Date: 2007-08-01
From: Lakes of the Clouds Hut 1840.8

To: Madison Spring Hut
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: scattered clouds

August 1st, My last month on the trail. I hope I can finish in 30 days.I woke up several times during the night and looked out the window at Mount Washington to see what was happening up at six thousand feet. It was a beautiful night with plenty of moon and stars. Even so, the top of the mountain was often shrouded in clouds. It is that way now. It looks like my gamble paid off and I will summit Washington on a clear and gorgeous day. Still, all my thoughts are ahead to the next few weeks. I want to start hiking hard. As I lay trying to sleep last night all my thoughts were about getting to Katahdin without delay.The other thru hiker and I are waiting to be fed our breakfast. The Croo is serving the paying horde. I've had too much coffee and the weather report is not as good as I had hoped. We are now engulfed in a thick cloud with no views at all. it is supposed to clear in the afternoon. I will get some nice views later in the day but it will be cloudy on top of Mount Washington. I have dug my rain jacket out of my pack just in case it is wet inside the cloud.I have hiked up to Mount Washington and the weather seems to be clearing. It is going to be a beautiful day with great views.I must be eating too much hut food. Something is slowing me down. (actually I know what it is... it is these darn White Mountains) I started hiking at 9 and hiked until 3 but only covered 7 miles. I did stop at the Mount Washington Visitor Center for about an hour, but still I struggled to hike 7 miles. I know I can hike longer each day but my legs are telling me to wait for easier terrain before I start pushing too hard. Tomorrow will be hard enough if I hike the 14 miles to the next hut, which is also the last hut. I'm motivated to hike the 14 miles but I have no idea what the terrain is like. I'm guessing it will be just as rocky and just as difficult to hike fast upon. Still, I think I can hike 14 miles if I put in a full day. So I say now. I hope I feel the same way tomorrow at four in the afternoon after I have hiked about eight miles. I am presently sitting outside the Madison Spring Hut. This is one of the smaller huts. The crowd of people inside are enjoying their dinner while I wait outside for leftovers. Whereas thru hikers are normaly overly willing to eat leftovers and all manner of handouts, being treated like a second class citizen can grow wearisome. If it weren't for my inescapable hunger I would tell the hutmaster to take his work for stay and shove it. Well, there is the small matter of it being illegal to camp anywhere away from the huts and tent sites. Essentially the huts are the only place where a person can camp legaly and they cost eight dollars. The sun is shining but there is a breeze and it is cool. The bugs are not detered. I have on my polar fleece and my long pants but I'm still having to swat the bugs away from my face. I suppose I would rather be hiking but as I have pointed out this is a good time to sit back and accept that I'm not a paying customer at the hut and it is the only game in town until I get away from the White Mountains.John-Knee-Mud