Part III The Hut

By request...here is part III.



After the 1.9 mile hike down from the summit, we made it to the AMC hut Lakes of the Clouds, elevation 5050'. It sure would have been nice to have an icy cold beer down there waiting for me when I got there...but no such luck :) Instead, there was going to be a hot meal and a bunk, plus breakfast in the morning.

If you want to know more about the huts you can go HERE for more info.

When we got down to the hut, there was a few people scattered about, writing in journals, reading books, soaking in the sun and walking round in socks. I had packed my trusty flip flops because I knew, that once I finished this part of the hike the last thing I would want to do would be to keep my boots on so off came the boots and on went the flips...at least until the sun went down and it got cold. Next time, crocs, because it is hard to wear flip flops and socks. Oh, and did I mention, the unusually loud group of men sharing a Nalgene bottle??? Hmm...I am pretty sure that is not water in that Nalgene bottle...those were what I called "the drunk jersey boys". Although, a shot of that whiskey would have been nice...next time, bring enough to share. How you can get as drunk as Booch (or whatever his name was) and then get up and hike the next morning is beyond me, but I was just thankful he was not sleeping in MY bunk room.

The huts up there offer different talks with the resident naturalist and tonight we had David, from New Jersey talk to us about the Alpine Flora and why it is important NOT to step on it, which I had been trying to explain to Richard earlier as he was walking all over the alpine vegetation...you gotta step on the rocks, it takes years and years for these plants to grow due to the extreme weather. Dave also showed us a few different plants, most of which I can't remember, but I do remember the Labrador Tea and the Mountain Avens. There is a photo gallery of some of th plants we saw here.
Here is Dave, showing us some plants:


One of the things I like best about places like this, is meeting lots of different people. Dinner is family style, so unless you are an absolute loner introvert you are going to HAVE to get to know someone...which, I have no problem with most of the time, even though I am an introvert. No, really, I AM. Richard of course thought I was going to run off with one of my new friends and abandon him to walk down the mountain alone...there was the group from New Jersey, cops I think...most of them still had all their faculties about them and then my new Alabama friends at my table.
Great company that is for sure!

Honestly..am I rambling? This could go on forever I think...

Now, when I went on this trip I knew that I would be sharing a room with quite a few people, and I was really REALLY hoping that the ones in my room would sleep quietly. Very quietly as I am not one to sleep through any noise...sigh...imagine my surprise when I found out that room 3, my room, could hold upwards of 18 people. And since the male to female ration at this hut was oh...let's just say the odds would be in my favor by a LOOOONG shot, I was the only female in the room. Yikes. I was prepared with earplugs because I figured somebody in the hut was bound to snore. Now, I am not saying chicks don't snore...but we don't snore LIKE THE GUY IN MY ROOM!!! (all identities will be hidden to protect the almost lynched) O.M.G. My first problem was not going to bed before this certain person who shall not be named, because I wanted to take more star pictures...



This person snored SO LOUD that at one point I took my earplugs out and put them back in to check. Because they seemed to be broken. I sat in bed for hours...wide awake but exhausted...finally, one of the other 16 wide awake people in my room got up out of bed, shook this person awake and asked him to roll over...it was that bad. So, this poor guy sat in bed for 2 hours, awake so the rest of us could get some sleep...



By the time morning came I probably had 2 hours of sleep...so, I stumbled out of bed and went out to try and get a couple of sunrise photos, bumped into one of my new friends on the way who got me a cup of coffee (I really do appreciate the thought, thank you!!!) but I was outside so long he drank it...no problem! Breakfast was good and it gave me some fuel for what was to be the hike down to the car. Richard and I packed up our stuff and said goodbye to our new friends and went to find our trail down...

Stay tuned for part 4...the hike down.