Before this, I had completed the Hut Traverse only once out of the three attempts.
In 2007, I went west to east with a friend, but we encountered high winds at Lakes and had to quit.
Two weeks later I completed a solo traverse westbound in 19:25, after sleeping at Carter Notch hut and pushing though wind, rain, and dark over Mt. Lafayette.
In 2009, I attempted the tougher “MacPhail route,” which starts at Madison and includes Pinkham Notch, but in very wet conditions I quit after only making it to Crawford Notch in 16 hours.
So in training for the upcoming Hardrock 100 Endurance Run in Colorado, it was time for another attempt.
I drove up from Cape Cod Saturday morning, left my car at the Lonesome Lake Trailhead and took the AMC Hiker’s shuttle over to the Great Glen Outdoor Center in Pinkham Notch. After fueling up with cafeteria food, I hiked up the Aqueduct Tr. to 19 Mile Brook Tr., then up to Carter Notch Hut where I immediately started the Hut Traverse at about 4:50 pm.
On the route from Carter to Madison, I again took the Aqueduct trail to Rt. 16, then connected to the Great Gulf Trail via several Great Glen ski trails, an easy ford of the West Branch of the Peabody River, and a short bushwack. This cuts about ¾ mile off the usual route, and despite some moderately dense hobble bush on the bushwack I think it’s a little faster. On a historical note, the Osgood trail used to connect to Great Glen House, and the shortcut I took roughly approximates this route, although the old Osgood trail traversed a little higher up the valley.
The Madison Gulf Tr. is a rough scramble up to Madison Hut, but the trail was in good shape and its wild feeling makes it one of my favorites in the Whites. I arrived at Madison about 15 min faster than my 2007 split, giving some support to the Great Glen shortcut being a bit faster. The croo at Madison knew me from a couple weeks ago (when three of us were doing repeats up Mt. Adams), and gave me a mental boost as I headed into the setting sun and a long, rocky, nighttime traverse of the Presidential range (bypassing the summits – no “extras” for me). The wind was moderate (maybe 25 mph in a few exposed places), the rocks were bone dry, and the stars and a crescent moon were shining -- it just doesn’t get any better than that. At Lakes I turned off my flashlight and just sat and listened to the frogs peeping while the moonlight shimmered off the ponds. Just magical. (Those are some hardy frogs—it was pretty cold!). Lakes of the Clouds and Mizpah Spring Huts were sound asleep, and I snuck in&out for water as quietly as I could.
Made a quick stop at the Highland Center at about 2:00 am to retrieve the food I’d dropped off earlier on the shuttle ride, and headed up the Avalon Trail. As I was climbing a steep and rocky section the trail suddenly seemed unfamiliar, and I realized I’d missed the turn for the A-Z trail while staring at the spot of light on the trail ahead of me and marching up in a sleep-deprived trance. A quick look at the map showed that I had no choice but to backtrack, a bit discouraging in the middle of a long hike. But I probably only lost about 15 min to the mistake.
The birds were singing before I arrived at Zealand Hut, and I was glad to be done with the night. My time splits between huts after Madison were considerably slower than in 2007, maybe because of the dark, maybe because I was trying keep it reigned in as a training hike, maybe because of the extra elevation gain to get to the start and no sleep, but more likely because I’m 6 years older and just slower. So I had to let go of any pre-conceived idea of how fast I should be going, appreciate that I was still feeling fine and on the trails in the Whites, and just enjoy what I could do on this day. I arrived at Galehead after breakfast, and just as I was about to leave they brought out a huge tray of leftover, still-warm pancakes -- my ultimate favorite Whites hiking food. After fully pancake-loading, the infamously rough Garfield Ridge Trail didn’t seem so bad, and my splits for the rest of the hike were actually faster than in 2007. A high overcast was rolling in by the time I got to the summit of Lafayette, but I could still see all the way back to Mt. Washington, looking every bit of the roughly 100,000 footsteps it took to get where I stood.
Now all I had to do was tag Greenleaf Hut on the way down Lafayette, and climb the short 1000’ up to Lonesome Lake. That 1000’ did not come so easily, and I was very thankful to finally reach Lonesome Lake Hut 21 hours, 10 mins after leaving Carter. I asked the nice croo fellow there (wish I could remember his name) if he could let the Madison people know I made it -- he said he’d be glad to, gave me a congratulatory brownie, and we had a nice discussion about the history of the Hut Traverse. He’ll be going for a Hut Traverse himself, as many of the croo do each summer, and mentioned that George Heinrichs (croo previous years, not sure about this year) ran the Hut Traverse in 12:18 in 2012 and is training to break 12 hours this summer. As far as I know, 12:18 already shatters the 13:09 “Fastest Known Time” for the “Standard Hut Traverse” (the eight high-mountain huts, not including Pinkham) set by Matt Cull in 1993. These are all truly ethereal times. [Correction 26June2013: George Heinrichs says he ran the standard Hut Traverse in 12:38 in 2011 (not 12:18 in 2012 as I thought a Lonesome lake croo said), but is training for an attempt to go under 12 hours.]
I couldn’t linger long at Lonesome Lake for fear my legs would start cramping, so I strolled slowly back to my car in sort of a dreamlike state as it started to rain. An hour later, crashed at the Riverbank Motel in Lincoln, it was pouring. Great timing.
Hut Traverse stats with Great Glen shortcuts:
Hut Traverse: 48.5 mi, +17,023’ gain
Hut Traverse plus hike up to Carter & down from Lonesome Lake: 53.7 mi, +18,961’
In 2007, I went west to east with a friend, but we encountered high winds at Lakes and had to quit.
Two weeks later I completed a solo traverse westbound in 19:25, after sleeping at Carter Notch hut and pushing though wind, rain, and dark over Mt. Lafayette.
In 2009, I attempted the tougher “MacPhail route,” which starts at Madison and includes Pinkham Notch, but in very wet conditions I quit after only making it to Crawford Notch in 16 hours.
So in training for the upcoming Hardrock 100 Endurance Run in Colorado, it was time for another attempt.
I drove up from Cape Cod Saturday morning, left my car at the Lonesome Lake Trailhead and took the AMC Hiker’s shuttle over to the Great Glen Outdoor Center in Pinkham Notch. After fueling up with cafeteria food, I hiked up the Aqueduct Tr. to 19 Mile Brook Tr., then up to Carter Notch Hut where I immediately started the Hut Traverse at about 4:50 pm.
On the route from Carter to Madison, I again took the Aqueduct trail to Rt. 16, then connected to the Great Gulf Trail via several Great Glen ski trails, an easy ford of the West Branch of the Peabody River, and a short bushwack. This cuts about ¾ mile off the usual route, and despite some moderately dense hobble bush on the bushwack I think it’s a little faster. On a historical note, the Osgood trail used to connect to Great Glen House, and the shortcut I took roughly approximates this route, although the old Osgood trail traversed a little higher up the valley.
The Madison Gulf Tr. is a rough scramble up to Madison Hut, but the trail was in good shape and its wild feeling makes it one of my favorites in the Whites. I arrived at Madison about 15 min faster than my 2007 split, giving some support to the Great Glen shortcut being a bit faster. The croo at Madison knew me from a couple weeks ago (when three of us were doing repeats up Mt. Adams), and gave me a mental boost as I headed into the setting sun and a long, rocky, nighttime traverse of the Presidential range (bypassing the summits – no “extras” for me). The wind was moderate (maybe 25 mph in a few exposed places), the rocks were bone dry, and the stars and a crescent moon were shining -- it just doesn’t get any better than that. At Lakes I turned off my flashlight and just sat and listened to the frogs peeping while the moonlight shimmered off the ponds. Just magical. (Those are some hardy frogs—it was pretty cold!). Lakes of the Clouds and Mizpah Spring Huts were sound asleep, and I snuck in&out for water as quietly as I could.
Made a quick stop at the Highland Center at about 2:00 am to retrieve the food I’d dropped off earlier on the shuttle ride, and headed up the Avalon Trail. As I was climbing a steep and rocky section the trail suddenly seemed unfamiliar, and I realized I’d missed the turn for the A-Z trail while staring at the spot of light on the trail ahead of me and marching up in a sleep-deprived trance. A quick look at the map showed that I had no choice but to backtrack, a bit discouraging in the middle of a long hike. But I probably only lost about 15 min to the mistake.
The birds were singing before I arrived at Zealand Hut, and I was glad to be done with the night. My time splits between huts after Madison were considerably slower than in 2007, maybe because of the dark, maybe because I was trying keep it reigned in as a training hike, maybe because of the extra elevation gain to get to the start and no sleep, but more likely because I’m 6 years older and just slower. So I had to let go of any pre-conceived idea of how fast I should be going, appreciate that I was still feeling fine and on the trails in the Whites, and just enjoy what I could do on this day. I arrived at Galehead after breakfast, and just as I was about to leave they brought out a huge tray of leftover, still-warm pancakes -- my ultimate favorite Whites hiking food. After fully pancake-loading, the infamously rough Garfield Ridge Trail didn’t seem so bad, and my splits for the rest of the hike were actually faster than in 2007. A high overcast was rolling in by the time I got to the summit of Lafayette, but I could still see all the way back to Mt. Washington, looking every bit of the roughly 100,000 footsteps it took to get where I stood.
Now all I had to do was tag Greenleaf Hut on the way down Lafayette, and climb the short 1000’ up to Lonesome Lake. That 1000’ did not come so easily, and I was very thankful to finally reach Lonesome Lake Hut 21 hours, 10 mins after leaving Carter. I asked the nice croo fellow there (wish I could remember his name) if he could let the Madison people know I made it -- he said he’d be glad to, gave me a congratulatory brownie, and we had a nice discussion about the history of the Hut Traverse. He’ll be going for a Hut Traverse himself, as many of the croo do each summer, and mentioned that George Heinrichs (croo previous years, not sure about this year) ran the Hut Traverse in 12:18 in 2012 and is training to break 12 hours this summer. As far as I know, 12:18 already shatters the 13:09 “Fastest Known Time” for the “Standard Hut Traverse” (the eight high-mountain huts, not including Pinkham) set by Matt Cull in 1993. These are all truly ethereal times. [Correction 26June2013: George Heinrichs says he ran the standard Hut Traverse in 12:38 in 2011 (not 12:18 in 2012 as I thought a Lonesome lake croo said), but is training for an attempt to go under 12 hours.]
I couldn’t linger long at Lonesome Lake for fear my legs would start cramping, so I strolled slowly back to my car in sort of a dreamlike state as it started to rain. An hour later, crashed at the Riverbank Motel in Lincoln, it was pouring. Great timing.
Hut Traverse stats with Great Glen shortcuts:
Hut Traverse: 48.5 mi, +17,023’ gain
Hut Traverse plus hike up to Carter & down from Lonesome Lake: 53.7 mi, +18,961’
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