Whites – Lake of the Clouds Hut
July 22, 2010 11:54 pm Leave your thoughts
After I summited Mt. Washington the visitors center closed and I headed to the AMC Lake of the Clouds Hut with Walker.
The walk there was relatively short, about 1.5 miles. When we arrived the scene inside was pure chaos. The Lake of the Clouds Hut is the largest of the AMC High Huts with a capacity of 90. A group of camp children had shown up a day early and they were 20 over capacity.
Walker and I joined the other thru-hikers looking for work for stay on 2 benches. I was absolutely exhausted, my knees were throbbing with excruciating pain from the day of fast rough rocky terrain and all I wanted to do was sleep.
It was dinner time and it was so loud in there. I wasn’t wild about the situation. It felt like we were homeless people lined up on a bench waiting for a meal and a roof over our heads and we didn’t know if we would get either. No one from the staff had talked to us and with the group of +20 paying customers I had my doubts about how things would work out.
After about an hour a staff member asked us if we were hungry and brought us back to the kitchen where we were given leftovers of lasagna, green beans, and brownies. I was grateful for the food but had still heard nothing about where we would sleep. Had we not been above tree line I would have left to camp out long before.
I had imagined they would sleep us in the dining area on the benches or even the floor. I laid down on a bench and tried to close my eyes. One of the other hikers woke me up and asked if I would like to help with the dishes. I did and shortly after talk began between the staff and some of the other hikers about where we were going to sleep.
There was talk of sleeping us in a place they were calling “The Dungeon” It didn’t sound good and we pleaded for something else. One of the staff said well you can stay on the kitchen floor. I looked at the very dirty floor and said no thanks, I’d take my chances in the “Dungeon”.
4 of us headed down there including Walker. It was a cinder block room outside under the kitchen. When we opened the door it smelled of mold and was very damp. There were 2 bunks made of 2×4’s with plywood. The plywood looked wet and dirty. Someone said there were mice in there and we should hang our food.
I really, really wanted to camp somewhere else but at 6000 feet and above tree line I had no options. I was last one in and had to take a top bunk. I laid out my sleeping bag and crawled into my bunk. No sooner than we had all turned off our head lamps I heard mice making noises on the floor below.
I closed my eyes and tried to tell myself that in 6 hours it would all be over. I knew I would sleep very little but in 6 hours it would be light, I could leave and it would all be over. The plywood was cold, damp and smelled musty beneath me.
My thoughts raced and I remembered a power bar wrapper in my pocket. I was frozen thinking of a mouse crawling over me to get to it. I didn’t want to wake everyone by getting up to put it in my hanging food bag. I laid awake never so exhausted wondering if I would sleep a wink. As the night passed I wasn’t sure what was sleep, what was dreams and what was an awake state of paranoia.
As first light came we all got up, quickly packed our packs and headed out.
Despite the horrible conditions that night I was treated to one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever experienced the following morning. The sun was just coming up, the light was great, the scenery stunning and I was able to get what I feel are some of the best pictures of my hike yet!