Day 41. Mt. Washington

Mile 1852 – Nauman To Mile 1864 – Madison Spring Hut

At 6289 feet, Mt. Washington is the highest peak in the Northeast and the second highest on the AT. The weather at the top is notoriously dangerous and, as we experienced yesterday, can change very rapidly. It holds the record for the highest wind speed recorded outside of a tropical cyclone at 231 mph and can experience snow and freezing temperatures any time of year. We’ve been hearing that there are only 40 clear days at the summit each year on average, and we were fortunate to get one of them.

For us, this is a challenge that we have been anticipating since the start of our hike. We excitedly started early with a plan to hike up to the treeline and follow the trail across the 13 mile traverse over the summit before descending on the other side to camp for the night.

Walking up Mt. Washington on a cold morning

Above treeline on a beautiful day

Watching our destination grow larger in the distance

Around mid morning we reached Lakes of the Clouds hut and stopped in for some snacks.

Stop off at Lakes of the Clouds hut for snacks

Welcome to Mt. Washington from the Forrest Service

Looking down at Lakes of the Clouds hut

The top is a zoo. Besides a road, it is also accessible by a cog railway that periodically unloads large groups of tourists to visit the attractions and gift shops. We arrived there around lunchtime and quickly found a quiet place away from the crowds to enjoy the moment and celebrate.

Mt. Washington summit

View from Mt. Washington

Cog train

We stayed at the top for a while and grabbed lunch at the cafeteria with some other through hikers that we know before continuing on. The descent was stunning. We walked all afternoon in some of the most beautiful areas I have ever experienced.

It was, however, very slow walking on rough and rockey ground. As we approached dinner time we began to accept that we were not going to make it back below treeline before dark. At that point we were a few miles from Madison Spring Hut, so our new plan was to try to get work for stay there.

Starting the walk down

Terrain on the way down

Each day, huts allow around three to four through hikers to do work for stay. It typically involves one to two hours of work helping the hut staff (croo) in the evening or the next morning. In exchange, you can eat dinner with the croo, sleep on the floor of the dining room after the guests have gone to bed, and then get all of the leftovers from breakfast the next morning.

When we arrived at the hut they still had slots available! We were thrilled to have a warm place to spend night. They ended up accepting a few more hikers after us so there were six total. Our task was washing dishes after dinner, which took about 45 minutes. Rocket’s job was to rinse and then place the dishes on drying racks. She was careful to arrange them all on the racks by size, color, and type. The other hikers working with us all know Rocket and we had a lot of fun in the kitchen as the activity in the hut was winding down for the night.

Sunset at Madison Spring Hut