Day 136 - 7/29

Daily mileage: 4.7
Total trail mileage: 1845.2
Starting location: Mizpah Spring Hut
Ending location: Lake of the Clouds Hut
Weather: Raining last night. 56 - 64 degrees during the day. Cloudy
and foggy in the morning. Mostly cloudy the rest of the day. Very,
very windy.

I am at
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=44.115651,+-71.181807

I am going to have problems readjusting to normal trail life. This
has been another fun day. I woke up at 6 to find a few other hikers
moving into the library room where I was sleeping. Apparently a group
of 6 (4 kids and 2 adult guides) came in late last night. They did 23
miles over this difficult terrain in the dark. In my opinion, the
guides were not being safe.

After breakfast I packed up but didn't take off. Visibility was very
poor and I only had less than 5 miles to go today, so I hung out and
read my book until noon. Then I departed and shortly after leaving
the clouds lifted.

The weather the rest of the day was great. I had good visibility and
could even see Mt. Washington for most of the day. All day the views
were among the best I have seen all trip. And, most of the hike was
above treeline so there were plenty of views.

Since I was doing a short day, I took a number of sidetrails up to the
peaks of the mountains I was passing. For most of the way the AT
skirted around the peaks. The views weren't that much better than
from the trail, but I was right there so I figured I might as well hit
the peaks. The tops of the mountains sure were windy though. It
nearly knocked me down multiple times.

I can't believe the weather I have been having. Even if it poured the
rest of the time I am in the Whites the weather would be much better
than average for this area. I have had several days in a row where I
could see the summit of Mt. Washington and the next two days are also
supposed to be nice.

I made my way to Lake of the Clouds Hut by 4 and fortunately got a
work for stay position. The hut master said she would have turned me
away if I were Southbound as Mizpah is only 5 miles and there were a
number of people already. By the end of the afternoon there were 11
thruhikers here, all northbound. The hut master had to put 3 of the
hikers in "The Dungeon", the basement that is used as an emergency
shelter. I took care of my chore while the Croo was doing dinner
service. Then, we got to eat, and the food was fantastic.

6 for 6 on the huts. At this point I am trying for all 8. So, up and
over Mt. Washington tomorrow and hopefully on to Madison Hut.