Date: 2015-08-21
From: Madison Spring Hut

To: Pinkham Notch
Miles today: 7.8
Weather: overcast clouds

I woke up in the middle of the night and because I was right next to the window I could easily see that the sky outside was completely clear and there were a million stars. So I thought we might get some views today from Mt. Madison. It was not to be. Though it wasn't quite as socked in as the day before, Madison was covered in clouds. On the climb up (only half a mile) I would occasionally get a glimpse of blue sky and the valley or a mountain across from where I was, but usually the clouds had moved back in by the time I could get my camera out. Oh well.Climbing over the kind of rocks that we've had to deal with for the last couple of days as we have been above tree line is infinitely easier than descending, but that is what we had to do. For a very long time. Eventually we got below tree line but we were still descending steeply. The Osgood camp site that was our landmark was only 3 miles away but it took so long to get to that I had pretty much convinced myself I had taken the wrong trail way back and way up. I actually carry maps for this section and it looked completely plausible. Fortunately just as I was trying to come up with a plan on how to proceed, Cruise Control came down the mountain and we determined we had to be on the right trail. For some reason, there are no blazes on this stretch of the trail. Shortly after my little 'where am I' crisis, I finally reached the camp site. It had taken us more than three hours to cover the three miles.On the bright side, the trail was easier now, and Cruise Control and I hiked and chatted together the rest of the way to Pinkham Notch, which always makes the time and miles go faster. There is a lodge and cafeteria at Pinkham Notch, so the first order of business was to grab something to eat, and then figure out where to stay. We ended up at the hiker portion (the Barn) of a local B&B, named Libby House. The owner, Paul, picked us up and will drop us back off tomorrow morning, and he also did a Walmart run in the afternoon. The bunk room is actually the loft of a large barn with a whole bunch of non-bunk beds, most of them full size. It's an unusual space and it cracked me up when I first saw it, but we are clean, with clean clothes and have charged all electronics so it's all good. Pony Puncher and Food Truck are here as well, though they are in the B&B portion, which was booked by the time we had called. They had zeroed here today.We were dropped off at the local pub on the way back from Walmart and ran into Flick (not seen since Harpers Ferry) outside and saw Clover, M (without Mia), Laces, Blade and new to me Pie inside. It was so fun to catch up with everyone! Flick, Cruise Control and I had dinner together (the others were wrapping up) and my duck ravioli was was quite good. I also had a nice cocktail. Airlock's guide to roughing it on the AT is alive and well!Cruise Control and Flick are the same age (24) and it was interesting to hear about through hiking from that perspective. We went for ice cream afterwards and and now it's the second night in a row that I'm up past nine! Tomorrow we hike Wildcat, which I think is technically one mountain with multiple peaks, 4 of we which we go over. I have heard of several people who have had scary falls there, so we'll have to be extra special careful!I am happy to report that I found a gas canister at Walmart so I won't have to skimp on making hot meals and tea again. They only had the large size so I think this will probably be the last one I'll need to buy for the trip! Another fun thing was that there was a hair salon inside Walmart, so while we were waiting for Pony Puncher and Food Truck to finish their resupply, I quickly had my bangs trimmed. The last two days were the first times my hair had been bothering me on trip, as it was constantly blown sideways in my face by the strong winds. I don't like to tie it back or cover it normally, but yesterday I would have if I had anything to cover it with. I was telling Cruise Control that the hair in my face had the same effect as a strobe light and that if I had been prone to seizures I'd probably would have had one yesterday. We decided that would be a hard one to explain to Rescue: hair induced seizure!Open map in new windowWant to add a map to your journal?