Date: 2014-08-29
From: Madison Hut

To: NH 16 Pinkham Notch
Miles today: 7.8
Weather: clear sky

In which I conquered Mt. Madison.Last night was another fun night at the hut. I really enjoyed hanging out with folks watching the clouds roll through the mountains and the sunset by way of a pink sky above the mountain ridge line.It was lights out at 2130 and I was ready! It's the most wonderful time of the day. It evidently was a busy part of the day too as a few bad weather rescues happened. One of the rescues was for hypothermia and they brought those people to this hut. Extra mattresses were pulled out onto the floor where they were assessed and slept. It was a busy night for a little while all happening next to my bed on the floor.By 0615 I was up, packed and eating breakfast. The weather report came out claiming it was 33* outside with winds gusting to bring the temp down to the 20s. It was a whiteout outside too. Clouds engulfed the hut occluding any views of the mountains. I dawdled this morning waiting again for the clouds to clear or as least begin to lift. By 0800 they were beginning to do just that. So I suited up and headed out ready to do battle with the weather. The weather always wins though but I was going to put up a fight. I'm a good fighter.Surprisingly it wasn't too bad, but that was probably due in part to a "short" but vertical climb up Mt. Madison. It was a rock scramble up and I quickly shed layers. There was a lot of hand over hand climbing up the rocks again but the views were spectacular and ever changing as the clouds lifted. That was the easy part compared to the boulder hopping and picking my way down the other side to more mountain ridges. This again was slow going and tedious. It really takes a lot of concentration and mental energy.Then Mt. Washington appeared out of no where. That was an incredible sight. It was so clear and visible as opposed to yesterday. Amazing what a 24 hour difference can make, even just an hour for that matter. The descent below tree line was intense. Once again many steep descents and moving boulders to dodge. Just when I thought I had good foot placement the boulder would teeter as I placed my weight on it. That was a little unnerving and caught me off guard a few times. But so it goes. The ridge line was gorgeous to hike along. There was never a dull moment as the scenery was constantly changing. The sun shone brightly and a cool breeze was in the air. Awesome hiking weather. I got a peek of the Wildcats to come and followed the ski slopes in my line of vision on the hike down to the Visitor's Center at Pinkham Notch.Once I hit tree line there were miles of beautiful hiking passing streams providing many good resting spots. Finally I made it to the Visitor's Center to find my parents sitting on a picnic table watching the world go by. Cool!I feel a zero day coming on. My knees and ankles keep talking to me a little more everyday. I'll give them a rest day before the abuse of climbing up the Wildcats. The Canadians we hung out with last night were just coming out of the woods. They unloaded some food and I gratefully accepted. We all parted ways and I climbed into the van.We drove up the road to Rangeley to the State Park which is my home for the night. We made a stop for some awesome BBQ then we pulled over to the overlook of Mooselookmeguntic Lake. That was soooo beautiful, just like a postcard. I can't wait to hike here! Oh yeah, I am in Maine for the night. Sweet!I'm nestled in my tent loving my cozy home. This is where I want to be! The loons are serenading me off to sleep!