Date: 2005-09-17
From: Madison Spring Hut

To: Pinkham Notch
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: fog

Joe Dodge LodgeRoom 203¢Balsam Fir¢   A Very Tough Hike!Rained again during the night, so we awoke to wet ground but a rapidly clearing sky. I could even see up the rock-strewn slopes of Madison Mountain by the time breakfast was over.   The crew put on a great breakfast skit. All of the hut croos do a skit to emphasize the correct way to fold your blankets ¢ an AMC tradition, I suppose - fluff your pillow and take out your trash. This crew pretended to be birds ¢ The ¢Mountain Blanket¢ Bird, The ¢Picking Trash¢ Bird, and not to forget The ¢Tip the Croo¢ Bird! ¢ whose call is ¢Tip the Croo, Tip the Croo¢ This skit was realy funny!   I bid a fond farewell to the French Couple who have been following the same trail as I for the past few days from Lakes of the Clouds, and also to Phyllis and Susan who were quiet amused to discover that their claim to fame in my eyes was that I managed to pass them on the trail! Nick and I also parted ways with every intention of keeping in touch with each other. I learnt far more from him then he did from me.   Then it was off and up Mount Madison, a very steep and rock-strewn trail up to the summit and a warning forecast of what was to come on the other side of the mountain. The clear morning gave me a great view back down to the hut, and by the time I had reached the summit I had spectacular views of the entire ridge walk that I had covered along the rim of the Great Gulf Wilderness.   As I began the tricky, rocky, steep, and often frightening descent, the weather began to close in and I was once again enveloped in the mist. Under conditions like this you have to give great thanks and credit to the cairn makers, for they allowed me to make my way down from cairn to cairn. The only sight better than a rock cairn looming out of the mist was the occasional white blaze on the rocks, that reassured me that I was on the right track. There realy is no trail as such over these rocks and faces, you pretty much have to make your own way from cairn to cairn to blaze, and loosing your way is, not alone dangerous, but a distinct possibility. The going was extremely tricky and difficult, and I proceeded at a snails pace, and with similar grace!   Two English hikers from London who had stayed at the hut last night, passed me by, and we leapfrogged over each other at our respective snack breaks, until they finally disappeared into the mist.   This descent ¢ The Osgood Trail ¢ is brutal. It is a steep, rocky scramble, using hands feet and frequently backside to overcome the steep slope. I took many a slip and slide on the way down, but no serious injury, and I was happy to finally get back into the tree line again.   As predicted last night by the Hawaiian Shirt Volunteer at the hut, even in the relative safety of the trees, the trail remains, steep, slippery, rocky and tricky. It just goes on, and on, and on, a descent of 3,000 feet in two miles on some of the most difficult and dangerous rocks that I have traversed.      Finally, like all things in life, it ended at the Osgood Tentsite marker. The final miles out are relatively flat and cross a series of streams. As I was tiredly and distractedly crossing one of them, my foot slipped on the wet rock, and before I knew it I was in water up to both of my shins. As I looked down at my submerged feet and boots and felt the icy cold wet spring water soaking my feet, I remembered the weather forecast from the hut that morning. Fog, rain and possible thunderstorms for the next several days. Something just clicked then and there, and I knew that it was time to end my hike for this year.      It was amazing how much better I felt as soon as I had made that decision! I squelched on in the misty rain through wet and dripping trees, slipping and sliding on wet rocks and roots, and although utterly fatigued, I was strangely elated. I knew that I had made the correct decision. I had known all along that I would not be able to finish the AT this year, and now I knew that it was time to stop for the winter. By the time I would arrive at Pinkham Notch, I would have finished my hike through the White Mountains and the Presidential Range, which were the most difficult and strenuous part of my journey so far. It was also the most beautiful! The images of the cloud filled valleys, the majestic mountains rising out of the fog, the huts and the people that I met will remain with me forever.      I continued to slip, slide, stumble and even occasionally fall down - I was so tired - all the way to Pinkham Notch and the Lodge ¢ my journey was over for this year.Thought for today ¢   Sufficient for the day is sufficient for the hike!