Presidential Traverse Northbound

In between catching up on sleep, catching up on food, and resting my legs, I am here writing about finally getting to do a hike I've had my mind set on for a few years now: a Presidential Traverse.  For those who don't know, that is a hike along the Presidential Range in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  The traverse can be done a few ways, and with several options for start and end points.  The most important part is that you traverse the range, ideally hitting all the peaks along the way.

I did the hike northbound, from Crawford Notch along Rt. 302 near Twin Mountain, NH.  The mountains from the south are as follows: Webster, Jackson, Pierce, Eisenhower, Franklin, Monroe, Washington, Clay, Jefferson, Adams, and Madison.  I did not actually hike to the summit of Franklin and Clay however, because I didn't see Franklin on the map and I mistakenly took the "around" trail for Clay instead of the "over" trail.

My hiking plan was not at all to do a full traverse, but instead to hike out to Mt. Monroe and come back down along the Dry River Trail to where my car was parked.  I was not set on a traverse until quite a ways into the hike.  But before that, I'd like to enlighten you with my elaborate (not at all) planning skills.  I headed out driving west the night before, a bit after 9pm, planning to sleep the remainder of the night in my car and start bright and early to hit the sunrise for the first peak or so.  After a beautiful drive under the moonlight across into New Hampshire, I finally arrived in Crawford Notch, which was a new destination for me.

It was at this point that a small voice inside my head suggested that perhaps I could just begin hiking right from there, in the middle of the night.  And then I could have a shot at seeing the sunrise from Mt. Washington (not a bad thought there, is it?).  So it began.  I stuffed my face with some food and started across the road on the Webster Cliff Trail.

Here it begins...

I tried a new tactic for solo night hiking - I brought along my ipod for entertainment during the dark hours of the hike.  I figured this would increase productivity with no one to chat with.  I found it extremely effective, despite my liking for the sounds of the forest.

With Mount Washington lying 12.5 miles ahead of me, and 5 hours of darkness, I thought perhaps there was a chance I could catch the sunrise on the summit, if I stayed over 2.5 miles per hour.  That is a bit fast for very hilly terrain, but it's good to have goals right?

I took a few wrong turns on my way up Webster, potentially a bad thing in the dark, but I was able to find the good ole' white blazes again indicating the AT I was following.  There are a few viewpoints marked along the Webster Cliff trail that I would have liked to see in daylight. They were somewhat obvious due to large treeless granite patches.  I turned off the headlamp to gaze at the Milky Way and millions of other stars that were out.  The silhouettes of the mountain peaks were just visible after my eyes adjusted.

Mt. Webster, 3910'

I arrived at Webster in just under 2 hours, though I was not certain of it until I saw the trail junction just a bit down the other side of the peak.  On to Jackson, only a short jaunt with minimal elevation change.  The cedar bog bridging was making an appearance, and I was thankful as it is very easy walking on these.

Here was another ascending trail option I could have taken.  The Jackson Trail if I'm not mistaken, and it comes up to the col between Webster and Jackson.

I came to a slight clearing with some bog bridging and the winds started to pick up as I was mostly about 4000 feet at this point.  As you saw in my Webster summit picture, it was hat weather this time of night at elevation.

Bog bridging near Mt. Jackson, 4052'

Soon after Jackson is the Mizpah Hut, a very strange building to come to in the dead of night.  It looked larger than the Madison Hut in the northern Presidentials that I had seen earlier this year, but then again, things look different at night anyway.

Mizpah Hut

The cold started to seep into the air around here.  Rime ice was present here on the tips of the krumholtz needles.  You don't mess around with mountain weather on the shoulder of the hiking season.  I remember hiking Franconia Ridge last October and it was very wintery, rime, snow, and a cold brisk wind making it unpleasant for stationary activities.

Rime ice on the needles

I missed a picture of the Mt. Pierce summit, primarily because I didn't realize I had passed it.  (Again, no summit signs in New Hampshire...hint hint AMC trail crew.)  Mount Pierce stands at 4310', my second 4000 footer of the day.  Around here, I broke tree line and the winds really picked up, as did the clouds/fog.  I was worried that I was not going to be able to find the trail because of the think fog, but the trail was lined with rocks on either side, making things easier.

In the section between Pierce and Eisenhower, I first began to see the first light glowing to the east.  When you've been hiking for a number of hours in the dark, this is truly a magical experience.  Near to the sun at this time of year are three planets.  A conjunction like this is pretty neat, especially with an adventure happening partially at night.  Venus is visible at the top of the frame below, as it Jupiter, just above the cloud bank.  Mars is in there somewhere, though I doubt it came through with this much pre-dawn glow visible.

Pre-dawn glow, with Jupiter and Venus, 5:46 AM

It is staggering how quickly the sky changes around this time.  Only ten minutes later, and the sky is almost twice as bright.  Venus is still sticking around, even with this amount of light.

5:53 AM

6:04 AM

This is my prized morning shot of the day.  The tiers of mountains that lay to the east are visible here.  Life felt real.  There is something very immersive about witnessing a change like this happen.  Taking in large breaths of genuine mountain air as the sun comes around the corner of the Earth to greet you - nothing quite like it.

6:14 AM

6:29 AM

Because nature hates me with a passion, I got this for the sunrise.  Gosh darn clouds once again.  It got very cold and windy.  I got to Eisenhower summit, but my picture of it was crap, so you'll have to take my word for it.  Mt. Eisenhower is 4780' tall, the last of the sub-5000 peaks for the day.

Chilly on my way to Mt. Monroe, 5371'.

Due to the clouds and other mountains being in my way, I didn't see the sun until about an hour after official sunrise.  It made its appearance, and it was beautiful.

7:21 AM, the sun is visible!

The trail down from Mount Monroe is one of the most pretty trails I've seen in the Whites, in fact probably across the board hiking.  Easy to walk on?  Not so much.

Descending Mt. Monroe to Lakes of the Clouds Hut

At Lakes of the Clouds, I was actually given a view without too many clouds!  Below is Mt. Monroe, where you can really see the drop-off to the eastern side.

Lakes of the Clouds

I took a small break here and enjoyed the view.  The sun was high enough to reach into some of the more western White Mountains.

Me being peaceful, or maybe just avoiding being blinded.

I worked my way slowly up to the highest point of the day, Mount Washington, at 6288'.  The perspective of mountains as you rise and fall along a ridge is interesting.  From cols or saddles, mountains don't seem quite as large as they are.  About halfway up (or down) from a col to a summit, the one across the saddle looks menacingly large, especially if your legs are worn out.  If you are on the taller side (like the picture below), the smaller peak appears to diminish to much smaller than it is. Only 1000' shorter than Washington, Mt. Monroe appears minuscule, and I still have a fair climb ahead of me to the summit.

Mt.  Monroe behind me as I climb Washington.

My prize for the day was not having to wait in line at the summit of Washington.  In fact, I arrived at 8:50, before the park actually opens.  I was sitting down and munching as the park employees rumbled up in their silly SUVs.

Mt. Washington at 6288'.  My third summit of this mountain.

On Washington, I took a substantial break to eat, as well as to take a nap.  I went to the leeward side to escape the winds, and found a nice rock to stretch out on.  The sun's warmth was appreciated after a cold and windy trek along the ridge for a few miles.

I woke up a few times to people walking up the staircase speaking foreign languages, and it reminded me of how easy it is for people just to travel in from absolutely anywhere and drive up the mountain.  That's what I don't like about Washington.  A place like this is special, and I'll be honest, it ruins the experience for me a bit to see hoards of people up there.  Luckily, an early summit can avoid the worst of it.

The northern Presidentials: Clay, Jefferson, clouds, clouds, etc.

It was here that I made the choice to get my act together and do a FULL traverse of the Presidentials.  This was a hike I had been wanting to do for over two years, and I figured why should I wait for "the perfect time" to do it.  Now was perfect - I was here, and half of the mountains had been hiked already, with still three quarters of the day remaining.

I filled up my three water bottles and headed down the north slope of Washington toward Mt. Clay.  I stupidly made a wrong turn before Mt. Clay and went around it instead of over it, but I suppose my legs appreciated the slight break from up and down all the time.

Next up was Mt. Jefferson, standing at 5712', the third highest in the state.  I saw a few people here on the summit, and these were not far from the first people I had seen all day.  I saw one fellow going along a different trail around Lakes of the Clouds Hut, and then several around the summit of Washington.  I stopped here at Jefferson for a snack (carefully rationing out my remaining food, as it was around here I realized I didn't have as much as I would have liked), and thought long and hard about Mt. Adams and Madison, the two peaks I had left to complete my traverse.  Adams is a very large mountain, even from Jefferson, standing at nearly the same elevation.

Mt. Adams from Mt. Jefferson

Mt. Adams made for a very slow summit, as my body was starting take in the reality that I was attempting a 20+ mile hike on zero sleep from the night before.  With some musical motivation from my ipod again, I made it up to the the second to last peak.  I also met a south-bound AT hiker, Mountain Man, a nice guy to chat with.  Mountain Man had recently passed another hiker from Maine. and suggested that I might be able to snatch a ride back to my starting point with him, since he was parked at Jefferson Notch, planning an out-and-back to Jefferson, Adams, and Madison.  That solved my potential downfall to a traverse without having planned logistics for each end.

I had saved my last of three sandwiches for Adams, since I knew that was the last big push on the traverse.  It was amazing.  A small frog would have been amazing as well, but the sandwich was great.  As were the wheat thins.

Viewing Mt. Washington from Adams.

It is important to look both ahead of you and behind you on such a hike. The progress you've made is a powerful motivator in times of discouragement and tiredness.  Not to mention the utter beauty of a range like this.

Here is Mt. Madison, the last of the peaks on the traverse.

Mt. Madison, 5367' from the shoulder of Mt. Quincy Adams
(sub-peak of Adams)

I got to the Madison Hut (just visible in the photo above), and prepared myself for the last mountain of my traverse.  Both a very happy and sad concept.  It was absolutely spectacular to have spent the entire day in the mountains, mountains that I very much care for and would be sad to leave.  At the same time, my body, pleading for a rest, was happy to see the last peak in sight.

Looking back toward Washington and Adams, and all the mountains that lie behind those, it is a true look at the ruggedness of a hike like this. The rocks in the northern peaks are more demanding than the bog bridges and forest paths of the southern ones.

Washington (left) and Adams (right)

I made the summit of Madison, the final high point on the hike!  I know there is a whole mountain to go down, but I paused here to take in the view to the north, finally unobstructed by more peaks to conquer.

Descending along Watson Path, which would lead me to Appalachia, the northern terminus of the traverse, brought with it challenging terrain of sharp rocks and hard-to-find cairns.  I put on my mittens purely for protection from the rocks I was using as hand holds.  But soon, I found these funny things called trees!  I had forgotten about them after so many miles above the tree line.  They also make good hand holds for swinging down the steep terrain safely.

I saw a few people along this trail, eventually leading to Valley Way trail. I stopped at a stream crossing to refresh myself with some water. Knowing that I was only a few miles out from completion, I got myself up again to descend the last bit to Appalachia.  Perhaps due to too many hours awake, I ended up on Brookside Trail, which parallels Valley Way, and...you guessed it: follows the brook.

Just a few minutes after 16 hours elapsed time, I crossed the power lines that indicate the end in just steps away.  The evening light was passing through the corridor as the sun was on its way over the horizon, having done its work for the day.

Appalachia only a few steps away...

At the parking lot, I met a cool dude waiting to ascend the Airline trail for a night hike that evening.  A seasoned hiker and backpacker he was, and we talked about his experience in SAR and thru-hiking on the AT. And because I feel I should tell you, he very much recommends Sealskinz gloves for winter hikes - fully waterproof and windproof.  I tried them on, and they super easy to slip on.

I added up the mileage of the day as I waited for my ride from Andy, the friendly hiker of Jefferson, Adams, and Madison.  The total on the map came out to 24.2 miles, which, if correct, would break my previous record of 21 miles in Canyonlands NP with the one and only Noah Pappano.

Here is an annotated elevation profile from caltopo.com (Caltopo is an online database of the USGS maps, completely open-source and searchable like google maps.)

Hike Data
Miles hiked: 24.2
Time elapsed: 16.1 hours
Total ascent: 8920'

This brings my hiking total for the year up to 300 miles since January 1, 2015.  Hopefully many more before the year is out.  If you're wondering how exactly I made it back home, it was a long a painful journey involving a car-nap and some caffeine.  Totally worth it for a Presi Traverse though.  What to do next though???