8/13/01
Last night I slept great on the porch of the Willey House state park visitor center. The window unit air conditioner ran all night and drowned out road noise from passing cars nearby. Our little group was up early, anticipating the big climb ahead of us. Around 7:30 Dick, from the state park, came by and loaded the five of us in the state owned pickup to go back to the trail. Soon the sweat was pouring off our bodies as we began the steep, rugged climb up to Mt. Webster and Webster Cliffs. It was 2500' of rocks and boulders, but the view back down to Crawford Notch was awesome. Clouds were building quickly and moving our way, so we knew the views wouldn't last long. We all paused at the top of Webster before continuing across Mt. Jackson. By late morning we reached the Mizpah Spring hut where we went inside to see what food was available. Interesting enough, I had been craving tomato soup this morning while hiking, and the "bottomless" soup of the day was cream of tomato soup! For a dollar, each hut has AYCE soup. We all participated and I ate 6 bowls of the soup as well as sweet desserts that were also AYCE for another dollar. Thoroughly stuffed, we left the hut to continue our hike across the Presidential range of the Whites. By the time we reached the top of Mt. Pierce, we were hiking in the clouds and above the treeline. For the next twenty miles we will be above treeline, exposed to see all of the mountains and valleys around us. Occasionally a few spits of rain were pelting us as the stiff wind blew across the exposed ridgeline. From Mt. Pierce we continued climbing around the side of Mt. Eisenhower, across Mt. Franklin, and then across the side of Mt. Monroe. The sun intermittently broke through the clouds and the whole scene was surreal as we continued climbing higher and higher.
By late afternoon we arrived at the Lakes of Clouds hut with Mt. Washington's summit looming behind the hut. At 5000', the windy conditions created a wind chill in the 30s, so it was nice to be inside. Phantom, Redneck, and Finn were able to get the last three available work for stays to avoid having to pay to stay at the hut and to get a free dinner and breakfast. Pogo and I paid the $6.00 fee and watched as our compatriots washed dishes in the hut kitchen for two hours to earn their keep. Traditionally the Lake of the Clouds hut (often referred to as Lakes of the Crowds hut) is the most popular AMC hut in the Whites, and today was no exception. There were 90 bunks for families and day hikers, and the hut was full of people milling around with their kids running all over the place. The dungeon, which is a tiny basement area, only holds six hikers and is normally reserved for long distance hikers. Finn was the only member of our group able to stay there, while the AMC staff promised the rest of us a table in the dining area to sleep for the night. We all sat in the library area of the hut while the throng of dayhikers and families were served dinner by the "croo" or staff. After the crowd was fed and the tables were cleared as well as all of the dishes, the thru-hikers who participated in the work for stay, as well as the croo, ate dinner. Finally around 8 p.m. the rest of us were offered the leftovers from the meal, which we eagerly accepted. All of us were relatively uncomfortable staying at the hut as we didn't eat with the rest of the folks staying there for the night and we were unable to claim a spot to sleep on until 9:30 when the croo turned off the lights. We were all pretty beat up from a full day of climbing and the ten of us who were sleeping on the tables all settled down quickly to go to sleep.
From my table I was able to look outside at the millions of stars since the clouds had blown out of the area. The wind was howling outside and I was happy to be inside, despite no heat and a chill inside the hut. I was almost asleep when unfortunately the "croo" made a lot of noise partying. They apparently didn't care whether or not those of us sleeping on the tables got our needed rest or not, because they continued making a lot of noise past midnight. Pogo and I both asked them to keep the noise down, but we were basically ignored. I got the distinct feeling that the thru-hikers are only tolerated in the hut system of the Whites and we really weren't welcome as we don't fit the target audience of the AMC. Before I finally went to sleep I decided that this would be my last hut experience in the Whites and that my tent would be a much better home for the next few nights. Despite the negatives, it was an incredible hiking day across the Presidential range and tomorrow morning we climb to the summit of Mt. Washington, the highest peak in New England. Today's stats: low 55, high 70. Cloudy and sporadic light rain to partly sunny. Today's mileage: 11.2 (all up!) Cumulative mileage: 1834.3.
