June 24, 2018
Destination: Lake of the Clouds Hut
Today’s Miles: 13.90
Start Location: Ethan Pond Shelter
Trip Miles: 1856.50
Today was pretty awesome! I found out that Choo Choo was ok today, hence my back editing of posts I hadn’t posted yet.
I was quite relieved and felt much better after this news.
It was cloudy and misty in the morning. The weather was supposed to be ugly all day, so my plan was to hike to Lake of the Clouds just before Mt. Washington and try to get a work for stay there. The huts in the Whites allow a few thru hikers to do work for stay. Huts are pricey – usually $120 or so per night – but for an hour or so of work the huts will allow thru hikers to sleep on the common room floor and also feed us dinner. I wanted to try it!
The climb up Mt Webster in the morning was rough! It was a lot of hand-over-hand bouldering and very slow going. My first stop today was at Mizpah Hut. Apollo and Skutch were already there. They fed us leftover eggs, oatmeal and coffee. It was delicious! Zoom zoom showed up and we all chatted for a while.
I hiked on towards Lake of the Clouds, but again the hiking got quite difficult and slow. It was foggy and misty all day, so no views really. I was pretty wet by the time I got to Lake Hut. The head person there, Lindy, was really cool and took me in on work for stay! I washed dishes for a little over and hour and that was it! She gave me a bowl of soup while I hung out. Me, Apollo, Skutch, Fat Tony, and Snuggs all ended up doing work for stay. We hung out and waited while the guests ate. When they were done, we got the leftovers! It was incredible – stuffed shells, chicken parmigiana, bread, salad, brownies, turkey soup. I thought I had died and gone to heaven!
The huts are really quite big and much nicer than I’d imagined. They are like lodges really. Today I was grateful for the WFS experience and that I got up the crazy tough ascents and descents safely. Tomorrow I will summit Mt Washington! I’m hoping for clear skies….
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