From the Journals: DAY 110, June 13

Coach
Ethan Pond Shelter - Lakes of the Cloud Hut: 13.9mi
Easy start this morning, until we had to hike out of Crawford's Notch. The hike out was more like a climb out. The weather made it more difficult. Looked forward to more hut hopping for soup and bread. I think I am actually gaining weight now. Tonight we are doing a work for stay at one of the huts. The weather at the summit of Mt. Washington looks really bad. Basically, it will be in the 30's with strong winds and gusts up to 50mph. The windchill will be in the teens. Can't wait!

Professor
We are so excited about the huts here in the Whites that we basically woke up thinking about hot soup. 10 miles to the next hut...What kind of soup will they have?... Do you think they will hook us up with some free bread?... We asked each other these questions as we hiked. After dropping down from Ethan Pond into Crawford Notch and NH302, we started climbing arguably the steepest ascent yet of the trip.

Roughly 3.6 miles of hand over foot rock scrambling and cliff climbing. With our packs, it was incredibly difficult...shaky thighs, burning calves...keep pushing, keep pushing, loosen your chest strap so you can take deeper breaths, blood rushes to your muscles in support. My heart pumps, thumps, it feels strong about almost 1,900 miles of hiking...keep pushing, I can feel my feet starting to cramp, the arch of my foot wants to cramp in a ball of pain and curl my foot into a claw in my wet, smelly shoes... keep pushing, drink water to avoid the cramps in my calves and feet.

Cold, wet, wind. It's hard to regulate your body temperature in this weather. Coat on, coat off. Hat on, hat off. Gloves on, gloves off. Fleece on, fleece off. Etc, etc. So on and so forth. Constantly putting on and taking off our sweaty wet layers.

Finally, Mizpah shelter, soup, bread, brownies, free! They like thru-hikers around here, it's awesome! Climbed above the tree line again entering the Presidential Range of the Whites. High elevation, white out, then brief view, then white out, then rain, then quick view, climb, climb, climb, Ridge.

Lakes of the Cloud Hut, just below the summit of Mt. Washington. Work for stay - Free dinner (1 pancake, lemonade, coffee, 2 bowls of soup, salad, 1/4 loaf of bread, chicken, rice, green beans, 2 pieces of apple cake, cranberry juice), sleep on dining room floor. They liked us, we only cleaned for 20 minutes after dinner.