Day: 138 Miles: 7 Trip: 1858.7 Started: Lakes of the Clouds Hut Destination: Madison Hut
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An ominous sign just after
leaving the hut |
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One of the lakes on a
foggy morning |
We got some pretty strong wind and rain last night. I was glad to be up in the dining room relatively warm. Lakes of the Clouds has a 6 bunk room in the basement affectionately called 'The Dungeon'. I went down to take a look and it was really not that bad but I still feel the dining room floor was a little better.
I set out for
Mt. Washington, the second highest point on the AT, at about 7am and the fog was still very thick. The weather report for the day is calling for clear skies at about 12pm. It is only 1.5 miles from Lakes to the summit and I was at the visitor center by about 9am. There are three ways to get to the summit of Washington; foot, the cog railway, and by car. At about 9:30am the first train from the bottom came up and the visitor center started to fill up quickly. I really wanted a clear view from the summit so I decided to get something to eat from the grill here and wait out the fog. I waited until about 1pm and the clouds were still blocking the views. I guess I'll have to come back one of the easy ways sometime. I stopped off at the summit to get my picture and then headed on down the AT. After Mt. Clay and Mt. Jefferson it was starting to get late. At the top by Thunderstorm Junction I had the option of going down to tree line to find a camping spot or continuing on to Madison Hut. The huts complicate things for through hikers.
They are not a sure thing unless you spend quite a bit of money for a reservation. Not wanting to go over a mile downhill out of my way I opted to head for the hut. Luckily I was the third to ask for work for stay and got a spot. My chore here was to turn the composting pile. It was a great view of the sunset and the job only took about 10 minutes. Two work for stays in a row was great and I did not have to go far off the trail to find a camping spot. The trail today was pretty easy except for the climb up near Thunderstorm Junction. After I left the summit of Washington the clouds started to clear up at a slightly lower elevation and the visibility really improved.
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| Mt Madison and Madison Hut |
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| Mt. Washington from Mt Jefferson |
I set out for Mt. Washington, the second highest point on the AT, at about 7am and the fog was still very thick. The weather report for the day is calling for clear skies at about 12pm. It is only 1.5 miles from Lakes to the summit and I was at the visitor center by about 9am. There are three ways to get to the summit of Washington; foot, the cog railway, and by car. At about 9:30am the first train from the bottom came up and the visitor center started to fill up quickly. I really wanted a clear view from the summit so I decided to get something to eat from the grill here and wait out the fog. I waited until about 1pm and the clouds were still blocking the views. I guess I'll have to come back one of the easy ways sometime. I stopped off at the summit to get my picture and then headed on down the AT. After Mt. Clay and Mt. Jefferson it was starting to get late. At the top by Thunderstorm Junction I had the option of going down to tree line to find a camping spot or continuing on to Madison Hut. The huts complicate things for through hikers. 
2 comments:
Hi Scott. Great pictures. When I was on top of mt Washington it was fogged in. Where r u today. Mom
Hi! As of today I am at mile 1952.3, just 13 miles out from Rangeley, ME. There are only two major mountain ranges between here and the 100 mile wilderness and Monson, ME. Im told that at about mile 2000 the terrain gets much easier, but I have heard that many many times.
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