Date: 2018-07-29
From: Maine Central Railroad (mile 1845.1)

To: Mt. Washington! (mile 1858.0)
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: broken clouds

I slept great last night and felt super energized in the morning. It also didn't rain so everything stayed dry! Pretty quickly into the day we crossed the road again, and found trail magic from Stitches! She was incredibly nice to talk to, and we loaded up on some awesome food before the tough climb today. I took off afterwards to make up the miles I didn't complete yesterday to catch up on sleep. It was a very steep climb up Webster Cliffs, but the rocks are dry and I finally got some good sleep so I was cruising compared to earlier parts of the Whites. The Webster Cliffs came with some fantastic views into the valley. On Webster mountain I could see the steep ridge that I came up, which felt satisfying, and from Jackson I got a fantastic view of Washington! All day the summit was in on and off clouds so I kept hoping and hoping for a clear night. I passed soooo many dayhikers today, the most people I've talked to on trail in a long time - the trail is crawling with people now that the rain has passed. In fact, the last two days have been full of trail reunions cause I caught up to a bunch of other hikers or even passed them when I kept hiking through the rain at the start of the Whites.At Mizpah Springs hut I got some more soup since it's cheap but good. I took all the side loops to the presidential loops today, cause when next will I be out here? At the top of Eisenhower, I met a rockhound who showed some awesome rocks he found near the peak. The clouds cleared up in the afternoon! I also headed above treeline whether I'll be exposed for the next 12 miles. I got phone service one last time and checked the weather on top of Mt. Washington, and it looked clear.Throughout the day I've been leapfrogging Mark, who was a 2016 thruhiker and is back to do the whites again, and talked for a while with him at Lake of the Clouds hut where a bunch of my friends are staying tonight. Some people thought my plan to stealth on top of Washington was crazy but cheered me on as I left regardless. I hauled the mile and a half up Washington because I was just so excited. I headed into the clouds for the last bit and found Bear Bait. We celebrated and took some pictures while the clouds cleared up just as I had hoped! I restocked from the car quick before the road down the mountain closed. Now alone and with all the tourists gone, I explored all the buildings on top of the summit and tried for cell service but didn't find anything.After all the daytime activity settled down on the summit, I set up my tent in the hidden spot on the summit. I'm wearing every piece of clothing I have tonight to make sure that I don't have any late night emergencies. The clouds coming up Washington thinned out again enough to watch a bit of the sunset. I met Eileen and Meredith, two volunteers who cook for the crew in the weather station, and talked with them for a bit about the trail. They were incredibly nice and promised to pray for my safety during the rest of my trip. After cooking dinner I even stepped outside briefly to check out the stars, joined by Jupiter and Saturn.I think that often times we hear stories from parents and grandparents about things that aren't possible to do any longer. I feel the same way about my tent spot for the night - there's no way this will still be a possibility when I tell kids or grandkids about it!I'm camping 5000 feet higher tonight than I did last night. I'm a bit scared camping up here but a lot excited at how amazing of an opportunity this is.