albee
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I've been looking for the perfect weekend to do a one-day Presi traverse. Consulting the recent weather reports, I got my wish on Saturday, February 26th.
Expected weather was for lows of -5 and highs up to 14 degrees. Winds were supposed to be variable from 10-15 MPH. This was a critical factor because I didn't want to do any extended hiking on the ridge solo with an out-of-control wind chill factor. The day was supposed to be partly to mostly cloudy but I was met with pure blue skies until some scattered clouds snuck in around 3:00 in the afternoon.
I packed my pack the night before and settled in knowing I would have to get up early. I woke at 4:30 and had the car warming up by 4:50. Leaving Dover, NH (on the seacoast) at a little before 5 AM, I made it to the Appalachia parking area a little past Gorham at 7:05. Only a Dunkin Donuts stop for a bagel and Chai slowed me down.
I fitted up and left the parking area at 7:15, a little ahead of a large group of French-Canadians and proceeded up the Valley Way trail. Dave Metsky and ChrisB suggested this trail over my original planned starting place, the DW Scout trail. This decision proved immensely successful as Valley Way is a beautiful, gradually sloping trail that is nicely sheltered from the elements.
I passed my first checkpoint at 2.5 miles in. It had only taken me one hour and 3 minutes. I was surprised, but I figured I was making up for the late start time. I was conscious of checking my heart rate monitor frequently and making sure I didn't go over 160 beats per minute. I'm a distance runner and we are kinda geeky about that kind of stuff!
Madison Hut suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and I left my pack for the scramble up the jagged rocks to the peak. I made sure to stand on the highest rock and survey the spectacular panorama. My watch read 9:16. Some drifting snow had filled in parts of the trail, but Valley Way was broken out well for the most part and it seems like nothing over treeline in the Whites is ever truly broken out in the winter. Small drifts were among the rocks on Madison and Adams, while much larger ones impeded me at Jefferson. More on that later.
I made my way along the North side of John Quincy Adams and had a rough time navigating some icy sections and indiscernable cairns going up Adams proper. I kind of made my own trail at one point and arrived at the top at 11 minutes past 10. From there, I hopped down over drifts and rocks and marveled at the line of cairns on the Gulfside trail. They appeared like sentinels in the snow, watching over me and ensuring my safe passage. And then the wolf appeared and ran by my side...
(Alright, I made that last part up.)
I did my version of the snowshoe shuffle across the unbroken snowfield heading toward Jefferson. I made it to Edmands Col and felt a trickle of liquid running down my leg. It seems that my Nalgene bottle, which I keep inside my jacket so it won't freeze, had wriggled its way open and dripped enough to make it look like I wet myself. This actually evaporated before it froze, since I only had one layer of spandex on my legs in the sunny weather, and I was producing lots of body heat. After the col, I encountered the hairy-est section of my trip. I had to try and follow someone's filled-in trail over a snowfield that was almost a 45 degree angle. Stepping carefully with my snowshoes and plunging my 65 cm ice axe shaft all the way in up to my knuckles, I got across this area slowly and steadily. Beware of this section if you are planning a similar trip! Then, I got traction on some solid snow and headed straight up to a few cairns perched above.
After a while, I reached the summit of Jefferson at 11:33. I was still ahead of my schedule, even with leaving 45 minutes late and taking my time to break trail on the dangerous section. I hustled down along some fresh tele-ski tracks off the side of Jefferson, and followed them over to the base of Washington. These tracks were really helpful as they had been the only ones in the area that morning and it made it easy to see where to go. I even got to see evidence of some fancy turns on the harder-packed sections. I eventually caught up to the skiiers as they walked and skiied up the Cog Railway tracks.
After a 5 minute accidental detour along the unbroken Westside trail, I cut back over to the Cog, crossed it, and followed the cairns up to the weather station and observatory. At this point, the wind and the fact that I had only had a couple snacks and gulps of water contributed to a minor feeling of hypothermia. I tagged the USGS survey disk at the Washington summit at exactly 1:00 PM and hustled over to a sheltered area near the boarded-up snack bar. I added a layer of clothes and changed my snow-encrusted spandex for some running pants, had a drink and a snack, and headed off to find the Crawford Path. After aimlessly following some people to the Tuckerman's trailhead (it seems like there were many people coming up from Tuck's today) I righted my course and found the proper direction. I bounded and glissaded my way off of Washington and followed the cairns over to Mount Monroe.
At this point, I was feeling strong, and I decided to ratchet up my pace a bit due to an increasing wind - a *mighty* wind, if you will, as well as now the trail follows the windward side of the ridge. I kept checking my lips and nose for signs of frostbite, which thankfully never occurred. I powered up Monroe and hit the top at 1:59, and kept going down the South side, where some fool that had been bare-booting it left gaping postholes for me to trip in.
The Crawford Path was well broken-out and I had little trouble along the rest of the journey. The views of the Twins, the Bonds, and the faraway Franconia range were marvelous. I hustled over Eisenhower with the wind whipping across it at 3:01. I was literally pushed by the wind back to the Crawford Path and made my way over to Mount Pierce. It was a nice respite to be back in the trees, and I saw a bunch of people camping in the area, as well as some heading over to camp at Mizpah Hut.
I found the summit of Pierce a little ways along the Webster Cliff trail at 3:39, and doubled back to take the Crawford Path back down to the Notch. At this point, I was still feeling strong, and I must admit that I let my momentum carry me and snowshoe jogged on and off for most of the way down the gently sloped path. I passed two gentlemen at the Mizpah cutoff and one of them remarked "Good morning!", which was kind of funny at about an hour before sunset.
Without further ado, I arrived at the snowmobile trail across the street from the Highland Center at 4:30 on the nose. The entire trip had taken me 9:15 for approximately 20.7 miles! I was happy with what I had accomplished.
Since I hadn't arranged for transportation back to Appalachia, I did what comes naturally and tried to thumb a ride. No sooned had I unstrapped my snowshoes did a friendly ice climber named Kelly from Lyndon State in VT pick me up and drive a bit out of his way to drop me off at Route 2 in Lancaster. From there, I was rebuffed by 10 of 15 cars, but about 8 minutes later, a pickup truck and a guy named Steve on his way to a blind date in Gorham gave me a lift all the way to my car. Steve kept me amused with stories of his old job (as a downsizing "consultant") and his bisexual ex-girlfriend. An entertaining end to an awesome day in the mountains!
...Albee
Expected weather was for lows of -5 and highs up to 14 degrees. Winds were supposed to be variable from 10-15 MPH. This was a critical factor because I didn't want to do any extended hiking on the ridge solo with an out-of-control wind chill factor. The day was supposed to be partly to mostly cloudy but I was met with pure blue skies until some scattered clouds snuck in around 3:00 in the afternoon.
I packed my pack the night before and settled in knowing I would have to get up early. I woke at 4:30 and had the car warming up by 4:50. Leaving Dover, NH (on the seacoast) at a little before 5 AM, I made it to the Appalachia parking area a little past Gorham at 7:05. Only a Dunkin Donuts stop for a bagel and Chai slowed me down.
I fitted up and left the parking area at 7:15, a little ahead of a large group of French-Canadians and proceeded up the Valley Way trail. Dave Metsky and ChrisB suggested this trail over my original planned starting place, the DW Scout trail. This decision proved immensely successful as Valley Way is a beautiful, gradually sloping trail that is nicely sheltered from the elements.
I passed my first checkpoint at 2.5 miles in. It had only taken me one hour and 3 minutes. I was surprised, but I figured I was making up for the late start time. I was conscious of checking my heart rate monitor frequently and making sure I didn't go over 160 beats per minute. I'm a distance runner and we are kinda geeky about that kind of stuff!
Madison Hut suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and I left my pack for the scramble up the jagged rocks to the peak. I made sure to stand on the highest rock and survey the spectacular panorama. My watch read 9:16. Some drifting snow had filled in parts of the trail, but Valley Way was broken out well for the most part and it seems like nothing over treeline in the Whites is ever truly broken out in the winter. Small drifts were among the rocks on Madison and Adams, while much larger ones impeded me at Jefferson. More on that later.
I made my way along the North side of John Quincy Adams and had a rough time navigating some icy sections and indiscernable cairns going up Adams proper. I kind of made my own trail at one point and arrived at the top at 11 minutes past 10. From there, I hopped down over drifts and rocks and marveled at the line of cairns on the Gulfside trail. They appeared like sentinels in the snow, watching over me and ensuring my safe passage. And then the wolf appeared and ran by my side...
(Alright, I made that last part up.)
I did my version of the snowshoe shuffle across the unbroken snowfield heading toward Jefferson. I made it to Edmands Col and felt a trickle of liquid running down my leg. It seems that my Nalgene bottle, which I keep inside my jacket so it won't freeze, had wriggled its way open and dripped enough to make it look like I wet myself. This actually evaporated before it froze, since I only had one layer of spandex on my legs in the sunny weather, and I was producing lots of body heat. After the col, I encountered the hairy-est section of my trip. I had to try and follow someone's filled-in trail over a snowfield that was almost a 45 degree angle. Stepping carefully with my snowshoes and plunging my 65 cm ice axe shaft all the way in up to my knuckles, I got across this area slowly and steadily. Beware of this section if you are planning a similar trip! Then, I got traction on some solid snow and headed straight up to a few cairns perched above.
After a while, I reached the summit of Jefferson at 11:33. I was still ahead of my schedule, even with leaving 45 minutes late and taking my time to break trail on the dangerous section. I hustled down along some fresh tele-ski tracks off the side of Jefferson, and followed them over to the base of Washington. These tracks were really helpful as they had been the only ones in the area that morning and it made it easy to see where to go. I even got to see evidence of some fancy turns on the harder-packed sections. I eventually caught up to the skiiers as they walked and skiied up the Cog Railway tracks.
After a 5 minute accidental detour along the unbroken Westside trail, I cut back over to the Cog, crossed it, and followed the cairns up to the weather station and observatory. At this point, the wind and the fact that I had only had a couple snacks and gulps of water contributed to a minor feeling of hypothermia. I tagged the USGS survey disk at the Washington summit at exactly 1:00 PM and hustled over to a sheltered area near the boarded-up snack bar. I added a layer of clothes and changed my snow-encrusted spandex for some running pants, had a drink and a snack, and headed off to find the Crawford Path. After aimlessly following some people to the Tuckerman's trailhead (it seems like there were many people coming up from Tuck's today) I righted my course and found the proper direction. I bounded and glissaded my way off of Washington and followed the cairns over to Mount Monroe.
At this point, I was feeling strong, and I decided to ratchet up my pace a bit due to an increasing wind - a *mighty* wind, if you will, as well as now the trail follows the windward side of the ridge. I kept checking my lips and nose for signs of frostbite, which thankfully never occurred. I powered up Monroe and hit the top at 1:59, and kept going down the South side, where some fool that had been bare-booting it left gaping postholes for me to trip in.
The Crawford Path was well broken-out and I had little trouble along the rest of the journey. The views of the Twins, the Bonds, and the faraway Franconia range were marvelous. I hustled over Eisenhower with the wind whipping across it at 3:01. I was literally pushed by the wind back to the Crawford Path and made my way over to Mount Pierce. It was a nice respite to be back in the trees, and I saw a bunch of people camping in the area, as well as some heading over to camp at Mizpah Hut.
I found the summit of Pierce a little ways along the Webster Cliff trail at 3:39, and doubled back to take the Crawford Path back down to the Notch. At this point, I was still feeling strong, and I must admit that I let my momentum carry me and snowshoe jogged on and off for most of the way down the gently sloped path. I passed two gentlemen at the Mizpah cutoff and one of them remarked "Good morning!", which was kind of funny at about an hour before sunset.
Without further ado, I arrived at the snowmobile trail across the street from the Highland Center at 4:30 on the nose. The entire trip had taken me 9:15 for approximately 20.7 miles! I was happy with what I had accomplished.
Since I hadn't arranged for transportation back to Appalachia, I did what comes naturally and tried to thumb a ride. No sooned had I unstrapped my snowshoes did a friendly ice climber named Kelly from Lyndon State in VT pick me up and drive a bit out of his way to drop me off at Route 2 in Lancaster. From there, I was rebuffed by 10 of 15 cars, but about 8 minutes later, a pickup truck and a guy named Steve on his way to a blind date in Gorham gave me a lift all the way to my car. Steve kept me amused with stories of his old job (as a downsizing "consultant") and his bisexual ex-girlfriend. An entertaining end to an awesome day in the mountains!
...Albee
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