Miles: 5.2 (plus 1.1 sidetrail to shelter)
The past couple of days have all started uphill, and today was no exception. We have a 3000' climb over 2 1/2 miles up Mt. Madison, our first summit of the Presidential Range. When we got above treeline, there were tons of ripe blueberry bushes -- YUM! We wanted to get to Madison Hut early to eat the breakfast leftovers, but we couldn't resist! We put our packs down twice to chomp down on those blueberries. We finally climbed up and over the boulder-ridden mountain to Madison Hut. Luck was in our favor - there were lots of leftover bread left. For $1 we could eat as much as we wanted. So, we sat there for an hour and a half filling up on rosemary-raisin bread, sweet cornbread and coffee.
I have mixed feelings about these AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club) huts. On one hand, they attract tons of dayhikers, thus disturbing the peace and quiet of the woods that I've grown to enjoy. On the other hand, it sure is nice to have rosemary-raisin bread for lunch. Even though the amenities are wonderful, I prefer the solitude that difficult terrain and the lack of catering to crowds offer (such as in Maine). The huts claim that they're helping to reduce the environment impact of all these visitors. However, if the huts didn't exist in the first place, most of these visitors wouldn't be here, crushing the fragile, alpine vegetation and eating the blueberries (oops... that's me!).
After being nicely "discouraged" from staying at Madison Hut (thus adding more fuel to my angst again the AMC), we moved on to a Randolph Mountain Club shelter, The Perch. It was 1.1 miles off the Trail and a couple of thousand feet lower in elevation, but it feels good to support a volunteer-run organization and not the "Wal-Mart" of the maintenance clubs.
We had a nice, easy evening at the shelter - the only downside is that a loud group of 9 is sharing the site. However, the fee was only $5, we didn't have to do work for stay and we are supporting a great club.
Getting off my preachy perch now... the day ended with Kevin fixing his big, old and smelly sore on his leg - a souvenir from Mahoosuc Notch. I also got to catch up on some Thoreau - always good stuff.
- Anti-AMC Bobo