Date: 2003-09-22
From: Lakes of the Clouds Hut

To: Madison Springs Hut
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: broken clouds

We spent a good bit of time listening to Dr. Demento last night...I hadn't heard it in years! It must have been good for putting me to sleep, 'cause I slept well in the dungeon. I woke up at 5:30ish, needing to go to the bathroom, but I managed to wait till 6. When I went out, the sky was mostly clear...I could see the top of Mt. Washington rising above the hut! Then I looked out into the valley, and there were lots of low-lying clouds that surrounded the mountains below...it looked as if they were islands in a huge sea. What a beautiful morning!! I went and got my camera and took pictures of the whole scene. The guys didn't get up till about an hour later, but things still looked pretty much the same. I couldn't wait to get going up the mountain...I just knew we were going to have a great day up there! We ate, packed up and got on the Trail at about 8:15 or so. We only had 1.4 miles to get to the top, and the terrain was actually pretty easy. On the way up, we co!uld see the cog railway train chugging its way up another side, looking quite a bit like the "little engine that could". It's tradition for thru-hikers to moon the train, but I didn't think I could do that. It was too far away at this point, anyway. We got to the summit at about 9:25...the view from the top to the south/southwest was incredible...many miles of visibility. To the north and the east, however, it was more clouded in. At first, we could get glimpses far off, but then it was a pretty solid cloud, especially to the east. We went into the summit building, got some food from the snack bar and hit the pay phones. I wanted to call as many people as I could to tell them I was calling them from the top of Mt. Washington. I also called in my pocketmail, and received an e-mail from Dutch. He finished the Trail! I am so happy for him, and so proud of him for making it. I know that I will, too, just more slowly. :) I also got an e-mail from Bandaged Heart and !Grapenut, who want to meet me on the Trail. I was able to contact them, and will meet up with them in Gorham this week...yay! I spent much too much time on the phone and not enough time appreciating where I was, but I'm not going to beat myself up over it. I saw Espy and Littlist Hobo, who both came in today. We finally got going again at 1, as I was yapping on the phone till then. My bag was SO heavy, as I also received a mail drop there. The beginning of the hike was fine, but then things got tougher. Chafe Master J got a blowout in one of his boots and took a side trail into town. He said he'd try and meet up with us tomorrow. Then we were doing a whopping one mile per hour over the next few miles. It was very rocky, and steep in parts. We weren't going to be able to make it to the tentsite we'd set as our goal for the day. So, here we are, stealth camped at Madison Springs Hut, which is already closed for the season. The clouds had rolled in and the temperature dropped dramatically within minutes. We set up camp, Littlist Hob!o showed up and is camped here as well. We're hoping that the rain holds off at least till we get into Pinkham Notch tomorrow, or, ideally, till after we get up Wildcat Mt., which is supposed to be steep. We'll see. Till then...it's been another AMAZING day in the Whites/Presidentials! It's so fabu to have summitted Mt. Washington, too, as I was unable to drive up it...froze while doing so, and had to pay for someone to drive me down! I have conquered this mountain!!