Day 1 Crawford Notch to Lakes of the Clouds
Up at 5 to hit the road and pick up Chris. Despite some quirky mapquest directions, I actually managed to successfully navigate the streets of Cambridge and find his new place. We were barreling up 93 N together by 6:30. Turns out the Whites are well into New Hampshire, and after a breakfast stop (The Lonestar off exit 32: a covered wagon/wild west themed restaurant because nothing says the wild west like rural New Hampshire) we arrived at the trailhead by 10, and were merrily hiking along by 10:30. It was raining at the time, but within the trees, it wasn't too much of an issue. We stopped at the Mitzphah hut on the way up. It's a beautiful location, but too close to anything to make it worthwhile to stop. Why would anyone do a 2.5 mile day, and then stop for the night? As we pushed on, over the summit of Pierce we encountered some serious weather. Once we passed the treeline, the rain became a lot bigger deal than it had been at lower altitudes. Heading into Lakes of the Clouds was one of the most adverse days of hiking I've ever experienced in my long years of backcountry experience. Since we were going in late June, we both figured that weather would not be too big of an issue. Although we both packed raingear, we had no rainpants, and were rather unprepared for the severity of the wind above the treeline. Rain came in horizontally as we struggled forward. Fog (or maybe clouds?) enveloped us, and visibility was reduced to maybe ten feet. Chis had the lead, and despite his bright yellow slicker, he remained a hazy and indistinct shape on the trail in front of me. Apparently, these sort of conditions are not out of the ordinary, as cairns marking the trail stood barely ten feet apart. We plodded on at a brisk pace, but we certainly were not going to outdistance the rain. Within the first 15 minutes we both were pretty soaked save our torsos. Chris' ill-fitting pack cover flapped in the winds, and I concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. As we neared the hut, I began to worry that we'd walk right past it in the Degobah like conditions. As we neared it, I began to hear the turning of the windmill atop the hut (all AMC huts run on green energy, a combination of wind and solar powers), and we were unable to see it until it loomed out of the fog directly in front of us. When we arrived, the hut was already pretty full. We were assigned to a room at the end, and found 18 bunks squeezed within an area the smaller than a typical bedroom. Our clothes were soaked, and although we spread them out to dry, the humidity and temperature were such that nothing really dried out. Fortunately, our trip was short enough that we didn't need to wear those socks or shirts again. (Note: The Jimmy Carter, History's Greatest Monster shirt I wore on Day 1 was still wet and well on its way to mildewy 3 days later when I dropped it off at the laundry.) The hut itself was a pleasant surprise. Large common area where Chis and I played backgammon and scrabble, and tried to play cribbage, although neither one of us could follow the written instructions. After changing we enjoyed a delicious dinner of lemon chicken and rice (brownies with white chocolate Ghiradeli chips for dessert...wow!), and the enthusiastic staff (liberal arts college kids who were friendly and likeable despite their earnestness, youth, and hippie-esque tendencies.) made for a very pleasant experience. We were in bed by 9:00 as we had hiked all day, and thanks to Chris' ear plugs I slept through the night. 3 blankets and a pillow were provided to each guest. I slept pretty well, despite frequent bathroom breaks which were no easy task given my third bunk status. Chris did not have a pillow and consequently slept terribly. i felt bad, but given my sleep peculuarities, better him than me. Woke up before the wake up call (6:30) but it was still to grey and rainy to investigate much of anything. Another large and delicous breakfast-- pancakes! later and we were ready for Washington...
Day 2 Lakes of the Clouds to Madison Springs vis Mt. Washington
Up early and another meal much nicer than it had any right to be 7 miles uphill from civilization. We were the first people on the trail to Mt. Washington, and althought the rain had temporarily abated, visibility was nil, and the wind was horrific. Not 200 yards from the hut we past a sign saying that Mt. Washington has the worst weather in the country, and to turn back if the weather was bad. We kept going.
Trail was rocky, but not too steep. We were passed by employees from the hut about 45 minutes in, and they sailed by us like we were standing still, hardly out of breath at all, talking, laughing, one girl was even wearing a skirt. We pressed on and summited by 9:00.
We couldn't really take in the view, and the visitor's center, parking lot, and road to the top kind of took away from the rustic sense of back-country achievement that we had been hoping for. With little reason to dally, we headed back down and off toward Madison Springs Hut. We had another 5 miles or so to go, and made slow, but deliberate progress along the rocky path. We were within a mile of the hut when it began to rain again. With unpleasant memories of soaked socks and underwear fresh in our minds, we readied ourselves for the final push. In our haste for a warm and dry environment we somehow missed the correct turn off for the hut. The trail began heading downward and gradually became steeper and steeper. Soon we were reduced to crawling backwards and we were forced to consider that maybe we made a mistake. Were we going to be those hikers you hear about? Who wander off the trail and then need to be rescued to their own great embarassment? I thought back to wilderness survival skills from scouts... priorities range from shelter, to water, to food, in that order. We were fine on food and water, but unfortunately, we were clinging rather precariously to the side of a mountain in a rainstorm, so shelter, that most pressing of all survival needs, was the one thing we lacked.
After consulting our map (funny that we hadn't thought of that at any other stage of our trek thus far: akin to starving to death next to a fridge stocked with food) we immediately realized that we had turned onto the Great Gully trail, and were in fact well off course. The rocks were unbelievably slippery, and we were faced with the unappetizing prospect of crawling our way back up the same trail we had just barely made it down. Nonetheless, we had no other options, so we began the slow arduous trek back up. The rain finally stopped, and eventually we made it to the Madison Springs Hut. Slightly smaller than Lakes of the Clouds, but by that point we weren't feeling particularly picky. Bunk rooms were even more space efficient (stacked up 4 high) and we had at least 50 people in our room. Ear plugs were once again a must-have neccesity, but our exhaustion made for relatively pleasant sleeping.
Day 3 Madison Springs to Pinkham Notch
Left bright and early after a "Hans and Franz" inspired sketch reminding us to pack out our garbage, fold our blankets, and (most importantly) tip the staff. We decided to bypass the Madison summit due to our creaky 30 something muscles and bones. Unfortunately the bypass was probably more difficult as it was a mile-long boulder scramble, followed by another two miles of sheer descent back below the treeline. Every source we consulted (hut information, our own maps, posted trail signs) gave use different mileage figures, but we eventually made it back to Pinkham Notch. Given the nice weather we had for the last part of the last day, I would love to make it back there sometime, perhaps at the end of the summer when Chris and I return from our respective travels. To bring next time: REAL hiking boots, polypro or other synthetic shirts and underwear, fleece jacket (not vest) Extra extra socks, less food, ear plugs, gloves, a fleece hat, sunglasses, and mayhaps my iplodito
