Appalachian Trail, White Mountains, NH – 8/19/12 – Lake of
the Clouds Hut to Valley View Campsite – 7.6 miles
Faint light through our dungeon window awakened us
early. We were out of our bunks by 6:30
a.m., washed up, prepared and ate our breakfast in the LOTC dining room. We had a minimum of 7 miles today and expected
it to be slow going, so no time to waste.
Stepping out into the chill, we turned our faces towards the
trail and stopped to marvel: blue sky, a
lacy wisp of cloud over Mount Washington....
...and a cottony blanket of clouds down over
the valley. Can you see where the name
“Lake of the Clouds” comes from?
Another interpretation of "Lake of the Clouds"
The first big pile of rocks to climb today was Mount
Washington, carefully choosing our footing across a boulder field with only
rock cairns as guides. I say “first”
because pretty much all day was the same, above tree line navigating one
boulder field after another. The good
news was the clouds dispersed for a wide-open blue sky and we could see for miles
and miles in every direction…all day long.
This was quite a gift because Mount Washington is famous for having the “worst
weather on earth”. Today there wasn’t
even a noticeable breeze. For me the
expansive views definitely made the rocky terrain worthwhile.
Saying goodbye to Mount Monroe and Lake of the Clouds Hut
I took a dozen photos looking backwards as we climbed – this
is Judy and Mount Monroe and a tiny LOTC
Most of the rock cairns featured a chunk of quartz larger
than my head
Ugly but necessary equipment towers on Mount Washington –
can you believe it was hard to get a cell phone signal?
We were ahead of most folks getting to the summit, i.e. the
cog train and driving tourists had not yet arrived. Sadly, the snack bar was also not yet cooking. There’s a hospitable hiker lounge on the
lower floor with tables and chairs, outlets for recharging things, and most
importantly, bathrooms and showers. We
hung around for an hour or so waiting on sandwiches from the snack bar, threw
away trash and did one last edit of pack weight, tossing out a little bit of
food. We briefly considered riding the cog railway down and back up the mountain, but the fee ($62) and the time involved made us say no.
Here the AT changes from the Crawford Path to the Gulfside
Trail, more presidential summits ahead.
Overheard remark from a female hiker ahead of us: “Next is Mount Clay? That one must be named for those people who
lost a presidential election. Come on,
let’s go climb Mount Romney!”
Standing on the cog railway tracks
Click on this photo to enlarge it and see the cog train
ascending Mount Washington, with Lake of the Clouds Hut (shining roof) and
Mount Monroe in the center background
The women ahead of us (the Romney joke) mooned the train as
it went past, a tradition amongst AT thru-hikers and apparently anybody who
feels like it. The conductor shook his
fist at them and yelled, maybe threatening to arrest them later? How would he identify them? Well, it is a family train…We just smiled and
waved politely as it passed us.
We’re going over all those mountains
Do you see a trail?
Neither do I.
Typical character of the trail today. Most intersections were well signed, but the
only indication of trails was rock cairns leading off in different directions.
Mount Clay – once again the AT skirted around the contours
while a side trail went to the summit.
Judy was cool with summiting Mount Washington, but the
relentless boulder fields did not improve her opinion of New Hampshire as she
continued to be extremely cautious and uncomfortable. Fortunately she is very strong physically so
she just sucked it up like a pro and kept going. I felt more confident with the rock surfing
than on the first day and the climbs were not as extreme, but I still didn’t
want to foolishly twist an ankle. We
moved slowly enough not to get hopelessly exhausted, but as the day wore on the
rocks got more challenging and we grew weary.
One mile per hour was our top speed.
During one rest stop I stepped on one of my new hiking poles
and bent it, had to fiddle with it and readjust to keep the proper length. Once you’ve bent a pole you can’t really
trust it. (Once back home I returned it
to REI, walked out five minutes later with a new set of poles.)
Huge hunk of quartz on the trail
Mount Washington over Judy’s shoulder. From there the AT follows the ridge line in a
huge semi-circle to the right, so we could see Mount Washington all day and even the
following day.
A little outcropping fun near Mount Jefferson
Interesting ridge lines
Hobbit-esque patch of stunted trees near Israel Ridge
A rare AT blaze – the yellow blaze represents Gulfside Trail
Near Thunderstorm Junction – here the AT skirts the contours
of Mount Sam Adams. Some clouds were
beginning to form, the hour was getting later and we were ready to be done but
still had a couple of miles to go. A few
thru-hikers passed us, mostly young guys moving at high speed, not what you
want to see at the end of a tiring day.
Our goal was to score two guest bunks for the night at Madison Hut, our
only hope since they don’t have emergency shelter like LOTC does.
Madison Hut at last – and Mount Madison, the rock pile
behind it, which we will have to deal with in the morning
No room at the inn for us, but we got to say hello to some fellow
travelers we’d met at LOTC. So what are
our options? A campsite about a
half-mile down the Valley View Trail…down meaning straight down, steeply down,
ridiculously steeply down. By now my
tank of optimism was running low, but Judy was perked up because we were again
below tree line and the Valley View Trail was enclosed by thick woods which
made her feel safer.
After a lifetime of
descent we found the side trail to the campsites, small spaces strung out along
the still-steep mountainside. There was
one fellow at a neighboring site who we chatted with briefly. He was wearing jeans, didn’t have a tent, was trying
to cook some foil-covered objects, said he was a grad student just out for some
fun for the weekend. As we went to set
up our site Judy commented that she hoped we didn’t wake up dead.
A little hiker humor there, folks, everything was fine. He was a nice young man.
Alpine glow sunset on the mountain with the privy in the
foreground. We go to the nicest places.
Our site was very quiet, peaceful and secluded. Judy and I agreed that we were happy to skip
the hut social scene. It felt great to
take a bird bath and change clothes completely from the skin out, a little
cleaned up for our last night on the trail.
We cooked, ate, toasted Day 3 with a little brandy. I fell asleep to the babbling sound of the
nearby creek.
“Mountains should be climbed with as little effort as
possible…The reality of your own nature should determine the speed. If you become restless, speed up. If you become winded, slow down. You climb the mountain in an equilibrium
between restlessness and exhaustion.
Then, when you’re no longer thinking ahead, each footstep isn’t just a
means to an end but a unique event in itself.”
~Robert M. Pirsig, “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”
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