Day: 121
Date: Wednesday, 23 August 2023
Start: AMC Lake of the Clouds Hut (AT Mile 1863.9)
Finish: Pinkham Notch (AT Mile 1878.8)
Daily Kilometres: 22.5 (Ascent 3707', Descent 6709')
GPX Track: Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos
Total Kilometres: 3073.2
Weather: Cool to mild and sunny
Accommodation: Lodge
Nutrition:
Breakfast: Pop tarts
Lunch: Trail mix
Dinner: Fried chicken/Jerk chicken & vegetables, chocolate brownies
Aches: Dave - sore left knee and the usual niggles; Julie - nothing reported.
Highlight: Summitting Mount Washington on a beautiful sunny and almost windless early morning and having the peak and it's vistas virtually to ourselves (saw one trail runner up there). Usually the peak is a zoo, with a car park, gift shop, cafe and cog railway station, but none of that was open at 7:30am when we were there. We just wandered around taking in the superb views down to distant valleys, some filled with fog, and ranges of mountains, some of which we had hiked along to get here.
Lowlight: None really.
Pictures: Click here
Map and Position: Click here for Google Map
Journal:
There were six of us in the tiny six-bunk dungeon at the hut, but by the time Dave's alarm went off at 5:00am, the other four thru-hikers had left, keen to get to the summit of Mount Washington to see the dawn.
It was cold, with an icy breeze, and we were not sorry to have "slept in". We packed and left the hut at 6:00am to climb the remaining distance, 1.6 miles, to the summit of Mt Washington (6288', the highest peak in US north-east), which was clearly visible, dominated by a cluster of towers/aerials. It was very cold hiking in the shadow of the mountain, but when we reached the top we were in bright sunshine and the views were superb (see above).
The Appalachian Trail took a very circular route via Mt Madison to get to Pinkham Notch, our goal for the day, and we knew that it would likely be late by the time we got there because Dave was struggling a bit with his knee and fatigue. An option was to take the more direct Tuckerman Ravine Trail, which would save about eight miles, but Dave was keen to see if he could manage the longer route and Julie was keen to follow the official AT which would be above the treeline and have great views on such a sunny day.
However, by our breakfast stop at 9:00am, it seemed likely it would be at least 6:00pm by the time we reached Pinkham Notch where we had a lodge room booked that came with dinner and breakfast. We didn't fancy being in a rush to be in time for dinner, so we agreed that Julie would continue along the AT while Dave would take a shorter route via the Sphinx Trail/Great Gulf Trail to rejoin the AT with about four miles to go.
Dave's choice seemed unwise when, within 100 metres along the Sphinx Trail he met a hiker coming the other way (the last he would see for three hours) who, after appraising Dave and his pack, said "You're not planning to go down there are you?". He explained that the trail was hard to follow, very steep and very slippery, but Dave felt committed and continued on. It was all of those things and scary in parts, but he took it slowly and carefully down to the valley floor - three hours to do two miles! From there he followed a roaring Peabody River downstream past waterfalls and cataracts before rejoining the AT for the last four miles to Pinkham Notch where he arrived around 4:15pm, checked in, and then waited for Julie to arrive.
Julie arrived around 6:00pm, having enjoyed the above-treeline views on the ridge to Mt Madison (5367'), but not so much the steep rocky ascents and descents. That it took her so long, even without having to wait for Dave, confirmed the wisdom of him taking the shorter route today.
We ate up big at the buffet dinner that was included with our lodge room booking and enjoyed our first showers for a few days before having a welcome early night in a comfy bed.
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