Date: 2003-08-12
From: Lake of the Clouds Hut (Mt Washington)

To: Osgood Tent Site
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: light rain

Well, we survived the dungeon¢¦ It smelled like ammonia, sorta¢¦ or something else equally as vile¢¦ It was below the dining room, so we got the benefit of every noise that people made there at night., until ¢lights out¢ (every foot step or chair squeak, every asshole practicing his drums¢¦). Then in the AM, all the breakfast setup starting at about 6AM. Sheesh¢¦ As for the weather, it was sort of clear at 03:45 (the lights in the valley were cool), but socked in with fog when we got up in the morning. Mt Washington (wherever you are), here we come. We hiked up the rocky trail to the summit of Mount Washington in the fog, when we got to the top, we had trouble finding the buildings in the fog, we had to ask for directions to things that were 100 feet away. When the cog railroad engine arrived, we could hear it, but couldn¢t see it . I never saw the summit until mid September, when I drove up there on a clear day (it was amazing what I missed in the fog, and how close to it I was¢¦ Awesome views). We finally found the summit sign and headed there to get our pictures taken in the fog, then we headed for the summit house for a second breakfast (coffee, a cinnamon roll, a ham and cheese sandwich, and Gatorade). We shopped, then bought post cards, I called home to talk to Shari about the Web cam on the viewing platform (if we could find it, since it was fogged in). She told us to stand in front of it anyway, that she could see a little of the platform it was pointed at so maybe we could still get in the picture it took for the website (so everyone could see us). So we went out in the fog to find the camera & pose (once we figured out exactly which direction how far away we should stand). We stood there until we were sure that the cam had taken it¢s picture (every 15 minutes it takes a new one for the website), then we went back in to the phone and the website to see if we were in the picture. Shari said we were in it, but too far away (barely visible in the fog), so we needed to go back out & pose again, but closer. This one was better, she recognized us, and even saw the folded up flag in Wenches hand. How cool, we¢re famous, people all over the World can see us on Mt Washington (that was fun¢¦ And cold!). Another phone call and a few more errands, and we set off North into the fog. We hiked towards the cog railroad tracks (we had to cross them and parallel them for a while), and paused as a train approached in the fog. It was headed down the mountain and we waited for it before crossing the tracks. Well, we had ulterior motives¢¦ The train came out of the fog slowly chugging down hill, we waved at the engineer and fireman, and then quickly turned around and double mooned the passengers. It was received with a round of applause! Thruhiker tradition has been upheld (it¢s tradition to moon the Mt Washington cog railroad)! After warming up from the cold draft, we moved on down the trail (there were many rocks to play on before we stopped for the day). We hiked up and down for hour over rocks and boulders (fun, but tough on the knees and ankles), until we finally dropped down into the Madison Hut for a late lunch. Walking over rocks is fatiguing, so I was ready for a break (a nap really¢¦). We relaxed for about an hour, eating peanut butter and honey sandwiches, and the Huts bottomless bowl of soup (potato basil with way too much pepper.. Yow!). We left at about 4PM with about 3 rocky miles to go. We had to climb 500 feet straight up Mount Madison (hand over hand), then bump along for a bit before dropping down 3,000 feet to the Osgood tent site. Climbing rocks is tiring work, but going down steep rocks for 3,000 feet is nerve wracking, tiring, and hard on the knees and ankles. It¢s so easy to fall, and we had many close calls, but here we are, safe, sound, and tired, tented at Osgood. We just did 3 miles of rock hopping, rock climbing and scrambling in 3 hours. This was a very tough 10 mile day. Tomorrow, who knows? Minimally lunch at Pinkham notch, then maybe on to Carter Hut (we¢ll see how it goes). Life is tiring, but good¢¦