Madison Springs Hut

Day 27, July 26, 7.8 miles

What an experience!!! WFS was, let’s say, a little fun, and a little degrading, but quite an experience. We had to sit at a side table in the dining room and watch the guests eat. Then the crew ate. Then we were invited into the kitchen to eat leftovers. After we ate, we had to scrub the stove burners and then wash dishes. There are 52 quests and 6 crew members. At 9:30, they turn the lights out and the guests finally went to their bunks by 10. We could then move the table benches over and put our sleeping bags between the tables on the floor to sleep. The only problem with this was that the guests had to walk thru the dining room to get to the bathroom and there was pretty much non-stop traffic all night. We had to be up and packed up and back at our side table by 6:15 this morning. We watched the crew put on a little skit while the guests ate breakfast. The crew then ate, and again, we were invited into the kitchen for the breakfast leftovers. After the guests left, we had to sweep all the bunk rooms and fold all the blankets and then we were free to leave.

Even though it was not a comfortable night, I was happy to have been indoors. The rain started at about 2 am and continued on and off all day. The wind was whipping, but there were no thunderstorms forecasted until the afternoon. Our hike today included a short (0.5 mile) climb up Mt. Madison. However, the long (2.5 mile) descent was extremely steep over thousands of boulders. We dropped from over 5,000 ft. to about 2,700 ft. (finally below treeline). The boulders were slick and it was quite hard to navigate. The cairns mark the trail, but it was hard to see them in the distance because we were in the clouds and visibility was about 4 ft. We all made it down safely and continued on to finally get below treeline and into Pinkham Notch.

Tomorrow we have to tackle the Wildcats which I believe will be pretty much the end of the White Mtns. I have really enjoyed all the climbs and the views, but I don’t enjoy the descents. My knees are screaming after miles of continuous steep downhill. I have a lot more of it to do, though, so I hope they’ll hold out. It really stinks to get old and decrepit.

Sleeping on the floor in the dining room.