Presidential Traverse

7-20-2015 to 7-21-2015 Presidential Traverse

Gear:

·                     ULA Ohm 2.0 pack

·                     Mountain Laurel Designs Spirit 48 Quilt

·                     Thermalrest x-lite sleep pad

·                     Hiking Poles

·                     Down Jacket Mont-Bel Ex-light

·                     Tarp and Bivy

·                     Rain Gear

Day 1

Drive North to Appalachia Trailhead:

1:00 am. Head out the door.

1:02 am. Turn around because I forgot to grab my shoes.

1:08 am. Turn around again to drive back to the house to grab my mp3 player that I left right by the keys.

(All I’m thinking about when I leave the house is saying goodbye to the dogs, lol)

The lightning storms started out to my North West as I drove up 93. These were the most intense lightning storms I had seen in a long time. Constant strikes of bolts lighting up the sky. I would try to catch a glimpse to my left through the tree openings on the highway.

I made it to the trailhead sometime around 3:30 am. The rain had stopped completely and the storms had passed on by the White Mountains. I was very thankful for this. Forecast for the rest of the day was supposed to be clear.

The trek up the popular Valley Way trail in the pitch dark was exciting yet uneventful.

 I walked alongside a strong flowing river roaring loudly to my left. The camera could not see anything. As I walked through the woods I started to remember this trail from the first time I hiked it a few years ago. Every hike is different even if on the same terrain. The first time I hiked this trail it was below freezing and icy snow crystals lining the trees.

Quite magical. This time, it is pitch black because it’s 4 in the morning. . I was making great time as I made it to the Watson Path junction but I could tell I may have started too late to catch the sunrise as planned. It was still dark as I continued on the Watson Path up to Mt Madison. I remembered that I took the Watson Path last time but I did not remember how it was. I took Watson this time because it was slightly shorter of a trek to the summit and I could loop over the summit and continue the traverse without backtracking.

*Alternative is to go straight up Valley Way to the Madison Hut. Take a left and climb steeply up to the summit of Madison. Turn around and return to the hut following the same path you came up.

I did not, however, remember how difficult of a climb this trail was. By the time I got to tree line, I was huffing and puffing. The sun was not out and we were still a little bit clouded in. The low rising sun could be seen peeking through the clouds.

Despite the lack of sun the conditions up here were not too bad. The temperature was pleasant and I was complacent with shorts, light long sleeve shirt, and a rain jacket for wind protection. I made it to each “false summit” and then to the actual Madison summit amid scouring winds coming from the west.

The jaunt down to Madison Hut was my first descending of the trip. Are my knees up to the task? “Sure, of course they are!” I also had my first slip of the day where I lodged my shin against some rock. That frickin hurt a lot but the thought of having such a pitiful accident hindering my traverse had me continue on forgetting about any pain. I encountered the first people of the hike on the descent down Madison. They had no packs or anything. “Must be from the hut.” As I walked up to the front of the hut porch area, hordes of tourists were stepping outside to witness the view being obstructed by the last of the clouds. "Is it worth it?"

*Madison Hut is one of many AMC Huts built in the White Mountains. People can shell out ~$100 per person to spend the night tucked away sometimes 5000’ up away from the elements. These are by no means 5 star accommodations. You get breakfast and dinner, toilets, water, and a place to sleep among a few other amenities. Very popular though!

As there was no view and I had been there before anyways. I grabbed a honey waffle snack and moved onto the Star Lake trail.

This is probably my favorite section of the hike. The clouds had opened up and the warm sun was beating down on me while the fierce wind continued to keep me at a cool yet comfortable temperate. This trail brings you right by Star Lake and skirts the top of the Great Gulf as you make your way up and around to the towering summit of Mt Adams. As I followed this trail I couldn’t help but think of how the conditions must have been when Kate Matrosova attempted her traverse this past President’s Day. Terrifying!

The climb up to the summit of Adams was fun and challenging. The weather was fantastic and I had amazing views into the Great Gulf Wilderness and of Mount Washington in the distance to my back.

From Adams it was on to Mt Jefferson. I have also climbed Jefferson previously. The trail system in this area is quite extensive so it is important to be paying attention to when the summit loops intersect as I need to make sure I follow all of those side trails. This section was difficult at times when the wind gusts started up but the path was easy to follow. In fact, the entire trail is really easy to follow as long as you are paying attention to the intersections. Well blazed, large cairns, and frequent sign posts.

Mt Clay follows Jefferson and this would be my first new ascent this trip and first new 4k for this trip as well (even if it technically doesn’t count). The views continued to be spectacular. From here and along the ridge you can see west to VT, east to the Great Gulf Wilderness, North, and South to the looming Mt Washington.

The trek from Clay to Washington was not difficult at all. The hike was long and tedious with all the rocks but the summit was getting closer and closer. Once I made it to the top of Washington, I stood in line to take a quick picture of the sign.

Once again, the crowds on the top of Mt Washington were less than pleasant. It was a nice change of pace but there are too many people unaware of their surroundings packed into a small location. I quickly found a seat in the cafeteria and refilled my water. It was nice having the huts and the Summit cafeteria as I did not have to carry much water and therefore, less weight. I made myself a delicious wrap sandwich using a sourdough wrap with peanut butter slathered on and then topped with mint m&m trail mix. Mm mmm! I relaxed for about an hour before I put on my wind/rain pants and sweatshirt to head out into the cold and now view less summit.

My time at the top was up and it was now time to head off on the rest of my trip. The remaining peaks are all lower and theoretically all the hard stuff has already been hiked. The views heading down the Crawford path were outstanding! The sun opened up again now that we were away from the Mt Washington weather clouds. Very picturesque and reminiscent of a post card photo.

This is also true when coming down to Lake of the Clouds hut. This hut is one of the larger ones and has views looking west I believe into the Mount Washington Valley to the Mount Washington Hotel and Bretton Woods ski area.

I also stopped by here for a little bit and took advantage of the restroom facilities. I also enjoyed the company of several other hikers.

Since the summit of Washington, I have seen more and more hikers. It was now a reasonable hour that normal people could get out of bed and start their day. I do enjoy the company of others at times and appreciate talking after a bit of solitude. Still though, I would rather have solitude than be with groups of people all day.

Mt Monroe stands directly to the south of the hut and that is where I was off to. The path up is very direct, wide, and steep. It is so pronounced that it can actually be seen from miles away. The climb up Monroe was fun with views now extending to the mountains south of Washington to Crawford Notch and beyond.

This is where I noticed my phone battery was now in the yellow (10% remaining?). Something was acting up with the phone and some app was constantly trying to reopen and mess with the GPS. This apparently was severely draining the battery. I had to try to save as much battery as I could because I needed to wake up at a certain time to catch the shuttle. I would not take any more pictures from here on out. I had 4.4 miles and three more peaks to the next hut, Mitzpah Hut.

Mitzpah hut was also fairly crowded as the afternoon was getting along. I started conversation and soon learned of several camp spots between the next two peaks if needed. This was helpful but I intended to do the full traverse ending with the summit of Mt Webster which happened to be another 3 miles away. I stopped inside to grab some more water and then headed out around mid to late afternoon.

As I hiked I continued to look off into the sides of the trails for camp spots. Some sites have already been established off the trail and would be a better idea than setting up and disturbing a new spot. The problem is these are often very difficult to find unless you have an idea of where they could be. Sometimes they are also obvious and even have established mini trails leading to them. I did take notice of a couple as I marched forward. My legs and feet were starting to get sore and I could feel a hot spot or blister forming on the bottom of my right foot. I knew about this all day and could have prevented if I bothered to air out my feet at the huts or the top of Washington.

As I approached the summit of Mt Webster I kept my eyes on the lookout for anything resembling a footpath or clearing off the trail. I had spoken with a through hiker and another group who mentioned established spots by the cliffs. One or two with actual semi fire pits already there. I made it to the top of the summit and the cliffs. There was still plenty of daylight so I had awesome views down into Crawford notch and of Franconia notch in the distance. This area was very open to the elements but thankfully the weather was still beautiful and not too windy. I made notice of two small locations nearby. I chose one and setup my tarp in the very confined space. This took me longer than expected because I had to get creative with the guy lines.

Once I had my camp setup and everything out of my pack, I gathered up my cooking supplies and walked 10 seconds to the cliffs. I had a heck of a time trying to light my esbit tablet with mini bic because of the wind but once I got that situated, I was heating up water and then drinking coffee in no time! By now, the sun was on its way down. When my meal of penne pasta with marinara sauce was ready, I sat down on the rocks and ate dinner peacefully as the sun lit up the sky with magnificent vivid colors of purples, blues, reds, oranges, etc… The scene was surreal and my most enjoyable part of the hike. Great way to end a Presidential Traverse!

Day 2

The night went by uneventfully and I woke up just around the time as I thought I would. At this point I couldn’t even turn my phone on. I realized I could use my mp3 player for a clock and along with my internal alarm clock, I knew I had a setup I could rely on. I packed up my supplies and went over by the cliff to grab my bear bag. I once again lit an esbit tab to heat a little bit of water for coffee. I sipped on my coffee as the sun rose to the right of Washington. Not quite as nice as the sun setting the night before but still something to witness.

Not before long I was all packed up and heading down the trail over to the Highland Center to catch the 9 am shuttle back to my car. The trail down was fun with many viewing opportunities with several small side trails. There was also a lot of water with waterfalls and rivers. As I waited for the shuttle, I basked in the sun sitting in a lawn chair overlooking Crawford Notch. Very pleasant morning as the sun began to heat up. When the shuttle came, myself along with another couple, were lucky enough to have access to the last few seats for walk on’s as there were several reservations. By 10 am I was back at my car! I was thankful my car was there and just as I left it. I had previously read about vandalism and break-ins at this particular trailhead.

The trip is not over yet! I take off my shoes and pack and get all relaxed. I am exhausted. I go to start the car and nothing. Nothing. The car will not start. Ha! “That’s alright.” I came prepared with jumper cables in the back. I was able to also juice up my phone a little bit to get enough battery to make some phone calls if need be. I was very thankful for a croo member of Lake of the Clouds hut. He happened to be down at the trailhead with several other friends/croo members and assisted me with jumping my car. We tried once and it didn’t work but then waited for a while longer and everything was peachy.

Overall, another very successful and fun trip!

Thanks for reading!

Additional Pictures: