Presidential Traverse (Out-and-back) - 5/26/2016

The weather for this past Thursday afternoon was looking fantastic. With this planned a week in advance, I had arranged my workday for a quick early morning ride to the job sites down in Plymouth, MA, and then raced back to meet Alton at 12pm. We were at the trail head around 2pm. As we exited the car, and Cole jumped out to stretch the legs, a ranger was there and was a little harsh in his tone when he told Alton it was the law for the Cole to be on a leash. Literally like 30 seconds after getting out of the car. The law is actually ..leash or verbal command, as the sign indicates at the Mt. Clinton Road Trail head.  The approach of the ranger was a little silly, but we brushed it off. As I paid for my parking, I went back to the car for a pen, and took the opportunity to say he ought to replace the pencil when he gets a chance. (Little does this ranger guy know) Cole and us' plan was to hike a double Presi, and/or at least some fashion of an out and back Presi. Before the hike, we always plan out, or talk out our options. We have a knack for making last minute decisions, and crafting our plans on the go, but not without a lot of discussion before and during the hike. One option was after reaching Madison, we could return hitting Isolation, and hiking out via Isolation-Dry River Cutoff-Mt. Clinton Trail back to Crawford, or the other option was return via Gulfside, Westside, Crawford Path with no summits, and our third option was to descend to the west slopes (Caps, Ammo, Edmands), and hike roads back to Crawford. What was NOT an option, was getting back to the car any later than 6am, as Alton had a scheduled appointment at work, which was of high importance. With all of that in mind, we started up the trail at 2:15pm.

OMG it's Cole on a leash! ... for like 30 seconds 

Heading up the Crawford Path

Mt. Pierce

Webster-Jackson and Crawford Path junction

The hike up to the ridge was nice. Seeing what we're about to hike across is always awesome. On Mt. Pierce, a guy recognized Cole "from the internet" - never said he recognized Alton or I, just Cole. This pup is something else, I'll tell ya. Next up, we made a quick jaunt of the next section to Eisenhower. After a nice break up there, we ran off the summit on a fast approach to the Monroe Loop. I enjoy a northbound traverse when the pace is fast, as once up to the ridge, it's a nice flow over the easier terrain on the southern presis and good time can be had getting towards Washington and the halfway point. When the goal is to ultimately hike back to Crawford after reaching Madison, we had to keep the pace, like we always do.

A panorama from Mt. Eisenhower summit

Mt. Eisenhower summit cairn, looking west

Alton hikes between Eisenhower and Monroe. We hit Franklin too.

Cole is happy and ready to take on the Monroe Loop, but first....little Monroe.

Cole found a puddle but it was a bit muddy than expected.
He was half black and half white for a while.

Cole enjoys the summit a bit longer, as we leave for Lake of Clouds Hut

Lake of the Clouds, always majestic

Cole enjoys a cool-down with one heck of a setting

One of my favorite spots in the Whites to stop and take a look back.
Mt. Monroe was the spot of my 48 finish.

The climb to the top of Mt. Washington was steady as usual. It was quiet and nice and warm, so it was easy to keep going while enjoying the view.  We reached the summit in the 6 o'clock hour, no one else in sight.  It was my 27th summit of New England's highest peak. Despite hiking most of the 4,000 footers at night together last year, this was Alton and I's 1st Washington summit and Presi Traverse together, something we only realized as we were on this hike. After a quick picture, we readied for the baby jog to Mt. Clay, another stretch to make good time. With the sun lowering, we enjoyed incredible views and calm winds as we descended past the Great Gulf. There was running water along this section, and it offered a unique view with the sun glistening off the water.

The Great Gulf, between 6 and 7 pm

Cole found another puddle, another spectacular spot near Mt. Clay

Looking west on the approach to Mt. Jefferson at sunset

Cole summits Mt. Jefferson at sunset

Enjoying a comfortable evening above treeline

We cross the Jefferson snowfield at twilight with no winds

We made really good time from Jefferson to Adams. Although its not the first time being calm up here, it still had is in an awe during this section. We joined with the Israel Ridge Path and made it to the summit of Mt. Adams. We didn't stay long, and we made it down the tricky Airline Trail. The rocks are pretty big on this trail, and tough descending at night, but we kept going and made it to the hut. We dropped the packs and made it quickly up to Mt. Madison for the 10th peak, and 8th 4,000-footer on this full Presidential Traverse. From Crawford Path it was 14 miles in 8:50. This included 1:50 of stopped time enjoying the hike. We quickly descended back to the hut.

Alton and I on Mt. Adams

Mt. Madison Summit, just after 11:00pm

Despite a nice time on the way across at 8:50, it was now after 11pm, and that left us about 7-ish hours for the return trip so Alton can be home in time. With that in mind, we headed back up the Gulfside Trail towards Thunderstorm Junction discussing our options. We kept moving, traveling back to Edmands Col, and there we finalized our previous discussion that we were going to head over to Caps Ridge via Randolph Path for a minute and then the Cornice to Caps Ridge Trail.  The wind had picked up a little bit on the way over and remained consistent, which solidified this decision. We would probably not even be close if we did any other option. We entered onto the Cornice Trail, and it was fairly rocky and steep compared to its appearance on our map. With the wind going pretty good, and us being spaced out a little farther, being later in the hike, Alton misread the trail sign, continued, and we started to go beyond the right junction to access Caps Ridge. Alton ended up going all of the way up to Jefferson again. I saw Alton pass the sign, and I yelled "Oh, next one?!", but she didn't hear, and I trusted her, so we continued for some minutes. Alton was gone following cairns, I was crawling during this section, but after a few more minutes, I knew something was up, and it wasn't going to be me ....climbing any more. I checked my GPS, and was .16 away from Caps Ridge Trail, and saw that we were in fact ascending Jefferson again. I quickly rock hopped my way over in a fast straight line and began looking up. A few short minutes later we saw each others headlamps, and we descended saying what the hell just happened. I knew I should have also looked at the sign, but I didn't. The sign might even have been a little askew. Little things like this can happen when you push yourself on tough hikes, but trusting your hiking partner and remaining calm is important, no matter what happens.

The Cornice Trail at night, most of it anyways.

Darn my feet were killing going down Caps Ridge. Through the wind, I think I heard Alton say ahead of me, "I think we're almost done with the Caps".  About 20 minutes later when I caught up with her next we were still on the Caps. Felt like the most sore descent in a while for my feet, but eventually we made it to the parking lot and took a quick break. Didn't help with her messing up the route and jinxing our distance to go, but I would never get mad! From the Caps Ridge Trail head to Mt. Clinton Road Trail head is 6.5 miles via Jefferson Notch Road and Mt. Clinton Road. We chose this plan because no matter how tired we are, we knew we could take care of 6.5 miles and make it back in plenty of time to make it to work. It was a long walk without stopping, and it even started to rain Alton and Cole saw a Moose, but I didn't. We arrived back at the trail head at 5am, one hour before our latest time to leave and be on time. Another successful night hike in the books.  Despite only hiking 11 hikes since January 1st, I have done 44 4,000-footers, 236 miles, and 84,000 ft. of elevation. My average hike distance this year so far is 21.5 miles and 7,700 ft of elevation gain. Alton & Cole have joined me for 9 of those hikes. Clearly we're having fun with having fun doing long and difficult hikes. Perhaps we'll see this continue this summer...

The only sleep I got in 32 hours

Cole fast asleep, probably dreaming of his next biggest hike

Highlights:

Me and Alton's first Presi Traverse and Mt Washington summit together.

27th summit of Mt. Washington

20th summit of Madison and Eisenhower

12th Presidential Range Traverse

Trail Conditions:
All of the trails used were mostly dry. Microspikes are not needed anywhere along the traverse. There was some runoff on Gulfside coming down from Washington - it was pretty cool shining in the setting sun. Lots of puddles for dogs, Cole was well hydrated and cooled. Couple small blow downs on Caps Ridge Trail. The rocks in the northern presis were hard and sharp as usual. We had a beautiful evening with barely any wind and warm temperature except wind while descending Caps.

Hike Stats
Trails: Crawford Connector, Crawford Path, Webster Cliff Trail. Eisenhower Loop, Monroe Loop, Gulfside Trail, Clay Loop, Jefferson Loop, Israel Ridge Path, Airline Trail, Osgood Trail, Randolph Path, The Cornice, Caps Ridge Trail, Jefferson Notch Road, Mt. Clinton Road.

Distance: 27.7 miles
Elevation Gain: 9,850

Actual Book Time: 14:40

Photo Album Link

Presidential Range Traverse (out-and-back from Mt. Clinton Road)

Presidential Traverse - 9/7/14

On Sunday, September 7th, just 48 hours after the end of an exciting trip out west to climb Mt. Rainier, I set out to celebrate with a full Presidential Range Traverse.  I enjoy returning "home" and celebrating with a good adventure, taking those good feelings from a successful trip and bringing them back to savor on the peaks that got it all started.  I had eight Presidential Traverses under my belt, including four already in 2014, this would be my 5th.  I've done times of 20hrs, 15hrs, 13hrs, 10:50, 10:45, and my best previous time was 10:20.  Most of those times didn't include Jackson, or they were at night, or in winter or I was trying to do a Double Presidential Traverse.  However, the 10:20 best time was a north-bound full, including Jackson, so I found myself in Crawford Notch, with a goal to see if I could get under 10hrs.  I also just could not pass up a Presi Day, because that is what the forecast called for.

Walking from the shuttle to the Jackson-Webster Trailhead 

Jackson-Webster Trail

So then started the theme of the day, I passed some hikers on the way up.  I prefer the northbound presi traverse, as the route to the ridge and Mt. Jackson is pretty short and easy compared to the Valley Way.  From my previous traverses, I've been able to get great starts starting this way because its a lot easier when you get to the ridge faster.  When I got to the summit of Jackson, it was cool and in some clouds.  I noticed that I was at about an hour or a few minutes over that, so I was about 20 minutes behind what I've done before up to Jackson.  In true peak-bagger fashion, I was off to Pierce after a quick summit snapshot and a look around.  There were some folks enjoying the now crystal clear views from Mt. Pierce, as the clouds disappeared mostly for good.

Mt. Jackson 

Coming right up.....a beautiful and lucky September day on the Presi's

Mt. Pierce summit (1hr49min)

Even though I was cruising along, as I started to ascend Eisenhower the views and magnitude of this beautiful day started to take full effect.  It was just so fun to be up there taking it all in on such a nice day, yet at the same time I was enjoying kicking my own ass as much as possible with this workout.  Eisenhower was busy, and it was nice to see some friends Michael and Monica again (albeit quickly), who I've bumped into all over New England.  I basically left Eisenhower in a good run.  I felt like I was certainly making up for the few minutes I was disappointed about back on Jackson.  The next section over Franklin to Mt. Monroe is almost always pretty peaceful and quiet.

Mt. Eisenhower (in 2hrs 23min) 

Leaving Mt. Eisenhower 

Jefferson, Washington, and Monroe, and Oakes Gulf, and the Montalban Ridge behind it (I think)

Mt. Monroe (3hrs 20min with only 10 minutes of stopped time)

As you can see, I'm  on par with my plans, making great time at the beginning of a northbound traverse.  In 3hrs 20min, I was on Mt. Monroe, a little over seven miles and 4,700 feet of gain from the start.  It was my 14th summit of Mt. Monroe, and its always nice to think back to that morning I finished my 48 here.  After a quick pause, I ran to Lake of the Clouds Hut where I stopped only to switch out my t-shirt for my long-sleeved shirt with hood.  A quick check of the weather informed me that the wind chill was about 31 degrees up on Washington.  I was looking forward to it, as this was my 20th summit push for Mt. Washington.

Lake of the Clouds 

Final push up the summit cone         

I passed the always spectacular Lake of the Clouds, and pushed my legs up the highest peak in New England.  It took me about 45 minutes to reach the summit from LOC.  While that is a pretty solid section I was happy about, this is where it starts to get tough and I've always watched my pace start to diminish from this point on.  When I got the summit, I immediately walked past the sign and touched it.  The wind was definitely making it feel like 31 degrees which is pretty cold, especially with shorts and no windbreaker.  There, of course, was a line at the summit.  I quickly stepped in line, but after about 45 seconds, I said screw this, this is going to come back to haunt me and my goal of breaking my previous time.  I walked forward and snapped a quick summit selfie and a couple of shots of the views.

What its like to wait in line 

20th Mt. Washington summit 

On to the Northern Presidentials...

I remember taking about a 5-10 minute break on the Gulfside Trail overlooking the ravine.  Much better to take a break over here where its nice and peaceful.  After that, I continued onto Clay.  I bumped into another acquaintance from VFTT, Tim, along this section, enjoying a northern presi hike on this day.  Next was the long stretch of ascent on the approach to Mt. Jefferson.  This is where it sometimes really starts to slow you.  Trying to overcome that adversity which I was aware of, I kept pushing.  I arrived at the summit of Mt. Jefferson in six hours, just a few minutes before 3:00pm.

Mt. Jefferson, my 100th White Mountain 4000-footer in 2014 

Mt. Adams as seen from Mt. Jefferson

Certainly, I was doing well on this traverse, but I was thinking about the next four hours and the remaining 7 miles or so which puts up a beating every time.  Would I get the two remaining peaks and all the way down the 4 mile Valley Way in those four hours or was I going to fall off the pace? After a couple minutes of pondering, the mind snaps and reminds me that if its going to happen, I have keep going and not think.

The section coming down Jefferson into Edmands col can be tiring on the legs, but without stopping, I descended and then head back up about 900 feet to the summit of Mt. Adams.  It took me an hour from Mt. Jefferson.

Looking back from Mt. Adams

It was really windy, as usual, with some clouds building over Washington.  After a quick stop, I labored on using all 4 limbs to quickly make my way down the Airline Trail to Madison Hut.  Without stopping for anything, not even a pack drop, I continued up the Osgood Trail a half mile to Mt. Madison.

Mt. Madison summit (8hrs from the start)

View from Mt. Madison

Standing atop Mt. Madison, I now had just under two hours to make it down within 10 hours, and a little more to just match my best time of 10hrs 20min.  I knew I could do it, but it was going to be close.  The race was on.  I had such an incredible time above treeline on this hike.  You couldn't ask for a better gym.  I was seriously saddened to descend, but quickly my goal came back to mind, so I busted out my hiking poles, and I started my skipping, running, and jogging effort to get to my car.  Thankfully it was not as painful as it was descending here during my double presi.  I arrived at Appalachia, just a few minutes before sunset.  I finished in 9 hours and 50 minutes, beating my best time by a half hour, and getting under 10 hours.  After all, those minutes I didn't wait in line on Washington came into effect.  I was pretty darn happy about my effort, and its amazing how much you can still surprise yourself at what your capable of by always challenging yourself.  After this hike, where I pretty much didn't stop, I can say that I don't think I could do a northbound presi traverse any faster without shedding gear and the pack and running it.  I will have to try a "fast" southbound traverse someday, but for now I'm feeling good on this one, and looking forward to my next big traverse this week, the Mahoosuc Range, which I'm doing with some adventurous friends.

Hike Stats

Trails: Jackson-Webster Trail, Webster Cliff Trail, Crawford Path, Eisenhower Loop, Monroe Loop, Trinity Heights Connector, Gulfside Trail, Clay Loop, Jefferson Loop, Israel Ridge Path, Airline Trail, Osgood Trail, Valley Way Trail.

Distance: 19 miles

Elevation Gain: 8,503 ft.

Actual Book Time: 9:50
GPS Track: Garmin Adventures

Hut-to-Hut Attempt to a Windy Overnight Presidential Traverse + Wildcats - 7/5/14

About one month prior to this hike, I took on a Double Presidential Range Traverse, a 43 mile jaunt with over 18,000 feet of elevation gain going back and forth over the range.  After a couple of shorter hikes, long on my list to-do, was a Hut-to-Hut Traverse of the White Mountains.  A hut-to-hut doesn't have anything to do with 4,000-footers, but for me, trying to add all of the 4,000-footers along the way would be nothing new.  Lately, I've been connecting hikes and hike plans with the great history of the White Mountains.  All hut-to-huts prior to the 70s included Pinkham Notch (also called the MacPhail H2H), so I decided I wanted to add Pinkham Notch, and of course bag the Wildcats. To add to that, I wanted to do the full Presi Traverse, hitting every peak, so to grid the Presi's for July.  Then, I wanted Tom, Zealand, and Galehead as extras along the way.  It sure was possible, but things don't always turn out the way its planned.

River along Nineteen Mile Brook Trail

I planned to hike up to Carter Notch Hut Friday night for a midnight start, but heavy rains that never stopped kept me in my car overnight until about 8:30am on Saturday morning.  With a little under 48 hours before I have to report to work, and some additional rest, I figured I could still give this a go.  I had a nice walk up to Carter Notch Hut where I hung out for about 20 minutes, and I began my attempt to trek across the White Mountains to visit every hut, starting at 10:40am.

Nineteen Mile Brook Trail temporary bridge

Carter Notch Hut

Carter Lake and Wildcat A

I made satisfactory time over the Wildcats, down the Wildcat Ridge Trail and Lost Pond Trail to Pinkham Notch.  I refilled water and went to the bathroom, before quickly heading up the Old Jackson Road behind Pinkham Notch.  Here I was now on a bit of unfamiliar trail.  The trail climbs gradually up to the Auto Road.  When I arrived at the road, I thought it was sort of weird because I was on Mt. Washington, but headed to Madison, and crossing the auto road while on a hike for the first time ever. I pulled out the map, to make sure, and I continued onto the Madison Gulf Trail.  

Crossing the Auto Road

Things were going excellent until I got confused trying to get from Madison Gulf Trail to the Osgood Trail.  It was almost a Madison Gulf ascent, until I decided screw this, I can get across this river somehow.  However, it took a little extra ascent and scouting the river for a safe spot, which consumed precious minutes.  Then, when I got across, I had an approximately 10 minute bushwhack around a slope to the Osgood Cut-off.  Except when I arrived onto this trail, mid-trail, I questioned what trail it was, and pulled out the map.  A few people including a forest ranger came up just seconds after, and I asked if this was the Osgood Cut-off or Osgood.  I told them I just crossed the river, and came onto the middle of the trail.  With some clarification, and quick sigh of relief, I was fast continuing up the Osgood Cut-off and to the Osgood Trail.

From Osgood Ridge to Madison

The clouds appeared menacing, and it was a bit breezy at this point, but nothing out of control...yet.  This was my first time on the Osgood Ridge to Madison, and it was a fun stretch to climb.  It began to slow my progress a bit, though, but I arrived at a packed Madison Hut.  Here I re-aligned my gear for the strong winds pulling out my pretty much winter gear as those in the hut probably thought i was nuts. As I was stepping out the door, a few guys doing a northern presi traverse came in wearing jeans. Good thing they were nearly done. 

Madison Spring Hut

From Adams 

On Adams

Once I was close to Edmands Col, I started to see the sun setting. The picture doesn't do it justice, it was a defined orange ball - really pretty despite the thickening clouds above. 

Sunset from the Presi's

On Jefferson, there was the last light and a shaky summit picture. Winds really started to ramp up from here on out, likely 60-70mph as I made my way past Sphinx col and onto the Clay Loop.

Pretty eeriness on Jefferson 

Windy on Jefferson

After Clay, and once back onto the Gulfside Trail visibility went from pretty good, to almost 5-10 feet max, with the winds getting stronger. Instead of crossing the Cog, I hiked alongside it until I reached the front of the Adams summit building. I sat down on the bench for a quick break, as I watched the strongest winds I've ever experienced on Washington, blow the fog through the beams of the summit structures with such intensity. I didn't need to change any gear. I was still in shorts, but had my jacket, hat, and gloves on. The wind chill was about 25 degrees, but my legs were warm because everything around me was so intense, and my body was working hard.

I couldn't really stand up at the sign, had to hang onto rocks

I had no choice but make it to Lake of the Clouds Hut, which I knew I could do. I really didn't expect the high winds to linger so long into the night, and even the observatory posted a forecast of mostly clearing skies for the evening. As I exited the summit onto the Crawford Path, I immediately lost the trail as it takes a wide curve off the summit. I had to trust my instincts for a few minutes as I went in the general direction of the trail. Finally I found a rock where I did a quick glance at my map and GPS without falling over in the 80+mph winds, and continued about 5-10 more minutes before I came upon the recognizable trail, visible only at my feet.

A long story short, I walked into a pitch dark LOC Hut, and I found myself a cold bench among the many already sleeping on the floors and benches. I didn't sleep a wink, and was quite cold all night. I should have brought the sleeping bag instead of my hammock. I did have a decent time Sunday morning chatting with some thru and section hikers at the Hut about lots of familiar hiking.

The view back from Mt. Franklin

Around 8:30am or so, after the Hut stopped shaking from the wind, and I warmed up a lot, I got moving again with winds around 40-50 mph. Slowly, I started to feel back to normal, as if I had spent a regular night out but it was nothing like a regular night on the mountain. I continued on, hitting Monroe, Franklin, Eisenhower, and Pierce, all the summits I wanted. From there, I descended to the Highland Center, where just 30 minutes later, I caught the AMC Shuttle back to my car.

Me on Eisenhower 

Lenticular clouds from the summit of Mt. Pierce

The later start than planned, along with the high winds and extra focus needed to make it over Washington safely put an end to my attempt.  The next day was really nice, which allowed me to really enjoy the rest of this epic Presidential Range Traverse plus the Wildcats, which was still almost half the distance I was attempting to do.  I hope someday soon that I will try a normal Hut-to-Hut Traverse, but I definitely wouldn't change a thing about this one. Stay safe friends, and always bring the proper gear for the extremes of the Presidentials and Mt. Washington. This was my 8th Presidential Traverse, anywhere from my 7th-11th times on the Presi's and 19th summit of Mt. Washington.

Hike Stats

Trails: 19 Mile Brook Trail, Wildcat Ridge Trail, Lost Pond Trail, Old Jackson Road, Madison Gulf Trail, Osgood Cut-off, Osgood Trail, Gulfside Trail, Airline Trail, Israel Ridge Path, Jefferson Loop, Clay Loop, Crawford Path, Monroe Loop, Eisenhower Loop, Webster-Cliff Trail (for Pierce), Crawford Path

Distance: 35 miles

Elevation Gain: 13,930 ft.

Actual Book Time: TBD