August 20-21, 2008
Once a year, Lynn and I spend a night at one of the White Mountains Huts. This year we picked Mizpah Spring Hut.
Here's Lynn at the Webster-Jackson trailhead.
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The view from Bugle Cliff
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Lynn's not crazy about the big climbs involved in the 4000 footers. We didn't set any records, but we got up to the 4052' summit of Mount Jackson.
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This was Lynn's 3rd 4000 footer.
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Looking over to Mizpah Spring Hut
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"It is still so far away," Lynn said with discouragement in her voice.
"You've done the hardest part. There won't be a lot of elevation gain or loss to get over there."
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Lynn on some bog bridging on the Webster Cliff Trail (Appalachian Trail).
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Lynn was surprised how quick we got there.
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We got our bunks situated and had a couple bowls of the hut's bottomless bowls of soup to warm us up. It was August, but very cold. It was only a little after 1:00 pm. Lynn had enough for today, but I still had plenty of hiking left in me. Ed Hawkins was leading a traverse of Mounts Washington, Monroe, Eisenhower, and Pierce. I decided to go meet the group. Actually, we had seen them earlier in the day when they were spotting cars at the Highland Center. I said goodbye to Lynn and promised to be back for the delicious supper that the hut would be providing at 6:00 pm sharp. I made my way up to Mount Pierce.
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On to Mount Eisenhower
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As I neared the summit of Eisenhower, I saw Darcy. She's a very fast hiker so I wasn't surprised to find her at the front of the pack. She had hiked with the group up to Washington before heading out on her own. We talked for a couple of minutes and talked briefly about next week's big trip to Baxter State Park. On the summit of Eisenhower I was surprised to find that the cairn had been rebuilt. It had been just a pile of rocks before.
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As you can see in the video clip, it was extremely windy.
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I found a place out of the wind where I took a little cat nap. I then saw little black dots appear on top of Mount Franklin. That had to be the group. I decided to go meet them.
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I met up with the group. Besides Ed, there was Becca, Jeff, Guy, and Lewis. There was also Paul and Kelly who I hadn't hiked with before.
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I hiked with them back up to Eisenhower.
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I was starting to get a little pressed for time, so I left the group on Eisenhower. This was one supper I didn't want to miss. I got back to the hut in plenty of time, about 5:15. We were served a delicious ham dinner with mashed potatoes, peas, fresh salad, warm homemade bread, soup, and blonde brownies for dessert. Later in the evening, two Appalachian Trail thru hikers shared their A.T. adventures. Hasty did a thru hike last year while Bound was in the middle of her thru hike. Although Hasty had hiked the trail last year, he was rehiking a portion of it with Bound.
It was cold today. Ed said that it was 33° on Mount Washington. It couldn't have been a whole lot warmer here. Lynn and I each buried ourselves under the warm, wool blankets for a good night's sleep. The next morning we were awakened by the 'croo' making barnyard animal noises. For breakfast we had oatmeal, pancakes, and bacon.
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After breakfast, Lynn and I wasted no time in getting out there. Even though I hiked Pierce and Eisenhower yesterday, I wanted Lynn to see the awesome views. Here I am heading up to Pierce, again.
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Lynn on the 4312' summit of Pierce. Her 4th 4000 footer.
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I wasn't sure Lynn would want to continue on to Eisenhower, but she said she was pumped.
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Unfortunately, there was a search and rescue mission going on. We later learned someone was 2 days overdue at the Galehead Hut.
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At the summit of Eisenhower we were met by Hasty and Bound, the A.T. thru hikers.
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The A.T. actually doesn't go to the summit of Eisenhower, but around it.
"Hey," I said, "this isn't the Appalachian Trail."
"No," said Bound, "I'm doing extra mileage."
Bound is doing a slightly different thru hike. She is from Daleville, VA. She is hiking from Daleville to Katahdin and then from Springer Mountain to Daleville.
The weather on Eisenhower was spectacular. The high winds from yesterday had been reduced to a light breeze.
Lynn and I on the 4760' summit of Eisenhower. #5 for Lynn
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Lynn doesn't have a big capacity for hiking, so I was very proud of her for bagging three 4000 footers on this trip.
After thoroughly enjoying the view, we headed back to Pierce.
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Looking back up to Eisenhower
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We headed down the Crawford Path.
At the junction with the Mizpah Cutoff, Lynn made friends with this Gray Jay.
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We took one last break at Gibbs Falls.
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