to see where i¢m going when i¢m above the trees. i¢d rather be hiking through the clouds than under clear sky. it was a little daunting crossing the monticello lawn and the shoulder of mount clay and seeing mount washington so close, but knowing the summit was still far away. i decided to sit and wait for the cog railroad to come up through the clouds so i could get some shots of it. ross pushed on for the summit of washington. he looked tiny in comparison to the vast landscape.i grew tired of waiting for the train to break the clouds, so i pushed on, catching up to ross at the railroad tracks. the land was littered with trash- old railroad ties and pieces of rail. it made me mad seeing all this trash. how hard can it be to clean up your mess? i wouldn¢t think it would be hard, but maybe i¢m wrong. it left a sour taste in my mouth. or, maybe that was just from the thick smell of sulfur in the air. past the railroad tracks, we made the final push to the summit of mount washington- the highest peak in the northeast at 6,288 feet. the average daily temperature for october 25 on the summit of mount washington is 28 degrees with an average wind speed of 34.1 mph. like i said before- the air was completely still. and, it was much warmer than 28 degrees. it was nice.the summit of mount washington is littered with buildings and weather stations and tourism. there were a few people milling around, but we mostly had the summit to ourselves. we were the only two people on the observation deck and could see for miles. i liked being able to look across the range and see everything we¢d hiked across over the last couple of days.a plume of black smoke rose through the clouds and was shortly followed by the cog railroad. it came chugging up through the clouds, slowly making its way towards the summit, and leaving a trail of thick smoke behind it. through my camera lens, i could see the train was full of tourists. it wasn¢t long before the train reached the summit, stopping at the ¢station¢, and the observation deck that ross and i had been enjoying was full of these city dwellers. they were clad in designer jeans, fur coats, and high heels. i instantly hated them. i wanted to karate chop them. i don¢t know why. i¢m not an easily angered person. i¢m not a violent person. i guess i felt like they couldn¢t appreciate where we were. take the train to the top, snap a few photos, and take the train back down. or, spend a couple of days walking to the top, experiencing these great mountains along the way. i¢m not saying one is better than the other, but it is. they really put a strain on my summit experience. ¢are you guys hikers?¢ (yes). ¢did you hike up here?¢ (yes). ¢all the way up here? how long did that take?¢ (we left the road two days ago). ¢honey, come look at these guys, they¢re real hikers.¢ (go away).eventually they did go away. the whistle on the train blew, the tourists left, and we once again had the summit to ourselves. i watched the cog railroad chug back down the slopes of washington, disappearing into the clouds, leaving a trail of thick black smoke to disperse into the clear blue sky.i wanted to stay on the summit as long as possible to watch the sunset through the clouds. i knew that it would be a stunning sight as the sun dipped towards the layer of clouds that filled the valley. but, we still had a mile to hike in order to reach the lake of the clouds hut, near which we would hopefully find a place to stealth camp.we never made that mile to the lake of the clouds hut.halfway down from the summit of mount washington ross stepped wrong and tweaked his knee. it wasn¢t a bad tweak, but it was a tweak nonetheless. ross was in obvious pain. we stopped at a trail junction to assess the situation. ross insisted that we push on. he said that he didn¢t want to ruin my hike. i told him that was ridiculous.i pulled out my map (remember kids: carrying maps is a good thing) and started trying to figure out a feasible option for ross and his wounded knee. i knew we couldn¢t push on. i knew ross couldn¢t continue hiking on the AT. we were still thirteen miles from the road crossing at crawford notch. according to my map, the hermit lake shelters at the base of tuckerman ravine were less than two miles away. from the trail junction where we were sitting we could follow the davis path to meet up with the tuckerman ravine trail near the headwall of the ravine. this wouldn¢t be the easiest way out of the mountains, but it would be one of the shortest ways. we would be losing almost 2000 feet in the first two miles, but after that it would be smooth walking back to pinkham notch.i told ross about this plan and he said it sounded like a good idea. so, we set of towards the headwall and tuckerman ravine. the sun was low in the sky and the afternoon rays felt good on my face as i turned to follow my injured friend. the progress was slow once we crossed the headwall and began the descent into the ravine. quite a few small streams crossed the trail as they splashed down the rocks to the floor far below. i¢m sure that during the spring melt these streams can grow to a raging torrent.the trail finally leveled out and we reached the caretaker¢s cabin just before dusk.we¢ve made arrangements to stay in one of the fully enclosed shelters for the night. the clouds blocked any views of tuckerman ravine this evening. i told ross that i hope they clear out by morning so he can see what we came down this afternoon. the trail and the ravine are both amazing. i¢ve been here before. i too was injured last time i visited this place and stayed in these shelters. this area seems to be a good refuge for the weak, weary, and wounded hiker. i hate that ross jacked up his knee. i am glad that he was able to walk off the mountain, though. like yesterday, i thoroughly enjoyed another day playing in the northern presidential range. we couldn¢t have asked for better weather. the plans have changed but that is fine. it is all part of the adventure. one day at a time.tomorrow, we will make our way to pinkham notch, where ross will go home to his lovely wife and i¢ll start working my way towards vermont farm country; and the beginning of the end of this adventure.