Date: 2009-09-02
From: Lakes of the Clouds Hut, NH

To: Madison Hut, NH
Miles today: 7.0

A perfect day! Not many of these in the Presidentials- especially this season. We couldn't of been more grateful for the weather. Last night was really fun. Berry and I volunteered to do some dirty work scraping pots and cleaning the bottom of storage drawers. It wasn't bad at all. We were kind of worried that sleeping would be difficult with noise and all. Around 10:00pm all the hikers finally got a chance to bed down. We were out quickly and slept soundly through the night. This morning we had two rounds of breakfast. First, the staff wanted the thru-hikers to work on the left over cream of wheat w/ chocolate chip granola. That was easy. Then, we had a full breakfast with eggs, peach crumb cake and pineapple. After breakfast all the hikers teamed up to scrub the bunk rooms and beds. All in all it was about 45 minutes of work and we were all out the door by 9:30am.This really was the way to go. We were so privileged! A single guest at a hut will pay anywhere from $95-$112 per night. We were at one of the most beautiful places in the world, together with our hiking friends, having a warm place to sleep and two meals in our bellies all for a little manual labor. Can't beat that!The summit of Mt. Washington was awesome today. The weather was amazing- a little chilly on top with minimal wind and clear blue skies. We hiked to the top with Stickcakes, Dragon Breath and Duck Man. After our summit photo's we all joined each other in the snack bar/ restaurant and relaxed for the next hour and a half. We were all tired already for the day. It was a little surprising- maybe due to the change in schedule from staying at huts- but I think mostly we'd all agree that the exposure to the sun has wiped us out. Being on the trail throughout the summer we have always been in tree cover. The last two days we feel a little heavy eyed and sun burned being above treeline.... but this is a nice problem to have!We left the meal area on top of Washington shortly after noon and the rest of the hike it was just Berry and I hiking together. We've taken a lot of pictures, but they won't do it justice- the Presidentials are breathtaking! We took it slow and enjoyed being together on this epic journey.Somewhere in the harmony of it all we realized how difficult the trail was becoming. We were going extremely slow over some of the worst rock and boulder fields. We stopped and visited with team Hiking Poles as they passed us, it was motivating to see them and to know that they were feeling the pain too. All the hikers were heading to Madison Hut. The trail caught everyone off guard. 7 miles took all day. We finally arrived at 4:30pm and were received by Stickcakes and Hiking Poles. We all sat in the dinning area, ate cookies and sipped on cold water. Thankfully, Madison had room for us to do work-for-stay. Yes! Within the hour the rest of our hiking friends arrived. Sun, Rufio, Lake To Lake and Many Names (or Team Hiking Poles), Hot Chocolate and team Stickcakes made for the perfect company. We all sat outside the hut while the guests ate dinner inside. As the sun went down it got chilly and we all huddled together for warmth. We played games in a circle and it was a riot. Tonight's group is a lot of fun.After the guests of the hut ate the 10 of us hikers came in and sat down. The hut staff brought out all the food that needed to be eaten and we all demolished it- it was like a family Christmas meal- passing food here and there and making sure everyone had their fill. Team stickcakes and I tackled the dishes and now we are all sitting in the dining area waiting for the guests to go to sleep so we can set up shop and get some sleep.