Date: 2015-08-03
From: Mt. Washington 

To: Pinkham Notch
Miles today: 13.5

We woke to clear a sunny day with a clear sky. It was breezy. But, clear. Could today be another perfect weather day for hiking the Whites?  Lavender drove me to the top of Mt Washington via the auto road. We could feel the wind getting stronger as we drove higher. We reach the trail head with strong gusts of wind. I started hiking at 8:00.  I was above treeline and it was much cooler than yesterday. I even wore my rain jacket to block the wind. I also wore ear protection. I hiked down over 1250 feet in 2.5 miles. I crossed over the Mt Washington Cog Railroad. Just as I crossed over the track, the train made its first run down for the day.    Being on the ridgeline of the presedential mountains, the trail is above treeline and mostly rocks. With no trees to slow the wind, I walked most of the day with the wind blowing me one way and then another. It seems the mountains make their own unique weather. I climbed back up and around Mt. Clay then it was on to Mt. Jefferson and then Mt. Adams. After each peak the trail of course descended hundreds of feet before starting the climb up the next peak. The last peak of the day was Mt. Madison and it was a steep climb.   Up over 600 feet in just a half mile. I made it to the top of Mt Madison at 11:17.   It was a beautiful day with blue sky and lots of sunshine. The views were fantastic. It seemed I could see hundreds of miles in every direction with endless mountains everywhere I looked. I was going to stop for lunch on top of Mt Madison but decided to push on and get back down below treeline so the wind wouldn't be quit so fierce.    I started the long downhill from Mt Madison and it was over an hour before I finally descended below tree line. I found a nice spot amongst the trees and stopped for lunch. It was good to get my boots off for a bit and give my feet a rest. Too soon lunch was over and it was time to continue the descent. The descent from Mt Madison to Pinkham Notch is over 3300 feet.  I was making good time down the mountain but I was trying to go faster than I should have and soon I slipped on a rock and had a hard tumble breaking one of my trekking poles. Fortunately it was the pole that broke and not one of my bones. That was the second pole I have broken on the trail. Lavender was meeting me at mile 2 on the auto road. I arrived, saw the car, but no Lavender. She had decided to hike south to meet me. There are no white blazes on today's trail. Knowing the AT way, when Lavender came to a split in the trail, there was a climb over rocks or a dirt trail. She chose the climb over rocks. She had taken the wrong trail. She soon realized I wasn't coming on that trail and came back to the car where I was waiting.     Fozzie and Trix had just arrived at the car. Lavender provided a bit of trail magic for them. While sitting and enjoying the traul magic, a family came by and asked us about our hike. They were amazed that we had already hiked over 1800 miles and that we still had over 300 miles to go. We had a good time answeing their many questions about trail life. The family moved on and then Lavander took our packs in the car to meet us at Pinkham Notch.      We left and hiked the 2 miles to Pinkham Notch visitor center. We flew over this trail. It was a nice "tourist" trail. Lavender found us when we arrived.  We looked around the center. Then, we drove Fozzie and Trix to dinner and a hostel. While at dinner, there was a heavy thunderstorm. We were so thankful we were inside, dry and warm.  We were concerned about the hikers outside in the storm.  Lavender and I found a place to camp for the night. We relaxed a bit. It was a hard day of hiking for me. I need a good night's sleep as I'm planning to do 21 miles tomorrow.