Date: 2004-08-01
From: Lakes of the Clouds

To: Pinkham Notch
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: fog

easy and wildcat started really early, maybe 6:15, with tank and bonespur. i didn't know what the rush was. they talked about getting breakfast at the cafeteria on top of mt. washington. thats only 1.4 away from here and the place opens at 8am. i wonder if they'll be standing in the rain for a while.Into the mist...i started out at 6:40; there was a light rain and it took concentration to see from cairn to cairn. i passed the "worst weather in the world... turn back now" sign and moved on slowly. i went about .2 further and the rain started to downpour and blow sideways. the wind was about 20 mph and i had not reached a really exposed area yet. "ok, this is nuts", i thought. being from new england and having hiked washington three times (and turned back twice because the weather changed radically) i know i'd be asking for trouble if i did not heed the current conditions. ("a wise man does not quit the shade", and in this case, lakes is the shade.)Gravity sucks...i turned around and made my way back to the hut. the trail had puddles of water now and the rocks were much slicker. about 25 feet from the hut i took a fall... i lost my footing and the weight of my pack threw me into the rocks. pain shot through my left forearm and right leg followed by a steady stream of expletives coming from my mouth. so close, and i took digger #4 right in front of the unwashed masses at the lakes hut.i laid there for a few seconds getting pelted by driving rain, assessing the damage. nothing broken, everything seems to work. getting up with one arm took all my strength - the pack felt like it weighed 50 lbs. i hobbled into the hut where thru hikers, readying to go outside, greeted me and immediately changed their plans about leaving so soon. my left arm had a nice 6" bruised and bleeding scrape which i cleaned and covered with a gause pad. my right leg faired better with just a bruise and left palm is sore with an abrasion.i guess i'm going to hang here for a while and see if i can get some breakfast after the croo eats. the weather report, which came out after i returned, says the wind at the peak will slow down to about 20-30 today. it is currently reported to be gusting up to 50 mph. the temps will be in the mid-50's also. better to be here than out there.Into the mist, part deux...the rains died down and the weather turned to wind driven mist. visibility was about 50' and i made my way to the washington summit. i did a quick self-portrait at the official sign, only to have a 40 mph wind gust send my pack cover into the mist.i could not see from building to building and needed someone to point in the general direction of the cafeteria. there i met up with the rat pack guys. i bought some chocolate chip cookies and a hot dog for lunch. the warm hot dog tasted wonderful and i saved the cookies for my trek into the mist.i said goodbye to the guys and went outside to see if i could find my pack cover. in my head i made a few calculations and chose the spot where it would most likely be. i climbed a rock pile and again got blasted by 30-40 mph gusts. in the fog i could see my cover plastered against a rock. cool beans! i grabbed the sucker and secured it extra tight on my pack.as i got further away from washington the skies got lighter and the weather better. soon the sky was clear, sun shining, but i still had those 30-40 mph winds. the trail from washington to mt. madsion is a huge boulder hop. ... and one good gust of wind could knock me over. falling on the rocks would suck out here. the surface of these rocks is much like a cheese grater, just brushing against them takes off skin.Hiking can be hazardous to my health...thru hiking is not always happy go lucky. there are some very dangerous sections where one screw-up could slice you up bad, break bones, or end your life. some wet rock faces take all my concentration and arm strength to navigate safely (my triceps and forearms are killing me). a few times today my shoes didn't hold and i slid quickly down and had to run over and dodge the cheese-grater rocks below, until i could slow myself and my 35 pound payload down.It's not a question but a lesson learned in time...below treeline the trail turned into a more manageable set of twisted rocks and roots. not great by any means, but more forgiving in case i fall. i found myself rushing. i was worried about not getting a space at the hostel. the logistical problems that the eight-person rat pack could cause was on my mind.and they were gaining on me. i stopped and felt my experience in the moment. i was hating my hike and my knees were hurting too. the concern for my knees made me feel deeply victimized by my body. i wanted the pain to stop... now. i know it's all telling me something, but how do i keep hiking with knee pain? even if i understand what i'm doing to cause these events to happen, i still gotta walk for 3-4 more weeks.i started to have a conversation with myself. it went something like this:dharma: what the hell is going on?self: you're out of the moment... you're thinking about the future... the possible overcrowding in the hostel. you haven't gotten to the point where you need to care about that. what are you doing now, in the moment?d: hiking.s: that's the only thing you should deal with. when you get to the end of today's hike, then choose what you want to do with your accommodations.d: what should i do now? my knees hurt a lot.s: go at your own pace... not the one you were moving at because you feared there won't be space in the hostel (a future event that might/might not happen).d: ok, anything else?s: yes, let them (the rat pack) pass you. you'd be surprised how things will turn out if you would just stay in the present and move based on the current condition in the moment.so i slowed down and focused on hiking. four of the rat pack soon caught up to me and passed me by. i strolled along, staying in the moment. my tension and my knee pain started to diminish. i forgot about my worries that i had minutes before. "this is much better", i thought.at the end of the day i met up with wildcat, easy, northern harrier, and tortoise for dinner at the pinkham lodge. all my friends decided to stay at the lodge instead of going to the hostel. i decided to stay with them, so the overcrowding was a non-problem that i was worrying about.almost done...at the lodge, i met a young boy named ted in the bathroom. he recognized me from reading my journal. how cool. i apologized for being so tired, groggy, and not my chipper self. we talked a little about the trail and the upcoming sections of maine he is going to do. i may see him on-trail in a few weeks.wow, this has been my longest entry yet. i'm two days behind with the other ones, so i better get jammin'. today, i got a good lesson about not "quitting the shade" and staying in the moment. i hope to keep these two things fresh in my mind as i finish NH and enter maine.