Date: 2013-09-04
From: Lakes of the Clouds

To: Madison Springs Hut
Miles today: 7.0

I slept so, so well. It was pretty cool inside; did they turn off the heating? I don't know, but I was happily tucked into my warm sleeping bag. I heard the wind blowing all night long. I kept looking up out of the windows above my head, and all I saw was white. I got up at 6:00, and the weather forecast was dismal, at best. The perfect, sunny day we'd been promised the day before was being replaced with threats of freezing rain, sleet and possible snow. Damn. And tomorrow is supposed to be worse. Our group of four was following the same line of thinking, get out and over Mt Washington now. View or no view.We were in a closely packed line heading up Mt Washington my 7:45. It wasn't too cold, despite the wind, but the fog was thick. We walked in a single file line along the waters of a small lake. I'd love to see it in clear conditions. As it were, it felt like we were walking alongside the banks of the River Styx, smoky, mysterious, dangerous. Where would today's journey take us? Hopefully to Mt Washington.It was a much easier hike up than I expected. It was rocky, but my adrenaline was pumping hardly through my veins. We seemed to work our was towards the top with little effort. We got about 3/4 mile from the top and the clouds started to burn off in waves. We'd catch a glimpse of a ridge or rocky ground a few miles away. Then we'd catch a fleeting glimpse of the summit. The sun seemed to be winning this game of tug-of-war.we'd stop periodically to 'ooooohhhh' and 'aaaaaaahhhhhh'and frantically take photos that failed to capture the magic of the moment.The wind really picked up as we grew closer to Washington's summit. We had a spectacular 360 degree view. It was more perfect than anyone could dare to hope for. The air was so clear and the sky blinding blue. The sun bore down on us and we had to squint in its intensity. We hooped and hollered and jumped for joy. The whipped us about, but we still jumped for joy. The highest wind speed of the day (as of the time we were there) was clocked at 63 mph. We popped inside and had hot chocolate and egg salad sandwiches. We talked with some of the tourists who'd come up on the cog wheel train. Finally around 10:00 am, we reorganized and headed back out. The wind was barreling across the summit at a tremendous speed. We tried not Otto get blown off the rocks as we started down the sharp rocky descent. Amber colored grass waved glossy in the wind. We crossed over the cog tacks and crawled slowly down the mountainside. We had great lighting for much of the hike, but linear comet-shaped clouds started to form over the top of Mt Washington. The cloud grew to look like a Star Wars spaceship. The climb down was slow and arduous as we picked our way across a sharp boulder field. The side of the mountain looked like it had been scooped out with a giant back-hoe. My ankles and feet started whimpering, and I had flashes of Pennsylvania. All the stones are wrecking my ankles; soon they were howling.We crouched behind a rock wall in hopes of cutting the wind enough to be able to have lunch. We piled on layers because the winds were sucking away our body heat. We started to cross Edmand's Col and the wind was so strong that it lifted me up as if I were wearing a harness, and it hoisted me uphill with easy. The problem arose when I needed to go in another direction. In those cases, I'd have to brace myself against the wind and garner enough power to press a few steps forward. We saw a storm moving towards us, so we stopped to put our rain pants on. I was concerned that if we got wet, we'd risk hypothermia. I'd try to put the hood of my jacket up over my head, and it would snatch it off, and the neck would tug against my throat like a choke collar. Some sections I had to crawl across the rocks on my hands and knees because I couldn't stand up and walk against the blast of air. It would lift and throw me about, slamming me against rocks. I was grateful when there were rock walls to my right side because those were easier to brace myself against to progress forward. And it was a much better option to being thrown off the mountain. Honestly, its the most concerned I've been since the freezing day back in Georgia. I was so, so happy to have Hobo, Pressure-D and Tough Cookie there. The fog set in with the wind, and I was really concerned that we still had 2.2 miles to go to get to the nearest hut, never mind the 3 miles farther to get to the campsite we were shooting for. There was no way we'd be able to set up a tent in this weather, and there was nowhere to set one up even if we could. It's been one of the hairiest (weather-wise) days we've faced in a long time. Thank goodness once we rounded Mt Jefferson, the wind relented a bit. The temperature was dropping. It was getting dark, and the fog serious impeded our visibility. By then, our group of four was exhausted and humbled. Our buoyant moods of the morning had sombered. We just wanted out of the weather. As we continued down the Gulfside Trail about a mile from Madison Spring hut, the clouds parted for a brief moment, and we caught a quick glimpse of the valley floor and a hut down and behind us. Oh shit. Had we missed the trail leading to the hut? We checked our directions. It didn't seem so, but I was worried. At this point in the day, I wasn't sure we'd have been willing to backtrack. We could see the sharp rocks of Mt Madison rise straight up ahead of us. That bastard mountain looked like little more than a big stinking pile of razor boulders. Ugh. We came across a sign that said: Madison Springs Hut .2. The hut came into via. Oh, it looked so warm and inviting, but there were at least a thousand tortuous steep, sharp, uneven rock 'steps' between us and it. For the half a mile previous, we'd enjoyed a flattish, patchwork of rocks laid out so smoothly you could push a shopping cart along them, and now this.A SoBo was coming up the stairs. Hobo asked him about work-for-stay, and he said he thought they were already full. We groaned. We got down to the hut and saw Tangy's pack outside. Wander woman, Clark Kent, Clinker and Dr Who had already secured WFS. We asked a croo member if we could get it, too. Initially they said no, they didn't have enough to feed us. We said that we had plenty of food, we just wanted to sleep on the floor, no food necessary. The croo leader said no problem. We'd just have to do a little work in the morning. No Problem!As if on the cue, the wind picked up and it started to rain. As the evening wore on, it got worse. Rain pounded against the windows and slid down their surface, as if it were trying in vain to get to us inside. Holy shit, it has to be terrible out there. And there's a cold front moving in tonight. Cat Lady, Sweet pea & Oaks rolled in, and they were allowed to stay, too. They serenaded us with their instruments and singing after the soup was dolled out. Even though we only hiked 7 miles today, my booty is whipped. The wind and rocks really did a number on me. Tomorrow we'll take on Mt Madison, and after that I don't know. I'm just so grateful not to be out in the elements. It's crazy intense out there.