Date: 2010-08-15
From: Webster Ledge

To: Madison Hut
Miles today: 15.6

I woke early as the wind began to pick up. It was going to be a tough day as I was going up a good portion of Mt Washington. I was on the trail before 6:00 under cloudy skies. I felt a little apprehension about Washington as it has a reputation for severe and extreme weather. I still had Webster to finish and then up Jackson. Everything around here is above 5000 ft but the trail follows the ridgeline as it moves from Mnt to Mnt. I made it through the first 8 miles before noon and stopped at The lake of the clouds hut for lunch. I asked about work for stay but they said I was to early and needed to move on. This would require that I complete the hike up and over Washington as a heavy fog blew across the mountains peak. It was very rough going with very little visibility but when I reached the top I was only one of throngs of people milling around in the thick fog with zero visibility. It took me some time to find the trail coming off of Washington. It took me 7 hours to hike 8 miles as the trail was nothing but jagged rocks both up and down. From Washington there was a decent before going back up Mt Adams then down To the base of Mt Madison. I met Seeker on the way and we hiked together for awhile. Then we ran into Listner (72 years old) who was moving through the terrain rather slowly. I was concerned for her as the sun was dropping quickly and we still had a way to go. I took her tent for her to lessen her load and continued on. Seeker hiked with Listner for awhile but felt she needed to move on for fear of darkness. When I arrive at the hut I had no choice but to ask for work for stay. Before it was all said and done 7 thru hikers arrived(Listner last) and were all allowed to stay. After the customary wait we were allowed in. This experience was much better than the norm. We all worked in the kitchen and ate food than as we cleaned up and did prep work for the morning. The 7 of us took up a lot of space at lights out. In the morning we set up the tables for the guest and was allowed to eat at the same time. Warm food and hot coffee to start the day. The croo at this hut was great and as a team us thru hikers worked well together and helped the breakfast process go smoothly. It poured thru the night and the wind blew. The area was encased in fog and low lying clouds as we seperatly headed out on the trail and up the challenging Mt Madison. Mt Madison would turn out to be the toughest mountain yet. It took 5 hours to hike 3.5 miles. Killer up. Killer down. The fog began to lift and expose the mountains to the north. The weather was blowing down from Mt Washington and was mixed with periodic rain showers. The majority of the early hike was above treeline and I was totally at the weathers mercy. I hustled as best I could to get into the lower part of the mountain and out of the wind. It was all wet rock so the pace was slow. Last night I was with all new peoplewho had intentions of going into Pingham Notch. There is a trail angel who will come(20 miles)and pick up hikers and bring them to her house in North Conway for the night. It turned out to be a short but tough day. There was the 7 of us plus 8 more hikers for a total of 15 spending the night. To my delight Moonshine and Sideways D were zeroing there. I had not seen them since Newfound Gap in the middle of the Smokies. Others here were Backwards, Conan, Marty Mcfly, Nesta, Seeker, Listner, Squash, 6 Course and a couple more who's names escape me. I set my pad and bag out on the screen porch after eating pizza and drinking a few beers.