TDawg
Well-known member
Prolouge: Finally decided to "get to it" and do the traverse, I'd had it on my mind for months since the spring time. It was an itch I needed to scratch. But first, a couple training hikes to gauge speed and proper nutrition over long days. I was already hiking a couple/few times a week so I had the proper stamina and leg muscles already I thought, just wanted to iron things out if you will. I was also planning on using my trailrunners on the traverse, so I wanted to get them out and going as I normally hike in light hikers. So again, ironing things out.
So I set out first on the Twins, Zealand, Hale loop (18.1mi, 5300ft) and then the Avalon, Willey Range, Ethan Pond, A-Z loop (17.7mi, 4750ft) which were both fantastic hikes I will repeat. I had wanted to include Zeacliff via Zeacliff Tr. in my second training day, putting it over 6000ft gain, but a late start and time wouldn't allow. On both hikes I came in well below book time and averaging 2+ mph including small breaks and lunches. But I knew neither was as rough going as the northern peaks. But still I thought, "alright, I got this."
"The day:" Woke up early here in Campton and was off to Appalachia. Saw a moose off in a field along route 2 far away from my car, just how I like it along the road. "This is gonna be a good day," I thought. Got started at 6:40am on Valley Way, went to turn on the camera, "Doh! No battery!" Had a small tantrum but got over it quickly, that wasn't gonna ruin the day and I still had the phone camera.
I had decided on Watson Path to Madison as I had never done it before and I liked the idea of a little redlining along the way. No reason to avoid Watson, as I thought is was no rougher than many other North Presi trails I can think of. Made the Madison summit and kept right on moving down to the hut to refill water. Mad hut was near empty so I did my thing, ate a snack and kept on moving. I consciously tried to keep visits in each location on the short end and I was able to do this throughout the day. Also I kept telling myself to make sure I was drinking enough and keeping well fed and energized.
So I didn't linger at all really on the summit of Adams and kept it moving down to Edmands Col where I ate a Gu and a small snack, watered up for the climb to Jeff. It went by real fast as the sugar and fluids propelled me up and up. Lingered for a minute on Jeff and then onward across Monticello Lawn to Sphinx Col where I would take a couple minute break again to eat and drink. On the way down to Sphinx I met a fellow who had climbed Huntington Ravine and was looping back around to Pinkham, we both told eachother to "Rock on." It was fun talking to folks throughout the day, probably slowed me down a good hour but ya gotta love the hiking community. There were a good number of "traversers" and thru-hikers out on the trails, all enjoying the warm weather, sun, and minimal wind.
The climb out of Sphinx went well up to Clay summit, no way was I skipping Clay. I love this spot, one of the best views of the route out over the Great Gulf. The climb up Washington brought more slackpackers in jeans and sneakers hiking down off the summit to various locations. They would be with me til Monroe to different degrees. Met couples from many different states including Louisiana and Florida, all loving NH, which is a good thing. Washington summit wasn't too bad, as I didn't have to wait in line to touch the summit, grab a small Coke in the snack bar, and nobody asked me, "Did you hike up here?!?!?" I got outta there quick.
From Washington is where I really think I felt some adrenaline start to come into play (or maybe it was the soda.) Normally I like to "double-time it," as I say, or jog the downhills on dayhikes. But, I wasn't really expecting to be doing that on a long day like this. But going down Crawford Path from Wash I just let the legs go and lots of large, well placed, flat rocks got me to my lunch spot beside the upper lake in a flash. Here I took my longest break of the day to wolf down some real food, change up the socks, and dry out my sweat-soaked shirt a little.
Finished lunch, and walked to the hut to fill up water where there was a large crowd (bleh!) and was outta there in a minute. Up and away to Monroe. Monroe is when I started to look back, see a few peaks way off in the distance and appreciate what it was I was doing. It was a great feeling. Time went by fast over Little Monroe, past Franklin and across a new section of trail for me. I had never been from Franklin to the Mt. Eisenhower trail junction before, so that was another redline on the day.
Before I knew it, I was jogging past the Mt. Eisenhower trail junction and about to begin the climb up Ike. Stopped for a small breather and talked to a woman with two Collies for a minute or two. She had come up Edmands Path and the dogs weren't felling the hike up to the summit. She she was waiting at the junction with them while her husband tagged the summit. Nice looking dogs.
At this point in the day I was expecting the small climbs up Monroe, Eisenhower, and Pierce to be painful. But I can honestly say they weren't as bad as I thought and was up Ike and onward with little-to-no break at the summit. Turns out later, Ike was my 200th NH4k summit.
Making good time down the loop and into the col is where I started to feel a bit of fatigue in my legs. Small spasms started to come as I straightened my left leg out, not good. Listening to my body, I started thinking and I may not have been eating/drinking enough so I stopped for a snack and chugged a bunch of water with Nuun electrolytes. Made all the difference, really. It's amazing how your body responds to nourishment when you're pushing it physically. Up Pierce with no problem after that little hiccup.
Approaching the summit of Pierce, a guy laying on a rock commented, "you're looking strong." Told him thanks, but not how far I had just come to that point. I really did still feel really good, though, which brought me to my next decision. I had told my girlfriend a time to pick me up at the Highland Center, that time was 7pm allowing for a 12 hour traverse. If I went straight down the Crawford Path from Pierce I would be out at 4:30. "Hmmmm, I know how to pass some time. Keep hiking!!!"
So I decided to at least go on to Jackson. Dropped down to Mizpah Hut to water up for the next leg. Upon walking in, I heard a familiar voice off behind me. It was a guy I had met through a friend, both were AMC caretakers and he was assigned to Nauman. So we chatted it up for a good 20 minutes or more before I told him I had to get moving. I really motored it across to Jackson, running the sections with the puncheons and stopping to admire the bogs. Made it to the Jackson summit just as a group of 3 guys were topping out as well. They were taking turns carrying a loaded soft cooler over their shoulders with beers and ice up Jackson and over to Mizpah. They seemed deflated when I pointed the hut out to them.
After chatting on Jackson for a bit with another guy traversing, who I had leap-frogged a number times in the southern peaks, I still had time to kill. So why not make it a full traverse, right? I knew that the Webster Cliff Tr was a pain in the first half mile from the Jackson summit with a few tricky ledges to down-climb, and it was. But after that it is pretty easy going with multiple runnable sections, made it to Webster in a half hour.
Did my only out-and-back of the day up to the Webster summit and there it was, I had run out of ridgeline, I had traversed it all. What a feeling looking back at where I'd come.
Trucked it down to the road in an hour where I was still an hour early before my ride would come, oh well. I mulled around the Highland Center for a while and finally just sat down in a Adirondack chair and decompressed. What a gorgeous day above the trees. 23 miles, 9100 feet of ascent, 11hrs20min.
Full picture album. Unfortunately, they're of poor quality off a cell phone.
So I set out first on the Twins, Zealand, Hale loop (18.1mi, 5300ft) and then the Avalon, Willey Range, Ethan Pond, A-Z loop (17.7mi, 4750ft) which were both fantastic hikes I will repeat. I had wanted to include Zeacliff via Zeacliff Tr. in my second training day, putting it over 6000ft gain, but a late start and time wouldn't allow. On both hikes I came in well below book time and averaging 2+ mph including small breaks and lunches. But I knew neither was as rough going as the northern peaks. But still I thought, "alright, I got this."
"The day:" Woke up early here in Campton and was off to Appalachia. Saw a moose off in a field along route 2 far away from my car, just how I like it along the road. "This is gonna be a good day," I thought. Got started at 6:40am on Valley Way, went to turn on the camera, "Doh! No battery!" Had a small tantrum but got over it quickly, that wasn't gonna ruin the day and I still had the phone camera.
I had decided on Watson Path to Madison as I had never done it before and I liked the idea of a little redlining along the way. No reason to avoid Watson, as I thought is was no rougher than many other North Presi trails I can think of. Made the Madison summit and kept right on moving down to the hut to refill water. Mad hut was near empty so I did my thing, ate a snack and kept on moving. I consciously tried to keep visits in each location on the short end and I was able to do this throughout the day. Also I kept telling myself to make sure I was drinking enough and keeping well fed and energized.
So I didn't linger at all really on the summit of Adams and kept it moving down to Edmands Col where I ate a Gu and a small snack, watered up for the climb to Jeff. It went by real fast as the sugar and fluids propelled me up and up. Lingered for a minute on Jeff and then onward across Monticello Lawn to Sphinx Col where I would take a couple minute break again to eat and drink. On the way down to Sphinx I met a fellow who had climbed Huntington Ravine and was looping back around to Pinkham, we both told eachother to "Rock on." It was fun talking to folks throughout the day, probably slowed me down a good hour but ya gotta love the hiking community. There were a good number of "traversers" and thru-hikers out on the trails, all enjoying the warm weather, sun, and minimal wind.
The climb out of Sphinx went well up to Clay summit, no way was I skipping Clay. I love this spot, one of the best views of the route out over the Great Gulf. The climb up Washington brought more slackpackers in jeans and sneakers hiking down off the summit to various locations. They would be with me til Monroe to different degrees. Met couples from many different states including Louisiana and Florida, all loving NH, which is a good thing. Washington summit wasn't too bad, as I didn't have to wait in line to touch the summit, grab a small Coke in the snack bar, and nobody asked me, "Did you hike up here?!?!?" I got outta there quick.
From Washington is where I really think I felt some adrenaline start to come into play (or maybe it was the soda.) Normally I like to "double-time it," as I say, or jog the downhills on dayhikes. But, I wasn't really expecting to be doing that on a long day like this. But going down Crawford Path from Wash I just let the legs go and lots of large, well placed, flat rocks got me to my lunch spot beside the upper lake in a flash. Here I took my longest break of the day to wolf down some real food, change up the socks, and dry out my sweat-soaked shirt a little.
Finished lunch, and walked to the hut to fill up water where there was a large crowd (bleh!) and was outta there in a minute. Up and away to Monroe. Monroe is when I started to look back, see a few peaks way off in the distance and appreciate what it was I was doing. It was a great feeling. Time went by fast over Little Monroe, past Franklin and across a new section of trail for me. I had never been from Franklin to the Mt. Eisenhower trail junction before, so that was another redline on the day.
Before I knew it, I was jogging past the Mt. Eisenhower trail junction and about to begin the climb up Ike. Stopped for a small breather and talked to a woman with two Collies for a minute or two. She had come up Edmands Path and the dogs weren't felling the hike up to the summit. She she was waiting at the junction with them while her husband tagged the summit. Nice looking dogs.
At this point in the day I was expecting the small climbs up Monroe, Eisenhower, and Pierce to be painful. But I can honestly say they weren't as bad as I thought and was up Ike and onward with little-to-no break at the summit. Turns out later, Ike was my 200th NH4k summit.
Making good time down the loop and into the col is where I started to feel a bit of fatigue in my legs. Small spasms started to come as I straightened my left leg out, not good. Listening to my body, I started thinking and I may not have been eating/drinking enough so I stopped for a snack and chugged a bunch of water with Nuun electrolytes. Made all the difference, really. It's amazing how your body responds to nourishment when you're pushing it physically. Up Pierce with no problem after that little hiccup.
Approaching the summit of Pierce, a guy laying on a rock commented, "you're looking strong." Told him thanks, but not how far I had just come to that point. I really did still feel really good, though, which brought me to my next decision. I had told my girlfriend a time to pick me up at the Highland Center, that time was 7pm allowing for a 12 hour traverse. If I went straight down the Crawford Path from Pierce I would be out at 4:30. "Hmmmm, I know how to pass some time. Keep hiking!!!"
So I decided to at least go on to Jackson. Dropped down to Mizpah Hut to water up for the next leg. Upon walking in, I heard a familiar voice off behind me. It was a guy I had met through a friend, both were AMC caretakers and he was assigned to Nauman. So we chatted it up for a good 20 minutes or more before I told him I had to get moving. I really motored it across to Jackson, running the sections with the puncheons and stopping to admire the bogs. Made it to the Jackson summit just as a group of 3 guys were topping out as well. They were taking turns carrying a loaded soft cooler over their shoulders with beers and ice up Jackson and over to Mizpah. They seemed deflated when I pointed the hut out to them.
After chatting on Jackson for a bit with another guy traversing, who I had leap-frogged a number times in the southern peaks, I still had time to kill. So why not make it a full traverse, right? I knew that the Webster Cliff Tr was a pain in the first half mile from the Jackson summit with a few tricky ledges to down-climb, and it was. But after that it is pretty easy going with multiple runnable sections, made it to Webster in a half hour.
Did my only out-and-back of the day up to the Webster summit and there it was, I had run out of ridgeline, I had traversed it all. What a feeling looking back at where I'd come.
Trucked it down to the road in an hour where I was still an hour early before my ride would come, oh well. I mulled around the Highland Center for a while and finally just sat down in a Adirondack chair and decompressed. What a gorgeous day above the trees. 23 miles, 9100 feet of ascent, 11hrs20min.
Full picture album. Unfortunately, they're of poor quality off a cell phone.
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