We knew that it would be very risky to keep going down the trail since nightfall was not far away

   We continued our climb up Mt. Washington. Before long we passed the tree line. The wind began to kick up. We passed giant boulders and some small pools of water. The trail kept going up and up. When we reached one of the huts it was getting late in the afternoon. Ted the Head & the Strohs brothers tried to talk the hut keepers into letting us stay the night, but they insisted that they were full. We tried to get permission to sleep on the floor of the common room but were also turned down. The only solution was to keep on going.
   We kept on climbing. It was August, but we were cold even though the sun was out on this summer day. After a long climb we finally reached the 6,288 foot summit, the highest peak in the Northeastern United States! At the peak is a giant observation tower and weather observatory. At this location, the highest windspeeds in America were recorded (231 mph on April 12, 1934, exactly 46 years to the day before I began my hike of the Appalachian Trail).
   We also saw lots of tourists at the summit. There is a road that leads to the top and many vacationers drive up to the top. It was interesting to suddenly enter a place that looked like Disney! Now it was REALLY getting late in the day. We still had a lot of miles above tree line before the trail dropped in elevation. There was no way that we could get below treeline for the night. We tried to get the rangers to let us camp inside the weather station (it is very large and has lots of room). Again, we were flatly refused.
   Now we were stuck. The light would fade soon and we had to camp somewhere. Were weren't about to go back, there was no place to camp in that direction anyway. We knew that it would be very risky to keep going down the trail since nightfall was not far away. The chance of missing the trail in the dark could be disasterous! There was only one solution. We began to walk down the road. Almost all of the tourists had already headed down the road so we had it to ourselves.
   On a rare occasion every thru hiker takes a different route, sometimes a road. The point is that we walked the entire way. Yes, we missed a few miles of rugged trail, but that was minor in comparison to the over 2,100 miles that we walked. And safety is always important. I kept remembering the sign we saw before we climbed Mt. Washington warning of extreme conditions that could lead to injury or death. They weren't kidding!
   We kept walking down the road. Ted the Head & the Strohs brothers kept up a constant banter as we walked. Night fell and we were still above treeline but we were making progress. After a while we saw an old ramshackled house on the side of the road. This was called the "halfway house", not because it was a place for ex-convicts to live! It was about halfway from the base of the mountain to the summit.
   Ted had a "great idea". We could camp inside this old, abandoned house. I was quite skeptical. It was locked and boarded up. It looked like a stiff wind would knock it down. Ted the Head & the Strohs brothers began looking for a way to get into the house. I imagined that they had practice in this art when they had locked their keys in their own house! Suddenly I heard a shout. A way in had been found. One of the sheets of plywood over a window was loose. We were able to squeeze in!
   Or flashlights cut beams through the dusty interior of the old house. We were amazed at how much warmer it was inside. It wasn't actually warm, but we didn't realize how cold the wind was outside! Before long our campstoves were cooking hot supper and hot tea. We snuggled down into our sleeping bags, glad to be in a warm, dry place, and slowly drifted off to sleep. Mt. Washington was tough, but we had made it. There would be many more challenges ahead, but none that compared to the extremes of this giant mountain. We dreamed of good food, home, and standing on Mt. Katahdin in Maine. The final mountain was getting closer and closer.

   2011 update:  Today I weighed in at 166.8 pounds. That is (drum roll please) 20.0 pounds that I have lost! It's been a long journey, but worth it! I'm so close to my goal of 165.0 pounds. So, I'm getting radical. I'm going to hit that number tomorrow. All I had to eat today was my regular bowl of oatmeal, two almonds, a big bowl of salad (with one carrot and almost no fat free dressing). I went running this morning. Then I went running again tonight. After I run tomorrow, I will have run over 10 miles in 24 hours (a lot for me). So, tomorrow is the big day. Say a prayer for me that I make it!