Day 51- Madison Spring Hut to Lakes of the Clouds Hut. 7 miles.

Poor Bomber was freezing all night long and neither of us ended up getting much sleep because he was shivering and I was worried about him. When we got up this morning I went straight for the coffee and settled into a bench and read while waiting to eat leftovers from breakfast. I was so glad I stayed and waited because I had the best breakfast ever! I ate eggs with vegetables, oatmeal, pineapple, and hash browns. Such a nice treat! To finish off our work-for-stay we folded blankets and swept the bunk rooms. We left the hut well-fed and ready for the day. As soon as we walked outside the wind began slashing at us and it continued for the rest of the day- Chapstick was my favorite item in my pack today. There were points during the hike when my pack would be sideways from the wind. Bomber even threw his trekking poles into the wind and they came right back to him. By the end of the day both of our faces were wind burnt.
We hiked up to Mount Washington today, which is the second highest point on the A.T. at 6,288 ft. The hike all day was extremely rocky and required every ounce of concentration to not fall or twist my ankles. It was fun :). Once we were almost to the top of Washington a train passed by us and people waved and took pictures of us through the windows. Haha it was an interesting experience. Most people either take the train up or drive up in their cars, so seeing a person hiking up the mountain is quite the spectacle. There were at least 100 people at the top of the mountain. The lines for a picture at the summit, food at the snack bar, and in the gift shops were pretty long. I snagged a picture and some pizza and sat down for a while and enjoyed the warmth of the indoors. We sat there for a while and eventually headed down to Lakes of the Clouds hut, the biggest hut in the Whites. Once we got there, we were able to get another work-for-stay and were put to work washing dishes immediately. After finishing the dishes we went and sat at the lake, which I found to be a really neat spot for a lake given that we were still at a high elevation (5,000 ft.) Waiting for dinner was painful again, but this time we had UNO to distract us! Once dinner time for us rolled around I was so hungry that my stomach was cramping up, so I piled food on my plate and went to town. I went to bed fully satisfied and warm in my sleeping bag, curled up between two tables. Bomber found a wool blanket, so hopefully he stays warmer tonight and gets some good rest!