The morning was chilly but sunny as we quickly broke camp and started off toward Mt. Washington. I'd left my thermal leggings on, but was roasting by the summit of Mt. Pierce. Did a quick peel at the top before continuing on. It was still very windy, so we left our jackets on to keep the breezes at bay.

The AT bypasses the summits of Mts. Eisenhower and Monroe, but after steeply slabbing around the sides of them, we concluded it would have been easier just to go right over the tops. We cruised into Lake of the Clouds Hut just after 9:00 for leftovers. Easy 8 stayed there last night, and was just finishing up his morning chores when we arrived. We also met a father-son team, Three Piece and Kicks. Three Piece has been section hiking for several seasons, and this was his last section from Hanover to Katahdin. Kicks is thru-hiking all the way this season, so they had only been hiking together since Hanover.

Lake of the Clouds is the behemoth of the AMC Hut System, accommodating nearly 100 people. The size is probably why it's the least favorite among most hikers and Hut Croo members. It's only 1.4 miles from the top of Mt. Washington, so is always crowded and busy. Other huts like Zealand or Mizpah are smaller and more intimate. Lakes was the only hut we stayed at in '77, and the story was the same then. There was no work-for-stay thru-hiker deal then, so we all paid our $20 to be "real" guests.

After leaving Lakes, we slowly picked our way up the steep trail to the top of Washington, with the winds blowing stronger by the minute. It's deceptive, because the terrain here is so open. You can see your destination from a very long way off, and it always looks like it should be much closer. We could see the smoke from the Cog Railway, and hear the whistle as it carried its passengers effortlessly to the top. The summit of Mt. Washington is even more of a circus than in '77. Some of the old stone buildings are still there, but there is also a huge visitor's center, complete with restaurant, gift shop, museum, and an observation deck. The cold wind just about blew us in the door, so we were happy to get inside and warm up. It was only 11:00, but we decided to have an early lunch and hang out for a while. We were surrounded by the throngs of tourists who had cog-railed, taken a sight seeing van, or driven the auto road to earn the "This Car Drove to the Top of Mt. Washington" bumper sticker.

Ate lunch with Easy, Three Piece and Kicks, and the conversation turned to the future of the Internet, Java, animated GIFs, and other computer related stuff. An intelligent conversation about something other than tough trail, food drops, or where to camp must have sounded strange coming from the likes of a bunch of scruffy looking hikers.

Since the wind was still gusting up to 60 mph outside, we were in no hurry to leave, so we wandered downstairs to the museum and toured through the exhibits.. Mt. Washington is known for having "the worst weather in the United States", with winds clocked up to 200 mph. The auto road to the top has been here since 1861, which is amazing. The cog railroad opened in 1869, which is even more amazing. The museum has one of the original "suicide sleds" which looks like a snow sled, only it hooks onto the cog rail like a roller coaster car, and careens the fearless rider down the mountain at breakneck speeds. I'm sure there were more than a few fatalities on those over the years.

With our heads filled with history and our stomachs filled with a warm lunch, we finally braved the elements again around 12:30. We had to hunt for the trail in the confusion of construction and humanity, but soon we were gingerly picking our way down the rocks toward Madison Hut. We knew Easy was planning to go on, and we hadn't seen any signs of Cowboy or Creeper, so figured we might actually have a shot at the thru-hiker spots. The going was difficult and slow, but we still made the 5.6 miles by around 3:45. Coming down the last mile to the hut, Three Piece was in front of us and hyper-extended his knee. He was in serious pain. It hurts me just thinking about it. He and Kicks planned to go all the way to Pinkham Notch for the night, but that was another tough seven miles beyond Madison. We never thought they'd go for it now.

We went on ahead to tell Kicks about his dad, and find out about accommodations for us. We were the first thru-hikers, so we quickly secured the spots, and paid the $34 for Brandon. When we told Kicks his dad was hurt, he didn't seem too concerned, and still insisted they go on when Three Piece limped in a while later. We thought it best to stay out of the middle of a family affair, be were both struck by how selfish this cocky 19-year-old was being. We didn't think should try to push on. The hut was full, but the Croo would have let them crash on the floor. However, Kicks was having none of that, and after just a short break, sent Three Piece limping off in pain, giving him a head start. I'm sure that seemed a perfectly logical to him, but my maternal instinct wanted to turn him over my knee. After all, as he had pointed out to us earlier, he was born in 1977, the year we thru-hiked, so we were old enough to be his parents. I bit my tongue, though, and he and Easy finally left to catch up. Easy told us a couple days later that it had been a pretty tense trip down, and he felt very awkward being in the middle of it. They didn't make it all the way to Pinkham, but just getting down the drop off to anyplace flat must have been torture.

Anyway, our day was far from over either, even though there were no more miles to walk. We were put to work in the kitchen, scrubbing the "gak" off all their baking pans, then scrubbing the back splash, and washing the afternoon dishes. Dinner for "guests" was at 6:00, but we had to wait till 8:00 and eat with the Croo. Tried to write a little during dinner, but there was too much commotion inside, and it was too windy to go outside. Another thru-hiker, Swamp Donkey, came in just before dinner and made arrangements to crash on the floor. We had to do the same thing, because the bunks were all taken by paying customers. Since we paid for Brandon, he got a bunk, so he snuggled up in his top bunk and took a nap while waiting for dinner. At 8:00 we filled up our plates with the remaining food, which was plentiful, but past its prime by then. The best part was the tomato soup, which was very spicy and full of veggies.

The evening program was a nature walk and talk on mosses, so we opted out. It's just too cold to poke our noses outside again. I was looking forward to lights out at 9:30 for some rest, but that wasn't happening. While Brandon slept soundly in his bunk, we second class citizens on the floor of the dining room got very little rest. There was a group of guests who stayed up late with flashlights playing games, and a constant stream of people in and out stargazing until well after midnight. The Aurora Borealis was also visible, and I kept thinking I should get out of my sleeping bag and go look, but I was too exhausted to do anything more than hunker down further and try to sleep. To make matters worse, a nameless hiker came in very late and made a huge racket getting settled in. We never saw him, because it was dark, but we heard him most of the night. Then, he had the nerve to complain loudly when a plastic vegetation plot frame fell down on Swamp Donkey's head, startling him awake. The final insult came when this same hiker got up at 4:00 am, packed up and left. But not before disturbing us even more with the noise of zipping zippers, ripping Velcro, rustling plastic and stomping boots. Within a few minutes of his noisy departure, the Hut Croo was in the kitchen to start their morning breakfast routine. It was not a restful night by a long shot.

It was early when we left this morning. The long open ridge of the Presidentials lay before us. We knew it would be tough and wanted to get it behind us. Crystal clear skies and cool temp's accompanied us on our first climb up Mt. Clinton (it has a new name but I can't seem to remember it). The wind had eased considerably from yesterday. Still you don't want to stand exposed to it long if your not hiking. We put on our shells as we got higher. All along the hike to Lake of the Clouds we constantly readjusted our clothes trying to maintain constant warmth.

Our early hike went well and we made the Hut by 9:00. Easy 8 had arrived yesterday in the strong winds. There was quite a contingent of thru-hikers present. Lakes is the only hut that seems to not have a limit on thru-hikers. It's probably because there is really no place on the ridge to camp. We ate a few snacks at the hut and started up to Mt. Washington. I was chilled when we got Lakes and with all the doors and windows open, the hut was cold. At least the climb would warm me.

Most of our time on Washington was in the observatory. We had lunch in the snack bar and wandered around the museum. I was trying to dry out my coolmax shirt and get warm. Finally when we couldn't wait any longer we headed off to Madison Hut around 1:00.

The six-mile hike is visually rewarding and physically demanding. Constant walking on big loose rocks makes it impossible to maintain a steady pace. It's virtually a horizontal boulder hop for six miles. The are a number of climbs scattered along the trail to make things interesting. If you want you can hike the peaks but we stuck to the AT. The views were great and I didn't feel the need to work harder.

At the top of the ridge before the descent to Madison, Three Piece (another thru-hiker we met in the morning at Lakes) popped his knee on a loose rock. I could tell he was in real pain. Fortunately it wasn't far to the hut. We headed down to the Hut to let his son know he was hurt and on his way in. We also wanted to get hut jobs for the night. So far Creeper and Cowboy and aced us out at all the huts. I knew that they hadn't passed us yet today.

Easy and Kicks (Three Piece's son) were there eating leftovers. When Three Piece arrived, Kick's started pushing him to continue. Kicks wanted to go another eight miles to Pinkham Notch. I know it's none of my business but I was still pissed about the situation. It was already late in the day and they had some hard miles in front of them.

Our chores for staying in the hut were scrubbing the burned in crust off a bunch of pans. After dinner we ate with the rest of the Croo. We registered Brandon as a paying guest. He got to eat with the rest of the crowd and got a bunk. Our pleasure was to sleep between the tables in the main room.

We woke up and had our normal breakfast of oatmeal then packed up and headed on. We soon were out of the trees and we could see everywhere. We were in the Presidentials the trail was rocky and fairly flat. We passed a lot of people on the trail from Mizpah to Lake of the Clouds Hut. When we got to Lake of the Clouds we saw Easy 8 and met Three Piece and Kick's. We talked to Easy 8 because we had not seen him for two days. After talking we all left and hiked to the top of Mt Washington on top there was lots of people most of which had drove up there or taken the train. We ate lunch up there and sat around for a while then hiked back down the other side of the Mountain headed to Madison Hut. The trail to the Hut was up and down and rocky Three Piece even hyper-extended his leg. When we made it to the Hut, mom and dad became part of hut croo and paid for my stay. I sat around the rest of afternoon while my parents washed pots and pans (I was a paying customer). We had a good dinner and then went to bed.