12 hours, 11 peaks, 24 miles...My First Presidential Traverse!

Trip Details
Date: August 14^th, 2015
Total Distance: 24.46 mi (via Trimble Outdoors Navigator Pro on iPhone 4S)
Total Time: 12 hours 6 minutes
Total Elevation: 8963 ft gained
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The full Presidential Traverse was something I have wanted to do since completing a Southern Presidential Traverse and a Zealand/Bond Traverse last year. For one reason or another logistics were making it difficult to pull off. Finally, the stars aligned and it worked out as the weather was forecasted as sunny with minimal clouds until the afternoon and I was able to arrange a ride to pick me up at Crawford Notch when I finished (thank you to my supportive wife). The one issue, Shatner failed me on Priceline as I tried to "Name Your Own Price" for a motel room in Gorham, NH the night before. Now, it was probably my fault as I was low-balling but it said savings were up to 60%. My fallback idea was a peaceful night under the stars at the Appalachia Trailhead parking lot. The parking lot is located in Randolph, NH along US Route 2. I was surprised to find at 2200 the parking lot was basically full, but I found one spot and then got "comfortable" in the backseat and fell asleep.

Starting at 0600, I jumped on Valley Way and began my adventure. I moved quickly along Valley Way and Watson Path as the trails had good footing and was relatively gradual until the crossing at Duck Fall. At that point the trail starts gaining elevation quickly. I kept a steady pace and before I knew it I broke treeline and was rewarded with some nice views looking north with clouds still hanging out in the valleys.







Duck Falls

If you are confused where to cross at Duck Fall just look for this small diamond on the tree. The trail goes straight up for this point.

This was just strange to me. About half-way up Watson Path was this shopping bag full of clothes with no one around whatsoever...

Mt. Madison summit.

Summit pin on Mt. Madison.

Mt. Adams, Mt. Clay, and Mt. Washington

Mt. Martha on the left and Mt. Waumbek and the Pliny Range on the right.

Old Speck Mountain in the center with the town of Berlin, NH in the left-center. You can see some exhaust from the paper mill.

Berlin, NH and behind it is the Federal Correctional Institution.

After taking a quick break on the summit of Mt. Madison, I dropped down to the AMC Madison Spring Hut. The problem I had with the huts throughout this entire trip was that I either would arrive just after a meal or just before. So all that was available were beverages and no baked goods. I used the bathroom, drank some good cranberry lemonade and then hit the trail again. It got crowded near the hut and I ran into one of my first instances where people were completely oblivious that I was behind them wanting to pass.

Mt. Adams, Star Lake, and AMC Madison Spring Hut

AMC Madison Spring Hut

It was a quick trip up to Mt. Adams and at this point I got a good view of what was to come. The distance between summits is greatly increased after the first two. This meant long sections of rocks with poor footing until finally getting to the reward. I enjoyed the views on the summit and then started my descent.





The trail goes around the side of Mt. Quincy Adams to the summit of Mt. Adams in the distance.

Looking into the King Ravine.

RMC Crag Camp

Looking back towards Mt. Madison.

Looking towards Mt. Jefferson.

Mt. Washington, Mt. Clay, and Mt. Jefferson

Summit pin on Mt. Adams.

I continued along to Edmands Col and then started ascending up Mt. Jefferson. The summit here has a nice fake-out as you start to get near the top a false summit comes into view, but once the trail levels off you see that further back is the true summit. At this point the wind was picking up a bit compared to the previous summits and the sweat was drying quickly and cold on my skin. I took some quick photos and then descended the summit crag and sought some shelter to change into some warmer clothing as coming up soon was the miserable wench that is Mt. Washington.


	

Edmands Col looking towards Wildcats and Carters.

Looking back towards Adams 5 and Mt. Adams.

Looking back at the Gulfside Trail.

The Gulfside Trail making its way up Adams 5 with Mt. Adams in the background.

Mt. Moriah and the Carters and Wildcats.



Looking at the summit crag of Mt. Jefferson.

Summit pin on Mt. Jefferson.

Mt. Washington, Mt. Clay, and Mt. Monroe

Mt. Washington

AMC Lakes of the Clouds Hut

Willey Range, the Bonds/Twins, and the Franconia Ridge.

Mt. Waumbek and the Pliny Range

Mt. Adams and Mt. Moriah

Some ominous clouds forming over Mt. Moosilauke.

After descending Mt. Jefferson and passing through the Sphinx Col, I made the choice to summit all the summits even unofficial ones on this trip. I took a left onto the Mt. Clay Loop and headed towards the secondary summit of Mt. Washington due to it not rising high enough above the col. Mt. Clay has a tricky summit as there are a bunch of areas that look about the same height. The official summit is the first one before you drop down onto a unique flat and sandy col between the knobs.

Looking across the Monticello Lawn to Mt. Clay and Mt. Washington.

Sphinx Col

Mt. Clay Loop heading to the summit.

Mt. Clay summit

The southern Presidential Mountains, Willey Range, and the Sandwich Mountains.

Willey Range, the Bonds/Twins, and the Franconia Ridge.

Omni Mount Washington Resort and Bretton Woods

Mt. Hale, the Twins, and the Franconia Ridge.

Mt. Martha

At this point Mt. Washington was laughing at me and my disdain for the mountain was increasing. It was a beautiful day out, but as I was starting my ascent of Mt. Washington clouds started to stick around the summit. Thankfully, it was not shrouded in clouds but they were just flying quickly over the top of it slightly obscuring photos. I crossed over the cog railway and made the final approach. With the sun blocked by clouds now, the wind was much colder and whipping at about 30 mph. The summit sign was mobbed so there was no chance I was going to waste time and stand in the line getting more and more cold for a photo. I figured I would take a chance with the cafeteria even though tourists were everywhere. Surprisingly, tables were free and there was no line at the cafeteria. Come to find out the ATM was broken and the cash only system for paying for food was controlling the tourists. I took advantage and got some hot chili, a Gatorade, and a big chocolate chip cookie. After enjoying my lunch, I put on my windbreaker and headed back out into the summit mess. I found the Crawford Path quickly and started descending.

What is that hazy/white crap going over the summit???

Cog Railway

Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Madison

The Great Gulf Wilderness

More clouds moving over the summit.

Looking up the railway.

Looking down the railway.

...and the sun is completely gone.

Thankfully the cloud cover was still high enough that there were slightly obstructed views.

The observatory webcam. Wonder if anyone saw me?

The zoo at the summit.

Close-up of the tourists waiting in line for the photo op.

The Wildcats and Carters.

Wildcat Ski Area

Communication towers on the summit and some pretty cool clouds.

Tip Top House

Looking towards the southern Presidential Mountains.

Close-up of AMC Lakes of the Clouds Hut, Mt. Monroe, and Mt. Franklin.

Again I arrived at the AMC Lakes of the Clouds Hut just after lunch so the only thing available was lemonade, which I enjoyed before starting my ascent towards Mt. Monroe. Mt. Monroe is a quick ascent from the hut and provides some great views. Mt. Washington had of coursed cleared all the clouds and was laughing at me. A quick stop for photos and then I started heading towards the next summit.




AMC Lakes of the Clouds Hut

Mt. Monroe

Mt. Washington. The clouds cover is higher now than when I was there.

Looking towards Boott Spur

Looking towards the southern Presidentials, Willey Range, and the Bonds/Twins.

Mt. Monroe summit

Summit pin on Mt. Monroe.

On the Crawford Path I took the herd path over to Mt. Franklin and enjoyed some views into the Dry River Wilderness. Mt. Franklin is the second non-four-thousand footer of the day as it does not rise high enough over the col with Mt. Monroe. The view was nice, though, as it was different than the views I was looking at for most of the day. I then continued on back towards the Crawford Path and over to the next summit.

Mt. Franklin summit

Mt. Monroe, Mt. Washington, and Boott Spur.

Rocky knob along the Davis Path.

Boott Spur

Dry River Wilderness

Mt. Isolation

I thought I had remembered that the trail footing gets better past Mt. Monroe, but I was met with rocky trails for the entire thing. Small sections would provide good footing, yet it rarely lasted. I jumped onto the Mt. Eisenhower Loop and quickly ascended to the top of the dome summit. The views were good and the summit reminds me of a lunar landscape. My body was getting sore by this point and with still a good amount of mileage to go I did not stay long.

Mt. Eisenhower

Mt. Eisenhower summit. The guy on the right was my doppelganger for the day as we were both doing a Presidential Traverse and wearing the same exact shirt.

They could have shot the moon landing on this summit.

Omni Mount Washington Resort

The northern Presidentials.

At the col between Mt. Eisenhower and Mt. Pierce another challenge was added to the mix...water and mud. As the trail left the alpine zone and entered the trees the rocks were typically wet and the flat areas were mud pits. This limited my ability to move fast in this area as the better footing was removed by mud. I avoided it where possible and pushed through it in other areas and made my way to Mt. Pierce. Mt. Pierce is the first summit that is not bare and has limited views. By this time the afternoon forecasted clouds had fully rolled in as Mt. Washington was socked in. I was pretty excited as I had completed a minimum traverse and still had plenty of daylight left. I pushed on for the last two summits of the range.

Mt. Pierce summit


Two summit markers.

Goodbye Mt. Washington!

Close-up of Mt. Eisenhower and the obscured summit of Mt. Washington.

I arrived at AMC Mizpah Spring Hut and was met by a group of about 50 people all sitting outside for some presentation. It was prior to dinner and they were celebrating what appeared as the 50^th anniversary of the hut. I filled my water and worked my way around the group and back onto the trail. This area was wet, muddy, and rocky, but also had some solid sections of bog bridges and better footing that I was able to move quickly on. At one point the bog bridges cross a meadow and the summit looms ahead showing that a steep ascent is necessary. The rocks here once above the treeline were dry so it was easy to do. The sun had started to drop so I took a couple of quick photos and then dropped off the steep summit cone and back onto the trail.

Mt. Jackson summit

Looking north

Mt. Monroe and the obscured Mt. Washington summit.

AMC Mizpah Spring Hut

Mt. Willard in the front with Mt. Avalon directly behind it. The 4000 footers behind it from left to right are: Mt. Field, North Twin, Mt. Tom, and Mt. Hale.

Mt. Willey is on the right. In the background is Mt. Carrigain and the Sandwich Mountains.

This area was even more wet than the trail section before Mt. Jackson, so I moved as quickly as I could over the bog bridges, wet rocks, and muddy trail. Once again, you get to a clearing and the summit of Mt. Webster looms ahead of you. After a couple of scrambles the trail eventually comes out onto the Mt. Webster summit and its cliffs dropping straight down into Crawford Notch. Mt. Webster has great views and is very deserving of its 52 with a View status. The problem is that both times I have summited Mt. Webster were on long traverses of the Presidential Range so it was early evening by the time I got there and the sun was already starting to set and left the Willey Range and Crawford Notch in shadow.

Looking down the Webster Cliffs at US Route 302.

The starting to set sun is washing out the photos of Mt. Willey and Mt. Field.

More washed out shots of Mt. Field, Mt. Tom, Mt. Avalon, and Mt. Willard.

	
One of these is the true summit of Mt. Webster.

VICTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The final descent of the day was a challenge. My knees were struggling for the past few summits. I had overcome a slight tear in my right knee's meniscus a few years back. Since overcoming it, my right knee felt strong and healthy. I have had a few moments over this hiking season where I would step funny or twist quickly, but the pain would go away as soon as it would come. I took a few weeks off to rest it prior to this big hike. Pounding on the rocks for miles and miles and going faster than I probably should have I twisted not only my right knee, but also the left. After trying to carefully manage my knees as I descended at one point I felt a pop in my right knee and was worried that I had pushed too far. I found an abadonend hiking stick on the side of the trail and that helped to remove the weight off that knee. It worked and I was still able to get off the mountain in about an hour. My supportive wife was patiently awaiting my arrival at the Crawford Notch Station with delicious victory cupcakes from White Mountain Cupcakery!

Silver Cascade Brook



Now that I have completed the Presidential Traverse, would I do it again? Probably, but I would most likely end on Mt. Pierce so that I can give my knees a rest on a descent down the Crawford Path. The other reason for that is arriving at Mt. Jackson and especially Mt. Webster late in the day provides little to no reward except for saying you hiked the entire range. Mt. Jackson and Mt. Webster is setup for a great run-of-the-mill normal day hike loop. With bright sunshine one would get beautiful views from Mt. Webster.

Next up...the Pemi Loop!

My mileage was probably a mile or two off as usual.