Sun 6/19 - AM - 5.5 hours run/hike, White Mountains

Dry River trail to the Lakes of the Clouds hut, along the ridgeline to Mt. Webster and then down the cliff trail to 302. Underestimated the length of time this loop would take, by a couple of hours. Trail was dry along the alpine ridge, some nice running up there in fact with the requisite spectacular views, but getting up and coming back down were both a pain in the ass. Dry River trail became increasingly muddy and obstructed by blowdowns on the way up, cut both legs multiple times on the branches and limbs across the path. Ankle-sucking mud everywhere. Got up to the ridgeline and of course was blasted by the wind, no surprise at all. Longish break at the hut, then along the hut for relatively flat terrain which was a relief. Descent down to Mizpah Spring hut was obnoxious, got there and realized how much more trail I had left to cover, incl. the big descent off of Webster. Upon getting there, my heart sank to see how much that actually was, over a vertical mile of drop in "3 miles" of trail. Mileage amounts of course don't mean a damn thing on mountain trails. Those 3 miles took well over an hour. From there a very slow putter on 302 back to the car. Not in nearly the dire straits that I was on the last one of these mega-hikes I did at Great Sand Dunes, thanks mainly to not having to run in loose sand at altitude. Better fueled and had access to water at the huts which came in very handy as well. Finished up tired but not exhausted, quads not as sore as expected from the descent but knees were. From there a 3+ hour drive back to civilization. Nice area to visit but a pain to get there.