Date: 2015-07-17
From: AMC Highland Center, Crawford Notch

To: Mt. Washington 
Miles today: 12.5

This was a great day of hiking, possibly the best I've had. I've heard that the weather on Mt. Washington is not clear very often, so I guess we were very lucky. We could see forever. We saw lots of people on the trail and everyone was in a great mood. And speaking of great things, I learned later that granddaughter Avery Marie Gibson was born today.We started out with a long uphill pull, a good way to work out breakfast, but I was worried that I might not have enough legs left to do the rest of the day. Today was certainly one of the biggest verticals that we have. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I need to share last night's experience. We stayed at the AMC Highland Center, a large lodge with very nice accommodations. I'll include a pic on the gallery. We got a private family room - a large double bed with 2 bunk beds. Dinner was in the dining hall, a la hut protocol - family style, and we got everything ready and went to bed early anticipating the big hike today. About 1:30 AM the fire alarm went off, and we all filed outdoors into the 40 deg darkness. After about a half hour outside, they opened up an adjacent conference hall so we could get inside and stay warm. Eventually 5 or 6 fire trucks responded. A long story, the bottom line is that it was almost 4:00 AM before everything was clear and we could return to our rooms. Apparently there was a problem in an elevator and a CO monitor went off. So we were short on sleep at 6 when it was time to get ready. Breakfast was great, and we didn't let the lack of sleep dampen our spirits. Spartacus spent the night at home and missed the fire alarm event, but he rode in on his new pink MoPed and arrived nearly frozen to death.   When we finally made it to the top of the ridge we were panting, but the sunlight was awesome and the views were incredible. Above the tree line it was all rock and turf everywhere. From that point on we had unbelievable panoramic views in all directions. We hiked along the presidential ridge, climbing some of the mountain tops and skirting around others. Each time we topped or rounded a mountain, Mt. Washington was beckoning ever closer. People were everywhere along the trail, northbound, southbound, it's amazing how many people all ages and sizes come out to hike this trail. We could virtually always see someone in front of us and someone behind us. Eventually we rounded Mt. Monroe and there was the Lake of the Clouds Hut in front of us. There must have been 20 people there, resting in the sun and picking up water and energy bars before the final push to the top. Lake of the Clouds is probably the most popular of the huts and we stopped and sat briefly to catch our breath. We talked with several other thru-hikers who had heard of us: "oh yes, you're the ones who are writing the book on slacking". And then we pushed on the final 1.4 miles to the top. Now the terrain turned to boulders and rock. There was soil and plants to the side in places, but hikers know that the Alpine vegetation is fragile and are mindful to stay on the rock paths. The vegetation seemed to be a kind of moss with tiny white flowers sprinkled all through. Someone told us that the flowers are called common wort, it seemed to us that they should have a more elegant name. The fact I I kept my head down mostly, trying to pick my way through the rocks and not lose my balance. Each time I looked up, the summit looked a little closer. The path was marked by cairns rather than blazes, so we crept along from cairn to cairn. And finally, we were there at the top, no more cairns. It was crowded at the top, people everywhere. Many drove up on the auto road, or took the cog railway or the shuttle. But there were a lot of hikers mixed in, with shorts, boots and trekking pokes. Our first order of business was to get our shuttle tickets down to the bottom of the mountain. They won't take reservations for seats on the shuttle, you buy a ticket when you're ready and then take the next van that still has space. Ticket prices go up by $20 after 4 PM. The ride takes about 30 min down the narrow, winding, steep private road to the Visitors Center at the base. We had about 45 min before our van departed, so the next order of business was the customary photo at the summit sign. There was a queue for the photos that took about 15 min. The protocol is that you take pics for the group in front of you in line, and someone in the group behind you takes your pics. With that done, we headed into the visitors building. Given the incredible weather extremes at the summit, everything at the top is built like a fortress. One of the older buildings is chained to the mountain. The official records here are 231 mph for the highest wind gust and -50 deg F for the lowest temp. It's known as having the worst weather in the world. It's also dangerous, over 150 people have died on the mountain since 1850 - one earlier this year. The visitors building had lots of background on the distinctive characteristics of the mountain. We found Ranger there. He was stocking up and getting ready to head to a campsite partway down the mountain. A good plan since the weather is expected to deteriorate tomorrow and Mt. Madison is a super tough downhill across miles of boulders. Not long after, he started downhill, and I got a long-distance photo of him crossing the cog-railway.   Patty was our hiker shuttle driver and she had not trouble answering our questions about the background of the "stagecoach" line and the surrounding mountains. Princess had called the White Mountain Hostel from the summit to ask for a shuttle to the hostel and when we arrived at the visitor center, we were happy to see that Brother Louie was our driver to the hostel. He is working there for a few days. Last year we stayed at the Libby House in Gorham, but we heard from several hostel owners that we should try the White Mountain Hostel. Based mostly on the weather, we have decided to take a zero tomorrow, so I'll say more about the hostel tomorrow.