Date: 2016-06-26
From: Lakes of the Clouds Hut

To: White Mountains Lodge & Hostel via Pinkham Notch
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: scattered clouds

I was again one of the sleepier thru-hikers, but got some nice rest on the floor of the dining room. My stay at Lakes overall has been wonderful. Cosmo this morning took down one of the log books from the 70s and found where his father had signed in when he thru-hiked way back then. It must've been such a different sport, none of this lightweight stuff, and fewer of these towns. Anyways.Most of the thru-hikers were sticking around for breakfast, and some of them had morning chores, and wouldn't be out for quite a while. Their aim tonight was the Osgood Tentsite, a few miles short of Pinkham notch, the first road out of the Presidential traverse. I told them my plan was to head all the way to Pinkham in order to get to a hostel in Gorham tonight. Large honestly seemed kind of hurt, and said something to the effect of "So you want to leave us behind?" It wasn't like that, but I was sad rather than frustrated. I really like this group. But I'm trying to go at my own pace and hike the way that I want to. And frankly, I'm trying to finish the trail pretty quick to get back home to Ali and my family. It is sad that I would leave these folks so soon, but I have to go and hike my hike. So at about 6:40, I packed up my things and made my way through the ruckus of morning hikers outside the Hut. I said some goodbyes and gave Large a hug, then powered off into the beautiful morning. The sun was in my eyes as I made my way up the final mile and change to the summit of Washington. The contours flatten into a sort of tableland here, and it is so so barren, unlike anywhere else, really. I passed a big sign declaring that this area has "The Worst Weather in America." I kept turning around to see LOC fade away into the distance. And just like that, I was at the summit, the highest spot in the northeast. It was perfectly calm, not even a breeze, and no one was out. the visitors center was closed, and the auto road would not open for quite some time. The only other time I'd been here it had been packed with people, and I had been frustrated with a particular tourist in flip-flops who was taking their picture at the summit sign. Today, there was no one. I wandered over to the summit sign and took a selfie before finding a drinking fountain outside the visitors center to fill up my water, the last before Madison Spring, six miles ahead. I felt very much at peace with the world climbing down the side of Washington, looking into the Great Gulf wilderness to my right. Four mountains were splayed out ahead of me, and I would summit each of them. I crossed over the cog railway and enjoyed the meadowy and verdant alpine growth. The cliffs to my right began to just drop away down into the dense valley. I then left the AT to follow the ridge up over Mt. Clay, which would allow me to keep seeing both valleys to my right and left. In doing this, I also left the final piece of the AT which I had formerly done. The rest will be new! Clay was very beautiful, and I relished being up so high on the ridge rather than down below on the bad weather route. I rejoined the AT only to leave it again very soon to go climb Jefferson, which flattens out near the top and whose summit looks like an oversized cairn. This was kind of a disappointing summit; I was expecting something cooler.i took a break below at Edmands col and talked to some more French-speaking folks. The view back to Washington was great, and I could see the smoke rising from the cog railway's first trip. The trail then began to bump up and over some smaller peaks as it skirts Mt. Adams. At a place called thunderstorm junction, I turned off the AT for the last time to go hike Adams via Lowe's path. This one was really fun, and I enjoyed jumping between all the boulders. There is not really a trail on these side loops so much as a suggested route to the top, with intermittent blazes and cairns. To make a trail would require the breaking of hundred s of huge boulders. I really enjoy this type of hiking, but I know lots of people who would not. I passed a group of folks my age; one of the girls told me I was doing a great job of picking a route and followed on my tail up to the top of the mountain. I chatted with her; she was wearing a UVM sweatshirt and was a law student there. I told her I loved Burlington. The summit was surprisingly infested with bugs, and I did not hang around for too too long. But it was beautiful, and contests with Monroe for my favorite of the loop trails. The Air Line trail, which I followed down, was incredibly sketchy, and I moved faster than I probably should have. It involved a lot of jumping down from rock to rock, placing single hands on boulders. It became a little more reasonable rejoining the AT. The Hut came into view for a while and looked very picturesque next to the triangular bulk of Mt. Madison, the last of the Presidentials.I stuck around Madison longer than I really wanted to, waiting for another container of soup to be heated up. But I was hungry and really didn't have much food left. I also ate a piece of pumpkin pie. NOWA, who had gotten out from LOC just after me came by and we chatted over lunch, but he left before I did. i finally broke my streak of playing guitar at Huts, because the Croo were not sure where the guitar was. i powered up the last climb of the day up Madison, which is Bar none my favorite of the Presidentials. The summit is spectacular and very pointy, and has a great view of the rest of the range, and then off towards the Carters and Moriah range that I will be hiking tomorrow. i took my picture and got one last high-elevation view of Washington and began the climb down.The AT follows a spur of Mount Madison down to Pinkham Notch known as the Osgood Ridge. It drops about 3000 feet in 2.5 miles. It is just steep steep steep. The whole way. I noticed a change in the way sobos looked before climbing up this ridge and after; this is I think the single biggest climb a sobo does (not counting katahdin.) The trail bumped down along little flat areas of the ridge and then dropped in a consistent manner. Views were great the whole time, but eventually it was time to head back into the trees, which I hadn't really seen since Mizpah Spring Hut yesterday. The descent through the trees was even hairier than in the rocks, and didn't slack off til I made it to the Osgood cutoff, where the rest of the gang had been planning to stop this evening. I met a sobo from Katahdin named Sarge who was beefy and enthusiastic. The trail was now in the Great Gulf Wilderness, which has very little signage and no blazes. I was glad to have guthook to help me along, as there was one tricky turn that I know people have gotten turned around on in the past. All in all, though, it was a beautiful section, with a great suspension bridge over a stream. I unfortunately think I embarrassed an older woman who was having trouble crossing a stream by just leaping across it in front of her husband. :/The trail did a few more climbs before following an old stage road down to Pinkham notch, very easy walking. I came out to the parking lot and enjoyed seeing signs for Tuckerman Ravine. It was funny to feel so fully in touristy civilization again after one of the most rugged days of my trip. Sitting out front of the visitors center was a man singing very loudly and violently playing his guitar, but he was singing one of my favorite songs from Neutral Milk Hotel, so I sang along. I called up the White Mountains Hostel, where I am staying tonight and asked for a ride (which is free if you stay two nights with a slackpack in the middle). I then went inside and got a Coke, and laid out in the sun of the lot waiting for my pickup.The man who picked me up told me we had another passenger, named Mexican Buddha. I figured it was probably the hiker who was playing guitar, so I went and got him off the porch and we headed to Gorham, the last trailtown in New Hampshire!The hostel is an old colonial style home, and has some strict but pretty good rules about cleanliness: before I could even step in the house, I was told to strip and change into clean clothes; they do your laundry for you! I hung my pack and shoes up and headed inside. I was given a very nice bunk and spent the afternoon playing guitar with Buddha and talking to "the French flying pigs," a mother and her three children who are out doing sections of the trail in NH and Maine. The kids are probably 12, 9 and 6 respectively, and I was amazed to see them out doing this. Also here was Tootsie, a section hiker who is calling it quits, but knew Buddha from last year. Buddha is finishing up a hike he began last year; he started in new york and will head to katahdin, then back to harper's ferrry where he began last year. I also got wind that Booty was staying the night here! He is now a full day ahead of me, having just completed the huge day of slackpacking I will do tomorrow. After I showered, we hung around outside on the lovely porch and talked and played music. Booty plays guitar too, and Marni, the owner, came out to listen to us. Marni drove me and a couple hikers to Walmart for resupply. i need to start carrying a full pack again now that every shelter doesn't have soup and leftovers. Imagine my surprise as I walk into Wal-mart and see sitting at the checkout line, Lightning, Seal Tree and Goldie!!! I couldn't believe it! I hadn't seen Seal Tree since the 501 shelter, Lightning since the James River Bridge!!! Goldie I had never met before, but had seen her in pictures with Doc Trails. She and Lightning have been hiking together since Harper's Ferry, and Seal Tree joined I believe in New York. She is a thru hiker, but did the southern portion last summer, and started back in Harper's (she started late enough though, that she's finishing in one year.) She is about to start college at Bates.I didn't have too much time to talk with them, but apparently they've been taking it pretty easy, having a great time since I last saw them. They are now one day ahead of me, and are staying at another hostel in town, and heading into Maine tomorrow. They were caught up on top of Washington on that rainy day and ended up getting picked up by Goldie's parents on the auto road, and taking some time off. I need to catch up with them.I finished up my groceries and headed back to the hostel where I ate some food, facetimed with ali and watched the season finale of game of thrones (eventually, after futzing with the wifi network for the longest time). Tomorrow is going to be one of the craziest days on the trail for me: Even though I won't have a pack, I will be trying to go 21 miles over pretty objectively the hardest terrain in new hampshire. It took Booty 10 hours, and I'm expecting just about that. We shall see.