First and most important: This hike was undertaken to raise money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society, a personal cause for me. I won't get into detail here. Feel free to visit http://www.nationalmssociety.org/goto/hike4ms. All the information is there. I'll be posting a longer TR there for the supporters who are unfamiliar with the White Mountains.
This hike was intended to be a 24-hour Hut-to-Hut Traverse, but bad weather forced us to bail at Zealand Hut.
Hikers: ferrisjrf, unfrozencaveman and myself
Support staff: do truancy (stand-in for mtnmama)
As prep the day before, I ate a mountain house meal for both breakfast and lunch. I also hydrated all day with nuun tablets. Dinner was a foot-long sub. Not to mention I made sure to get 8 solid hours of sleep two nights before.
The Night Before
All four of us gathered at lonesome lake after work to spot our cars and Isabelle kindly sacrificed a peak in the name of driving us to 19 Mile trailhead. Much appreciated! After some liquid carbohydrating, Jason, Steve and I headed into Carter Notch to stay near the hut that night. We went at a moderate pace, leaving the trailhead at 8:30pm and arriving at 10:10pm. Like a bunch of rowdy teenagers, we hung out outside the hut, eating dinner and cracking ourselves up with dirty jokes. We were in our sleeping bags by 11:00pm. I didn't get much sleep but know I did catch some zz's between 1:45am and 3:45am.
Carter Notch Hut to Madison Hut 4 hours 9.9 miles
We were awake by 3:45am and running by 4:13am. *bang* Gun sounded and game on! Besides the uphill getting to the junction of the Wildcat A trail, I ran. I don't run in real life. In fact, the longest I've ever ran (on asphalt) is 6 miles, skimom is witness to that, and I couldn't move for three days after it. Never tried before, never will try again.
I was wearing my $2 running shoes for this hike (and my keene sandals in my pack for relief later in the hike) and they served me well. Incredibly, to myself anyway, I broke free from Steve and Jason about 0.1 miles after the uphill and put it into full gear. The first 1.9 miles to the junction was in the dark then dawn broke. I ran all the way to the trailhead, with a quick stop to drop my sleeping bag and bivy sack for Isabelle to pick up later (THANK YOU), threw on the iPod and ran the 0.5 miles down the road to the Great Gulf trailhead. Funny that the first song that came on was Daylight by Coldplay. I made it to the register in 1:10, arriving at 5:23pm. I was happy with that and continued to trot on the flat sections of the Great Gulf trail until the Osgood began to climb.
Jason caught up with me as I was heading up Mt. Madison. The biggest climb of the hike, arguably, until Garfield miles and miles away. I put away my tunes and chatted with Jason while trying to walk uphill as fast as I could. There's no reason to try to run uphill.. the energy output vs. the speed gain isn't worth it. We knew Steve wasn't far behind. Soon we reached treeline and began the arduous task of climbing up and around and over the rocks on the Osgood. I think, by far, it's the most rock-strewn section of the entire Presidential Range. Soon we saw Steve and his orange shirt in the distance about 10 minutes behind. A quick hoot and holler, equal to a thumbs up, and we kept moving. We passed a large number of folks as we descended Mt. Madison and reached the Hut in 4 hours! I was impressed with our time. Steve, which I found out later, had his food stash stolen by a bear and was hurtin' without breakfast. But he was still strong despite and reached Madison Hut only 10 minutes behind at 8:23am. Jason stayed with Steve who hammered down a 1/2 dozen pancakes and I set off after a 10 minute break of popping two Aleve and snacking a bit.
Madison Hut to Lakes of the Clouds Hut 3 hours 6.8 miles
We met Farmer at the Madison Hut as he was gearing up for an out and back double Presidential Traverse. Awesome Farmer. I said "I'm sure you'll catch up" to Jason, put my iPod back on and trotted away to the tunes. I went around Adams on the Gulfside (AT) Trail and down, reaching Edmunds Col in an hour. Then up and around Jefferson. There was a bit of a headwind coming around Jefferson and Clay, but nothing too bad. Most of the time, the wind was refreshing. A few dark clouds were lingering above but it didn't look threatening at that point. The sun was in and out. I ran all the sections that were flat and/or level. Jason caught up to me while I was making my way up and around Mt. Clay. Tunes off and conversation on. We could see Steve about 15 minutes out and gaining. We saw alot of families hiking the closer we got to Lakes of the Clouds. Jason stopped to chat with the little kids, but I just pushed them out of the way. We made the hut in 3 hours, 7 hours into the hike. Steve gained us and again, reached the hut exactly ten minutes after us. And then I hear a friendly "Hey Guys!" It's LRiz! She had done a solo up Mt. Washington to surprise her dad running the Washington Road Race, awesome! I got a super energizing hug and a stash of badly needed Ibuprofen. Thanks LRiz!! I was starting to get a headache but they helped relieve it, especially on the Southern Presidentials where the clouds departed and sun started to bake me. Another 10 minute break, some pancakes, I was off again ahead of Jason and Steve, knowing of course that they'd catch up. iPod back on. I think the iPod was probably the most important piece of gear I had with me. Kept me running and in the zone, for sure.
Lakes of the Clouds Hut to Mitzpah Hut 2 hours 4.8 miles
Mitzpah is 4.8 miles out from Lakes Hut and I figured it would take 2.5 hours. It only took 2 hours, which made me happy. I was pretty surprised I could maintain the pace I did. Running the flats and downhill sections, hiking the uphills. Once at Mitzpah, we were 9 hours into the hike (run) and I thought that was decent time. We went around Monroe, Franklin and Eisenhower. Jason caught up with me just before the junction of the Eisenhower summit loop trail. Steve was about 3 minutes away. Lots of families hiking this section too. Funny to see some peoples reaction to a girl with headphones on and running. I did take one tumble off Franklin (luckily noone saw! ). My ankles tend to give out every so often, the left one mostly, but wearing heavier boots are too uncomfortable and slow me down so I opt always for low cut sneakers and deal with the occasional ankle roll. This time I couldn't catch my roll and fell. Not bad though, just a cut on my finger, but it was bleeding like crazy! So I went into my meager first aid kit and found one really old band-aid that lost it's sticky power and put that on. Mitzpah wasn't far, i'd patch it up further there.
We hit Pierce and I stopped running for a second, looked back, saw the view and said, "Not too shabby." and kept going. This guy having a picnic with his kids said as I took off, "What? It's beautiful!" I was on a mission. At Mitzpah, another ten minute break. I was able to update my facebook status to let people know the progress, patch up my finger with a fresh band-aid and Steve's duct tape, eat something, drink.
This hike was intended to be a 24-hour Hut-to-Hut Traverse, but bad weather forced us to bail at Zealand Hut.
Hikers: ferrisjrf, unfrozencaveman and myself
Support staff: do truancy (stand-in for mtnmama)
As prep the day before, I ate a mountain house meal for both breakfast and lunch. I also hydrated all day with nuun tablets. Dinner was a foot-long sub. Not to mention I made sure to get 8 solid hours of sleep two nights before.
The Night Before
All four of us gathered at lonesome lake after work to spot our cars and Isabelle kindly sacrificed a peak in the name of driving us to 19 Mile trailhead. Much appreciated! After some liquid carbohydrating, Jason, Steve and I headed into Carter Notch to stay near the hut that night. We went at a moderate pace, leaving the trailhead at 8:30pm and arriving at 10:10pm. Like a bunch of rowdy teenagers, we hung out outside the hut, eating dinner and cracking ourselves up with dirty jokes. We were in our sleeping bags by 11:00pm. I didn't get much sleep but know I did catch some zz's between 1:45am and 3:45am.
Carter Notch Hut to Madison Hut 4 hours 9.9 miles
We were awake by 3:45am and running by 4:13am. *bang* Gun sounded and game on! Besides the uphill getting to the junction of the Wildcat A trail, I ran. I don't run in real life. In fact, the longest I've ever ran (on asphalt) is 6 miles, skimom is witness to that, and I couldn't move for three days after it. Never tried before, never will try again.
I was wearing my $2 running shoes for this hike (and my keene sandals in my pack for relief later in the hike) and they served me well. Incredibly, to myself anyway, I broke free from Steve and Jason about 0.1 miles after the uphill and put it into full gear. The first 1.9 miles to the junction was in the dark then dawn broke. I ran all the way to the trailhead, with a quick stop to drop my sleeping bag and bivy sack for Isabelle to pick up later (THANK YOU), threw on the iPod and ran the 0.5 miles down the road to the Great Gulf trailhead. Funny that the first song that came on was Daylight by Coldplay. I made it to the register in 1:10, arriving at 5:23pm. I was happy with that and continued to trot on the flat sections of the Great Gulf trail until the Osgood began to climb.Jason caught up with me as I was heading up Mt. Madison. The biggest climb of the hike, arguably, until Garfield miles and miles away. I put away my tunes and chatted with Jason while trying to walk uphill as fast as I could. There's no reason to try to run uphill.. the energy output vs. the speed gain isn't worth it. We knew Steve wasn't far behind. Soon we reached treeline and began the arduous task of climbing up and around and over the rocks on the Osgood. I think, by far, it's the most rock-strewn section of the entire Presidential Range. Soon we saw Steve and his orange shirt in the distance about 10 minutes behind. A quick hoot and holler, equal to a thumbs up, and we kept moving. We passed a large number of folks as we descended Mt. Madison and reached the Hut in 4 hours! I was impressed with our time. Steve, which I found out later, had his food stash stolen by a bear and was hurtin' without breakfast. But he was still strong despite and reached Madison Hut only 10 minutes behind at 8:23am. Jason stayed with Steve who hammered down a 1/2 dozen pancakes and I set off after a 10 minute break of popping two Aleve and snacking a bit.
Madison Hut to Lakes of the Clouds Hut 3 hours 6.8 miles
We met Farmer at the Madison Hut as he was gearing up for an out and back double Presidential Traverse.
Awesome Farmer. I said "I'm sure you'll catch up" to Jason, put my iPod back on and trotted away to the tunes. I went around Adams on the Gulfside (AT) Trail and down, reaching Edmunds Col in an hour. Then up and around Jefferson. There was a bit of a headwind coming around Jefferson and Clay, but nothing too bad. Most of the time, the wind was refreshing. A few dark clouds were lingering above but it didn't look threatening at that point. The sun was in and out. I ran all the sections that were flat and/or level. Jason caught up to me while I was making my way up and around Mt. Clay. Tunes off and conversation on. We could see Steve about 15 minutes out and gaining. We saw alot of families hiking the closer we got to Lakes of the Clouds. Jason stopped to chat with the little kids, but I just pushed them out of the way. We made the hut in 3 hours, 7 hours into the hike. Steve gained us and again, reached the hut exactly ten minutes after us. And then I hear a friendly "Hey Guys!" It's LRiz! She had done a solo up Mt. Washington to surprise her dad running the Washington Road Race, awesome! I got a super energizing hug and a stash of badly needed Ibuprofen. Thanks LRiz!! I was starting to get a headache but they helped relieve it, especially on the Southern Presidentials where the clouds departed and sun started to bake me. Another 10 minute break, some pancakes, I was off again ahead of Jason and Steve, knowing of course that they'd catch up. iPod back on. I think the iPod was probably the most important piece of gear I had with me. Kept me running and in the zone, for sure.Lakes of the Clouds Hut to Mitzpah Hut 2 hours 4.8 miles
Mitzpah is 4.8 miles out from Lakes Hut and I figured it would take 2.5 hours. It only took 2 hours, which made me happy. I was pretty surprised I could maintain the pace I did. Running the flats and downhill sections, hiking the uphills. Once at Mitzpah, we were 9 hours into the hike (run) and I thought that was decent time. We went around Monroe, Franklin and Eisenhower. Jason caught up with me just before the junction of the Eisenhower summit loop trail. Steve was about 3 minutes away. Lots of families hiking this section too. Funny to see some peoples reaction to a girl with headphones on and running.
I did take one tumble off Franklin (luckily noone saw! ). My ankles tend to give out every so often, the left one mostly, but wearing heavier boots are too uncomfortable and slow me down so I opt always for low cut sneakers and deal with the occasional ankle roll. This time I couldn't catch my roll and fell. Not bad though, just a cut on my finger, but it was bleeding like crazy! So I went into my meager first aid kit and found one really old band-aid that lost it's sticky power and put that on. Mitzpah wasn't far, i'd patch it up further there. We hit Pierce and I stopped running for a second, looked back, saw the view and said, "Not too shabby." and kept going. This guy having a picnic with his kids said as I took off, "What? It's beautiful!" I was on a mission.
At Mitzpah, another ten minute break. I was able to update my facebook status to let people know the progress, patch up my finger with a fresh band-aid and Steve's duct tape, eat something, drink.
