Date: 2008-07-20
From: Liberty Springs Tent Site NH

To: Galehead Hut NH
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: moderate rain

Day 154 Sunday July 20 ¢ Galehead Hut NH - Miles Today: 10.4 Total Miles: 1816.5We headed out of camp this morning about 5:45 and summited Mt. Lincoln (5089¢) and Mt. Lafayette (5249¢) by 8:00. We had some nice panoramic views but with gray skies. By 8:00 the drizzle started and it continued all day long, eventually turning into a pretty good rain. It was a very rainy, soggy day. The trail was quite soupy and river-like. At one point in time, we were actually hiking down a watershed with a creek flowing in it - quite amazing that we hiked in the middle of a creek. A couple (Upload & Stitches), who thru-hiked the AT in 2006, recorded a total elevation gain of 5,140 feet on their altimeter watch for this section of the trail. Sometimes it¢s better to not know the details ahead of time.We had to hike really slowly today as we had heard that you couldn¢t ask for work for stay at the huts until 4:00. We really had a lot of time to kill. We burned about 1.5 hours at the Garfield Ridge Shelter, about 3 miles from the hut. As we sat in the shelter by ourselves, we watched the heavy rain come down. It was nice to be in the shelter out of the rain, although we were wet and cold, and we debated a whole bunch as to whether to just call it a day and get in our bags, or continue on to the hut and risk not getting work for stay. Finally we decided to leave the dryness of the shelter and head on, but we still had to hike slowly so as to not bet there before 4:00. We arrived just a bit before 4:00. We visited with Shiloh in the dining room for a bit and kept an eye out for other hikers. We needed to ensure that we asked for work for stay before any other hikers did, as they typically limit the number of workers to two. Shortly after we started chatting with Shiloh, Grasshopper noticed 2 more hikers arriving, so we jumped up and headed over to the workers, or croo as they like to be called, to ask for work for stay. She said they don't accept work for stay hikers until 5:00.   We were like oh, come on, it's raining and you really aren¢t going to send us back out at this time, are you?   The 2 other hikers, High Life and Bad Idea, had now also approached her.   After consulting with her croo-mates, she agreed to allow 2 of us to pay $8.00 and not get any left over food, and 2 of us to get work for stay and eat leftover food. The work would have to be done the next day rather than this evening. We wanted to hit the trail early in the morning, so after consulting with the other hikers, we agreed that we would pay the $8.00 and eat our own food. It worked out, but this system is for the birds! It was not too much later when Cricket showed up drenched wet and asking for work for stay as well. It¢s a packed house. Shiloh opted to pay the $90 for a bunk and dinner - too steep of a price for us to pay for sleeping with 30 of our closest strangers. During dinner hour the five of us (Bad Idea, Cricket, High Life and us) huddled on the bench and floor back by the restrooms, like second-class citizens. Hiker trash. Love it! We tried real hard to stay out of the way of the paying guests. After dinner, the croo explained that they will be running minimal lights this evening and lights out will be at 9:30, as solar power is low due to all the rain. We were told to keep our headlights handy, as they may even have to kill all the lights before the projected 9:30 time.   No problem with us, we are usually dead asleep at that late hour!After dinner we were allowed back in the dining area and enjoyed chatting with the hikers and listening to High Life jam on the guitar, provided by the hut. Others also played a few tunes and sang.It's now 8:45 and still raining. Unfortunately the forecast is calling for 3 more days of rain. All the thru-hikers are talking about the rain and game plans. So much of this trip is about being able to see the Whites and obviously if we're rained in, we're not seeing anything. We, as well as Shiloh, will head down to Crawford Notch tomorrow and maybe hang out for a day, hopefully not 2 days, to see if perhaps we can at least get over the Presidentials with some good weather. So tomorrow we'll just play it by ear and see what it brings. Goodnight from our sleeping platform of a dining room bench. But it¢s a window bench! And it¢s dry!