Day 131, Madison Spring Shelter

I got up at 4:30 and had my usual breakfast before leaving camp for Madison Springs Hut 12 miles down the trail. The climb today is going to be rough in elevation change and the stony trail which seems worse than PA. The hike to the Lake of the clouds hut seemed to take forever but it provided beautiful views of the mountains with Mt Washington standing out with its top surrounded by clouds. At the clouds hut we got to take advantage of the leftover food (eggs and sausage) plus some baked goods while waiting for the clouds to recede. The hike to Mt Washington was a moderately difficult and there is a deli at the top plus many tourist who drive up or pay $500 (ouch) for the cog train ride up. We had lunch here and got our picture on the summit which took 20 minutes waiting in line for our turn at the sign. With the picture done it was down the mountain to Madison Spring Hut. On the way down a gust of wind (40mph) hit me mid stride and knocked me over onto the rocks. I suffered a few scratches but my phone screen took a hard hit and I lost 2/3 of the screen-all black. I reached the Hut at 4:10pm and Lazarus arrived shortly after and we were able to snag the work for stay at the Hut which was good since both of us didn’t want to hike anymore today. Our task for a spot on the floor and any leftover food was to sweep the floor and wash the dishes from 50 paying customers.