We wandered over to the nearby lakes. To give some perspective of the elevation of these two small alpine tarns, if you dug straight down for fifteen hundred feet, you would still be higher than the top of Mt. Chocorua. The surrounding area supports the growth of rare alpine plants. They can stand the severe Washington weather, but can’t stand the boots of hikers. Because of this, many of the paths have been lined with mini stone walls on either side,--a reminder to keep your boots on the path and off the plants. We shot a few pictures, then headed back to the hut to eat.

The hut has a large dining area next to the kitchen. While we waited to take our seats we looked over the AMC tee shirts for sale. There was a rose colored shirt, with a nice picture of the Lakes of the Clouds Hut which tempted me. We were called to dinner, so I had time to think about it.

The meal was very good-- sesame chicken, broccoli, rice, fresh bread made there at the hut, and cookies. We shared our table with 8 others, two of them being the lady who had the bunk above Joe, and the lady she was hiking with. Much of the talk at the table concerned different hiking trails and what everyone was planning for the next day. The two ladies intended to take the Jewell trail, as we did. One guy at our table kept saying it was long and tedious. We paid no attention. Maybe we should have.

Later we went out to watch the sun set. Joe found a spot he could get phone reception and called his Aunt Sylvia and his Dad. In the mean time I took pictures. One of them is a silhouette of the hut, with lights on in the windows, and a deep blue, almost black sky, and red streak of light on the horizon. It’s the picture from the trip I like the most. I watched a star appear over the summit of Washington, and then it was time to go in. That Hut tee shirt was still staring at me, so I bought it. Well, ya gotta have a new shirt once in a while.

We spent some time playing cards in the dining room, along with other hikers. Then headed for the bunk room a little ahead of lights out, to beat the crowd. I was asleep in no time. It appears one young boy in our room couldn’t sleep, though. Next morning I was told that in the middle of the night he announced in a loud voice, "Mom, I can’t sleep!" Joe said he wanted to holler, "Well, now I can’t either!" I guess some others wanted to holler worse. I wasn’t aware of the boy’s shout, but maybe it woke me up, as around 1:30 I was awake. Quietly found the flashlight I had stashed in my shoe and slipped out the bunk room door. With the beam of my flashlight shielded by my fingers, I went to the windows. First I looked up to Mt. Monroe. A nice moon lit night, and Monroe was as plain as could be against a clear sky. Beautiful. What luck to be here on such a night. Then I moved to where I could see Washington. So close, so huge, so incredible. I wondered if anyone was awake up there, looking my way.

Next time I got up it was a little after 5:00 and I again wandered out to see Washington. This time I found someone cooking in the kitchen and one hiker sitting at a dining room table, reading by the light of his head lamp. It was light enough now so I could see the alpine grass near the building rippling in the wind. Still no clouds, but that wind would make it feel cold for our summit climb. I went back to bed, but couldn’t sleep, and after a half hour Joe couldn’t either, as I woke him up. He couldn’t complain too much because soon everyone was getting up.

We hung out near the kitchen, waiting for coffee, and talking to other hikers. Finally coffee appeared and the tables were set for breakfast. We again sat at a table with the two ladies from our bunkroom. Over breakfast of green eggs/ no ham (don’t ask--breakfast was awful and the eggs really were green) the ladies said they had decided to take the Westside trail over to Jewell, and skip doing the summit. We, of course, would head for the top of the Rock.

Site and contents copyright © 2002-07 Eaton's Studio