Date: 2003-08-31
From: Crawford Notch

To: Lakes of the Clouds Hut
Miles today: 11.1
Weather: overcast clouds

I slept good last night but awakened very early, like a little girl on Christmas morning. I was very excited about this leg of my hike; today I would tackle the first 11 miles of Mt. Washington.Plugger and I left the house at our usual time, 6am. We made our usual stop at Dunkin' Donuts, and I was on the trail by 8am.It was so clear and sunny on our ride to the trailhead that you could see every mountain top, even the towers from the weather station on Mt. Washington. I felt in my bones that it would be a special day. I've heard that there are only 7 days a year that you can see Mt. Washington as we were seeing it today. The trail Gods were certainly smiling on me today.I said my goodbyes to Plugger and started up the mountain. It was such a pleasure to be hiking in the sunny, cool weather, after hiking in the clouds for days. The trail switched back in the beginning and then started climbing in earnest.About an hour and a half into my hike I came to a rocky out-cropping, with a great view, basking in the sun. I decided that I would do the same for a while. I removed my pack and took out an apple that I had been carrying for 3 days that Plugger said if I didn't eat soon, I would be emotionally attached to, and want to carry it all the way to Maine! I also pulled out my pocketmail and wrote Saturday's journal that I had been too tired to write the day before.I turned my face to the early morning sun and enjoyed every minute of my break. I was in no hurry today; the weather was beautiful, I had only 11 miles to go, and I'm feeling the emotional effects of a wonderful adventure coming to a close and wanted time to be patient with me today.After resuming my hike, Gazelle came up from behind and we hiked together and talked for a time before being joined by her hiking partner, Sketch. I hadn't seen them since Salisbury, Conn. and enjoyed their company. We hiked together to the Mizpah Hut where we stopped for lunch.The Huts offer $2.00 bottomless bowls of soup and all you can eat bread for $1.00 all day. Unfortunately, the bread was gone, but I did eat a bowl of vegetable, pasta soup, a bowl of mushroom soup and peanut butter crackers that I had brought in from my pack. There with us were: Fly and Smoothie, Sonic and Guana and their 2 visiting friends, and I got to meet Flash for the 1st time. The kid has a great smile and friendly personality.After leaving the hut for the rest of my hike to Lakes of the Clouds Hut (about 5 miles), I was expecting to have to put on my hat, gloves, and rain gear for the exposure above tree line, like the exposures at Moosilauke and Lafayette, but I was surprised to find that all I needed was a light, long sleeved shirt.Due to the holiday weekend, the mountain had many hikers enjoying the trails. I reached the hut around 4pm, inquired about a bunk and was offered work for stay but chose to pay for my bed so that one of the kids behind me could take advantage of the free lodging.The volunteer behind the desk asked if my trail name was Journey and said that someone was looking for me. He shuffled through some papers on the desk and said, "Karen from Boston is here"! Karen and I had "met" on my journal site on trailjournals.com sometime last year when she began following along with me. She is one of my biggest supporters and we have exchanged many e-mails during my hike. She sends me wonderful packages of goodies, and always knows what to say when I need psychological support. Anyway, she had driven 6 hours to surprise me, not even knowing if she would be able to get a bed, and I couldn't wait to meet her.I explained to the volunteer how we "knew" each other, and that we had never even met. He could see my excitement and came out from behind the counter, saying, "I've GOT to see this". He looked around inside and we couldn't find her, so we went out front into a courtyard of benches and a long rock wall. There were 25-30 people sitting and standing everywhere. He was talking very loudly, and telling people that I was a thru-hiker, about to meet a friendly supporter from my website. At this point everyone was watching us and waiting for the big moment. From the end of the courtyard, Karen stood up from one of the benches where she had been waiting for me to arrive and we met, sharing several warm hugs and a few tears too.Everyone clapped and it was all very, very special. One hiker offered a tissue, but you have to pack out your own trash from the huts, so I declined!We made tea and sat in the sun talking about our lives like long lost friends. I'm sure that our souls have been together before in some other time, some other place. Thank you Karen for leaving your family on a holiday weekend, and driving 6 hours just to meet me!Dinner at he hut was soup, salad, and stuffed shells, with homemade bread. Delicious peanut butter squares finished off the meal and it was time for bed. We laid in our bunks talking about anything and everything and yawning constantly. It had been a long day for both of us and I had known that it would be special one.