Work-for-Stay has one caveat that didn’t work so good for me. The sleeping arrangements are in the Dining Hall. Typically, lights are out at 9pm, and the hikers bed down. The Croo that was on staff at Lake of the Clouds are young and very open to interpretation. Lights out at 9pm but if you want to play cards or games or talk, use your headlamps. Finally at 10pm I was attempting to get some sleep. That is way past hiker midnight.

At 5:30am, I was up and packing. Little sleep and much hiking to do today. The weather was socked in, fog, mist and a severe wind advisory! 30-40 mph with 50mph gusts. The coffee was slow to come out of the kitchen and there were many hikers pacing looking for caffeine, including my Blue. She requires coffee in the morning. Around 7am we headed out the door and didn’t look back.

The climb to Mt. Washington was tough. It was nothing but rocks and boulders. No dirt to speak of and the visibility was 10-20 feet. Nothing like yesterday. We finally arrived at the top to find nothing was open. The Snack Shop and Sovereign Store opens at 9am with coffee, tea and hot cocoa. Nothing for Blue and I. We needed to put more layers of clothes on as it was crazy cold and windy. I opened my pack, grabbed my second rain jacket as I was stepping on my folded mat. Well I must not have secured it because with a gust of wind, my mat went flying! There was no stopping it and it was long gone. Dang it. I really liked that green mat.

I got dressed and Blue put on more layers and we headed towards the trail. To my surprise, my green mat was folded up and perfectly positioned in front of the side door to the abandoned building near the trail. There is no way on God’s green earth that my mat should be anywhere but Kansas! But somehow, someway, it was waiting for me. That’s nothing short of a miracle. I think my Lord is up to something. Maybe a warning to buckle up and get ready for what’s ahead.

Our morning was nothing but a Rock-Boulder scramble that went on for seven miles! It was absolutely the worst of the worst when it came to hiking the AT. It was one Boulder field after another. I’ve never ever had to hike for seven miles on boulders until today. My feet are so sore. I was intensely focused on each foot placement that I could hardly look at anything else. The weather was wet and cold, windy with crosswinds that tried to blow me off course. It was difficult to think about anything else but breathing. I finally had Blue stop so I could eat something. We sat on a rock field as that was our only choice and ate quickly. The seven miles took us seven hours and we finally arrived at Madison Spring Hut.

Located in the col between Mounts Madison and Adams, the Madison Spring Hut is a very popular destination for hikers of all sorts, and a good place to base hikes to the northern Presidential Range. This hut has bunk space for 52. Blue, Mary Poppins and I stopped for our gratis bowl of soup. I was ready to spend the night and so was Mary Poppins. They had quite a few cancellations due to the weather. It was miserable outside with at the least a four-mile descent to get to the nearest exit strategy.

Blue was quite adamant that she wanted off the mountain and in town. She was ready for a shower and laundry and had no plans to stay in a hut. Mary Poppins was adamant that she was staying at the hut as she was sick and tired, and had fallen three times. I, reluctantly, left with Blue and hiked the additional four miles downhill. Lucky for us, the rain stopped and by the time I was halfway down the mountain, I shedded my rain jacket and windbreaker. Around 5pm, ten hours since we stepped foot on the trail, we arrived on solid ground. Blue found us a ride and a hotel room in town.

The driver took us to The Barn Hostel where we both had packages waiting for us. There was no room for us at the Hostel, which is fine with me, so we paid the owner $15 to get our packages and went on our way. My past hiking partner, Couch to Trail was staying at The Barn. She has a little over 300 miles to hike and is beat up, tired, injured and plain ole exhausted. After hiking since February, she’s decided today to go home.

Mary Poppins is feeling like she too is at her end point. When I was talking with our driver, he said this is really typical of hikers after The Whites. It just beats em’ up, wears them down and spits them out!

This past week or more has been some of the toughest miles on the AT. Between the elevation gains and losses, the extreme weather, the mud and muck, the rock climbing, the Boulder Fields, and everything in between, I can understand why hikers are feeling defeated. This is tough terrain, in an environment that is ever changing. I talked with a Sobo yesterday and he told me he could tell all the Nobo’s that he met by the look on their faces. He said they are tired and many are discouraged. He just started a few weeks ago in Maine, and is excited about the next four to five months. It made him wonder what he’ll be like when he’s nearing the end of his hike?

So much of hiking is facing the everyday adversities that come your way. How do you respond makes the difference as to whether you continue or not. And another huge part is having a good partner. Blue and I are good partners. We may have different needs and desires, but at the end of the day, we can always find common ground. It is much like a marriage and the fact is you don’t always get your way. Today I would of rather stayed at Madison Spring Hut but Blue wanted something different. I understand that and it’s what makes us more tolerant, accepting and teaches me how to be a better person, great partner and best friend. I think that’s exactly what Jesus would desire of me. And maybe to finish this trail for my friends that will not?