Sheila Wee

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Michael called yesterday. He was in "The Dungeon" near Crawford Notch
in New Hampshire, 1.5 miles from Mt. Washington, mile marker 1850. The
Dungeon is a small basement shelter in the Lake of the Clouds Hut. The
Lake of the Clouds Hut was constructed in 1915 at an elevation of 5050
feet, the highest, largest and most popular hut on the AT. It costs
$100.00 per night to stay upstairs and $10.00 per night to stay in the
basement. The Dungeon sleeps six and the price is right. According to
the Thru Hikers' Companion book guests in the Dungeon have access to the
hut restroom and the common area. Michael said it looked just like the
jail in Owingsville, our county seat. I doubt that was a compliment.

Today they were climbing Mt. Washington, the highest peak in the
Northeast at 6288 feet. Information per The Thru Hikers' Companion is
many buildings have come and gone on the summit of Mt. Washington,
including a 94 bedroom hotel completed in 1873 and destroyed by fire in
1908. The summit is under cloud cover about 55 percent of the time.
Average summertime high is 52 degrees and the average wintertime high is
15 degrees. On April 12. 1934, an on-land wind speed of 231 mph was
recorded, which still stands as the world record. The weather yesterday
was cold and rainy at the base of the mountain. They have been walking
above tree line on many mountains.

The husband of my friend at Kroger is attending a survival skills school
in North Conway, NH. He has been following Michael's blog and figured
they were near him so he offered to do some trail magic. This offer
came at a great time. Gumpy and Peeper had to leave the trail for a
short time to attend the funeral of a close friend. Doug was going to
shuttle them and the rest of the crew today and tomorrow from Pinkham
Notch. Michael and the rest are spending the night in North Conway.
Very nice gesture from someone we have never met. Thanks, Doug.

Michael says each day is harder. He has worn out his 4th or 5th pair of
shoes. They will reach the Maine state line at mile marker 1902.4. The
AT ends at mile marker 2184.2. Less than 282 miles when they reach the
state line. Of course Michael still owes the trail about 135 miles due
to Mom's funeral and the aquablazing he did in Virginia. Michael will
be finished with all of the trail by Labor Day.

Gumpy and Peeper have a blog on Trail Journals. They do a great job
with updates. I was just reading Gumpy's entry for Wednesday. He is
writing about the group deciding to take a zero day on Tuesday due to
the bad weather. 70 plus mph winds on Franconia Ridge and thunderstorms
kept them off the trail. I am glad they are being smart. Gumpy goes on
to say as they were climbing the ridge on Wednesday that All Smiles
(Michael) is laughing and hiking like an excited child. I am so glad
All Smiles is having a good time. I know these past couple of months
have been difficult for him as well. If you want to read some of the
journal, Google Gumpy and Peeper. Also, you can read about Michael and
see some new pictures on the Facebook page of Kentucky Heartwood.

Thanks for all the support,
Sheila