Date: 2008-07-06
From: Nauman Tentsite

To: Madison Spring Hut
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Day 10, the Death March, the hikers version of the cyclists ¢Hell of the North¢. Thirteen miles of rock. Thirteen miles of alpine zone. Thirteen miles of barren granite. Thirteen miles of the best views of hard, ancient, mesmerizing beauty. Mt¢s Pierce, Franklin, and Washington for her. I do a bit of ¢Blue Blazing¢ to add Monroe, Clay, and Jefferson for me. A going to be a long day for me, and a killer for Cindy. I¢ve been worrying about this day since we planned it out. You don¢t see a lot of women attempting this trek for a lot of reasons¢¦it¢s long, it can be brutally difficult if not done in optimal weather, and requires a very high level of fitness. Add to the fact that there are just not a lot of women into this type of hiking! My worry wasn¢t the distance, we¢ve done a number of days over 11 miles with lots of ups¢¦13 wasn¢t much more of a stretch. I wasn¢t worried about Cindy¢s fitness level¢¦she¢s damned near keeled me over on some of the long stretches we¢ve dome together. The weather was no longer a big concern. It was the unknown of Cindy doing the hardest hike she¢s ever done and her reaction to it. I will say this...Cindy Ruled the DAY!We are off. A passing wave to the sisters, a see ya to the caretaker, and we start the ups with every day hiker in the mountain. What a crowd. We first summit Pierce and eat some snacks. Over Ike where we have a few more snacks. In the distance is Monroe. It¢s here I do my first departure off trail for extra ups. After a day off and an easy day after the hike is more of a run up to keep up with Cindy doing the AT hundreds of feet below. On the top I see Lake of the Clouds hut at the base of Mt. Washington for the first time.The hut is in a real surreal spot. It is the highest hut in the White Mountains and has spectacular views. Less than a mile north is Mt. Washington. It is bordered to the east by two ponds and Tuckerman¢s Ravine and the to the west (or north-is) my Rt 302 some miles away. It is also full of day-trippers every day during the summer. I nice place to visit say¢¦for lunch, but it¢s all we would tolerate. So, we stop in, grab some soup, get water, and we are off for Washington.Mt. Washington, the highest peak in the northeast and second highest summit on the Appalachian Trail. Also, very anti-climatic after the 10 days getting there. Yes, it was good ups, yes, it was great weather, yes, I had great company, but it was kind of boring! From the hut is was maybe an hour dodging the day-trippers and kids. Once at the top it¢s like waiting at a carnival ride to get pics on the summit, but like the rest of the tourists¢¦here you go.So we take a pee, fill up more water, a stroll up at the top and we are off. One of the funnier things that folks have done in the past was to moon the folks on the Cog Railway as your making the traverse. The unfortunate part of this cool little tradition was to get the uptight Nellie¢s panties in an uproar and get the local cops involved, riding the rails and reporting to other local police the description of the offending ¢traditionalists¢ and ticketing them large amounts of good old American dollars. Instead of enjoying the time honored tradition we settle for a picture of the idiots waving at the hikers taking pictures of the idiots waving to the hikers¢¦who we ignore anyway. Bunch of idiots!So we are off, the last of the hikers taking pictures of idiots waving at hikers taking pictures of idiots behind us. I will not miss the noise, people, or traffic. Yeah, traffic¢¦a goddamned train on my trail! Either way, I¢m smiling knowing I finally get to walk on something I haven¢t been on yet, despite my dislike of rocks, rocks, and more rocks. I stop and take a few pics, chat with Cindy about the trail ahead, and point out where we are going. The face¢¦priceless. A cross between ¢I can¢t believe I won a million dollars¢ and ¢Oh shit, I think I¢m going to die!¢ Where are we going? Last hill on the right? Five hours, your kidding right?This is going to be a long day, especially so as we have no place to stay between where we are and the col between Mts. Jefferson and Adams. All the shelters are at least a mile from the trail and a thousand feet below the ridgeline. Not extra miles I want to deal with nor do I want to climb back up from the shelters to continue on. I really hate doing the same trail twice if I don¢t need to. So in my mind we are heading to Madison Hut and either a night on the porch or 34 of a mile down to a tent site. The one good thing about this trip is I see someone stupider than me, a very nice guy named Cameron. I first spied Cameron sitting on a rock on the saddle between Clay and Jefferson like there was nothing else in his life to do. As we found out a short time later Cameron is an American expat living in Finland or Sweden or someplace over there. He was here visiting family when he decided to take a walk across the Whites for a few days. Here folks is where the stupidity comes in¢¦carrying a backpack weighing 80 pounds for a three day hike. You read correctly¢¦E-I-G-H-T-Y pounds. To put this in perspective, I started with 46 pounds, six of it being my three liter water bladder for my eight day section of the hike. We chatted a little bit about this and that, most centering around his concern of water availability. This seemed to be his issue of the day¢¦move on to Madison five miles away with minimal access to water (as shown on the map) or walk him and his 80 lbs. below tree line into the Great Gulf Wilderness. Well, if you¢ve read anything about hiking up north it¢s to stay out of the Gulf. Sure, there are trails. If you can climb like a mountain goat and have no fear of the boogey-man. That is where he lives, along with his many friends and relatives. You just don¢t go there!So, after a short bit he starts down as we walk up. As I get to the trail up to Jefferson and send Cindy around on the AT to the col leading up the ridge to Adams I see Cameron struggling up behind us. I guess sanity ruled the day and the thoughts of boonie-busting down the Gulf forced him into the real world. So, off I went¢¦Cindy around, me over. I lose sight on my Girl-Friday on the way and start the run up the summit. Well, nice views, but dull, just a cairn sitting on what appeared to be a summit of big loose rocks. The thrill of climbing some of these summits can be never-ending let me tell you. So, down I go, expecting Cindy to be waiting at the trail junction further on. Expectations, yes, they are something aren¢t they? More later on this. As I¢m descending I see this kid (probably a hut caretaker by the looks) RUNNING up the summit with a day pack on. I ask if he¢s seen a woman with a blue pack down the trail and he asks ¢wearing a knee brace?¢ Well, I¢m not sure if he said ¢a knee brace¢ or ¢knee braces¢ as I was listening not only to him but my heart pounding in my ears from the climb. ¢Heading for the col¢ was the last I heard as I thinking Cindy is way too far ahead, I need to catch up now! So, it¢s off to the races¢¦down Jefferson, near running up the trail to Adams when I see a little tiny person in the distance at the bottom of the saddle half a mile away. I yell ¢Cindyyyyyyy¢ and when the person turns around and continues on I realize I goofed. This was un-expected! It was the female thru hiker we encountered upon our initial meeting with Cameron. She was wearing two knee braces. Yep¢¦time for a sit down to re-swallow my lunch and wait for Cindy. Well, fifteen minutes later Cameron comes strolling through. I ask him if he¢s seen my partner in crime. ¢Oh, sitting on a rock a half mile back waiting for you mate!¢. Well, it¢s off to the races, backpack-less down the trail a bit until I hear her yelling back to my calls. Finally, we are back at the col laughing about the whole thing. A few minutes later we are on the way to Adams and lastly Madison. Expectations¢¦mine to hit the hut before dark were slowly fading!And so the trip continues down the saddle and up the other side. I notice something¢¦we are slowing down. My trusty rabbit is running out of gas. I know one thing, I¢ve seen this girl bonk going up South Twin and struggle through it, I have no fear of a sit-down strike at all. The good part is we are within 2-3 miles of Madison and the hut is on our side of the summit and the rest of the trip is flat to downhill. Poor Cindy, I feel very bad. She is officially at the ¢one step in front of the other¢ point but the trooper keeps marching on. The bad part is the on and off rain has left the rocks wet and very slippery. Not a good combination for the weary! Then we see it¢¦the flat rocks leading up to the Madison Hut. We are almost there.Now the fun begins¢¦the last mile. For those who¢ve ever run out of gas it¢s the longest mile. Never ending, ankle bending, and you just never seem to get there. I swear it takes 4 days and a week of Sundays to make that last mile, and for Cindy it¢s 8 days and even more Sundays. But, we come over the last small bump on the hump and start seeing the summit of Madison over the top of the bump. Confusing yes, but to finally see the end of the trail is always refreshing.Finally, Madison Spring Hut is in view. Water, bathrooms, and a place to sit for a bit before the hike 34 of a mile down to the tent site. Once again a visit to the hut hammers home the point¢¦in the summer, don¢t stay at a hut! A flood of people, many teenagers, loud, noisy, none of the peace and quiet you come to the woods to enjoy. A quick stop for Cindy to enjoy a flush toilet (she was very excited!), the usual chatter with the day-hikers (you walked 13 miles!!!), and we are off. Cameron takes the lead as I¢d prefer the guy carrying 80 pounds of god only knows what to land on someone other than me or my Girl Friday should a slippery rock get him. As we stroll down the never ending path to another night in paradise we lose sight of 80-pound man and just plunge on. Hours later (ok, 25 minutes) we are getting the tent set up, the pads inflated, and the sleeping bags rolled out. Cindy simply jumps in, dinner-less, and crashes. Then, the second episode of ¢Nature Amazes Paul¢ and the fiftieth version of ¢Paul Amazes Paul¢ occurs¢¦A little bit of cold dinner for me, Cindy is laying down recovering. A bagel, a second, some nuts, water, I¢m rested, relaxed, and start to think¢¦it¢s epiphany time. I sit wondering if the trip could possibly get any better. It really can¢t. Almost ~12 days of hike time, I¢ve met some super people, walked some great trails, and accomplished all my goals which were to hike, think about life, enjoy everything nature could offer, and get back in one piece. I¢ve accomplished it all and more. So, I could continue on and certainly finish the hike in 2-3 days as I¢m ~35-40 miles from the border. One last hard climb (Wildcat) or I could call it here, walk down with Girl Friday, and call it a vacation for the ages. In three days I¢d have to hitch hike home, today I get a ride back with great company. The decision was an easy one¢¦I¢m going home!So since sleep isn¢t coming easily as the night swallows the mountain I begin to hear what sounds like a train approaching. Train after train. Then the trains arrive! The train is wave after wave of wind coming off the summit and rolling down Mt. Madison. Wave after wave hit the tent. Very glad I tied everything down. My last sleeping pill for Cindy, I¢m awake listening in awe to the train buffet not only the tent but the tent platform. Very sleepless but intensely interesting night. A super last night of the trip!After the early wakeup we start breaking camp. No breakfast as we are heading the last 3 miles down the mountain and home. A wonderful walk down, steep, slippery, but warm and sunny. Not once did I think about the end in Maine because for this trip, I was totally at peace with my decision to stop. A few hours later¢¦we are home.A 10 day vacation on Utah to be planned, next year's Long Trail to look forward to. Can't wait till next august!