Date: 2016-08-02
From: Crawford Notch / AMC Highland Center

To: Stealth Camping Spot near Sphinx Trail
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: light rain

Aug 2, 2016 - Today was a day to remember on trail. While I still think the Franconia Ridge was more majestic, the Presidential Range did not disappoint. The entire range stretches for almost 23 miles with the famous / infamous Mt. Washington serving as its pinnacle at 6,288 feet. Our goal for the day was to hike over Washington and stealth camp below the tree line a couple miles beyond. On the way to breakfast (the amount of bacon I consumed was simply astounding by the way), Elyse at the concierge, who had given us the hitch back to the center last night, stopped me to hand me Peach's package. While it was great to not have to wait until 9 am, it was obvious that someone overlooked the package yesterday at the Highland Center. Peach was a little frustrated when he found out. Anyway, we caught a hitch back to trail with another hiker named Grandma and started up Mt. Webster (3,910 feet). About halfway up, I slipped on another rock, but instead of sliding, my legs went up and I fell bodily onto the rock. My thigh and the underside of my upper arm slammed into the edges of the rock while my other forearm scraped against another rock. It's amazing how much can pass through your mind in less than a second, but, immediately, I thought I broke my arm - I unconsciously thought that I'll go to the hospital, wait for a day or two and then get back on trail with a cast on. But once I gave my mind some time to assess the situation, I realized I just bruised my arm, ripped up my other forearm pretty badly and had a dead leg. I was in pain and bleeding pretty profusely, but things could definitely be worse. Regardless, it was not a good way to start a hike through the Presidential Range. I resumed limping up the trail - on the bright side, my leg was completely dead so I couldn't feel the burn as I worked my way up the mountain. It did, however, hurt quite a bit. After another hiker forced me to stop so he could clean up my arm a bit, I reached the summit of Mt. Webster where the view made everything hurt just a little less. Two songs got me pumped back up: "My Body" by Young the Giant and, of course, "Tubthumping" by Chumbawumba. The top of Mt. Webster afforded me my first view of Mt. Washington - it was covered in so much crap (cell towers, buildings, and weather instruments, etc.) that it reminded me of the mountain from the home planet of the Monstars from Space Jam. Still, it was cool to see it all day and continue striving for it. I hiked over Webster and Mt. Jackson (4,052 feet) to arrive at the Mizpah Hut for a much needed water resupply and lunch break. I kept it short, though, because the weather was looking good on Washington and that doesn't happen very often. The top of the mountain is cloudy over 300 days out of the year due to its height and steep faces. It also is known for having the worst weather in America and, arguably, the world. One hundred fifty-seven people have died hiking Washington and it boasts the fastest recorded wind speed in the world at 212 mph. Another cool fact that I read while reading about the geology of the Presidentials is that about 460 million years ago, Mt. Washington was 8 miles higher than it is today, which is much higher than Everest! That's a hell of a lot of erosion. Anyway, I continued hiking and crested Mt. Pierce (4,312 feet) and Mt. Franklin (5,004 feet). Washington was next.I stopped in at the Lake of the Clouds Hut, a mere mile from the summit, to fill up on water and clean out my wounds again. Then, I was on my way and before you know it, I was at the summit! People drive their cars up there, take a cog train up there (it's actually thru hiker tradition to moon the people on the cog train, but since a few hikers have been arrested recently, I refrained) but I walked 12.5 miles uphill to get there. That's a good feeling. I had a snack at the top with Peach, Sherpa, Napster, and Grandma, waited in a freaking line to take a picture at the summit and started making my way down the trail. Tourists at the top were amazed at how far we've walked to get here and few wished me congratulations. Thanks, but I'm not there yet. Peach and I hiked another 2 miles to the intersection of the Sphinx Trail and started hiking down a ravine to find a stealth spot below tree line. Luckily, we found a grassy spot above the tree line on the way and set up home for the night. It was cold and breezy with a clear blue sky above us just the way I like it. "My body tells me no, but I won't quit because I want more... Cause I want more !"