BIGEarl
Well-known member
January 23, 2010: Northern Presidentials Loop
Trails: Valley Way, Gulfside, Jefferson Loop, Lowes Path, Airline, Osgood Trail
Summits: Jefferson, Adams, Madison
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue), Stu, and me
The three of us had an early meet time set for Appalachia. When Sue and I arrived on schedule there was a solo hiker heading off and a couple cars down from where we parked was Stu, patiently waiting. Introductions all around (which included me explaining to Stu that I don’t hear very well – please speak loud) and we went through our final pre-hike prep. While this was going on a group of three set started up Valley Way. Appalachia sure was a busy place. A little before 6:00am we started our adventure for the day. The plan was simple; hike Valley Way to the ridge, summit Madison, hike south on Gulfside to Jefferson and summit Adams along the way, at Jefferson make a u-turn and hike back to Valley Way and our exit.
The day was quite a bit cooler than expected. When I checked the conditions before leaving the house the temperature was 10 degrees. When Sue and I arrived at Appalachia it had dropped to -5 degrees. That’s a pretty good change for only three hours. Otherwise, there was no wind at all, the trail had seen a lot of traffic and was in great shape, the sky was completely clear with millions of stars, and we had a very favorable forecast for the day. Weather history shows a peak sustained wind of 26mph on Washington, which was probably about the same for Adams (perhaps a little less). Below the summit of Adams the wind speed fell off quickly. A couple hundred feel loss in elevation really made a huge difference in wind speed.
We found only one large blowdown across Valley Way as we hiked to the Madison Hut and had no trouble crossing over it. As we were making our way to the ridge Stu suggested we consider hitting our furthest target first and then work our way back. That was an easy change and we were shooting at Jefferson for our first summit. A short distance below the treeline we met two others headed down Valley Way, later we learned they camped near Star Lake the previous night. We reached the hut and turned right on Gulfside for our hike to Jefferson. Already there were others on the trail to the ridge south of the hut and on Madison.
The group of three that set off ahead of us appeared to be making their way to the ridge south of the hut. The broken track followed the actual trail for a short distance and then drifted east for a while. Roughly a third of the way up from the hut we were back on the actual trail. Slowly we made our way to the ridge. At the junction of Airline Stu asked if we were hitting Adams now or later. Remembering comments from Kevin Rooney regarding ascending Adams via Airline versus Lowes Path I said let’s get it later. Gulfside between Airline and Thunderstorm Junction had a couple sets of tracks but nothing that really looked good due to drifting, etc.. We continued south on Gulfside eventually taking off on our own route that held a higher elevation and contoured around Adams at roughly the elevation of Thunderstorm Junction. At Thunderstorm Junction the north wind kept us moving. As we left Thunderstorm Junction we continued to lose elevation all of the way to Edmands Col. I expected the wind in this area to be much lower due to its direction and the terrain, and it was. We reached Edmands Col, paused for a quick break and enjoyed the scenery, then started the climb to Jefferson.
The climb to Jefferson starts on Gulfside but quickly drifts west and heads straight up. Instead of working around the east side of the rocks and ledge above Edmands Col the tracked route goes straight through it. As it crossed the Cornice Trail the tracked route kept going straight up. I guess that’s the most direct route to the top. We slowly made our way to the summit area and found a couple people there before us in the process of leaving and a long string of others arriving from the south. We hit the summit and got a few pictures. Then we dropped to the south side of the summit for a sheltered lunch.
We still had some hiking ahead of us and decided to get after it. We made our u-turn and headed north to Adams. Roughly a third of the way to Thunderstorm Junction we met a large group which included Bob & Geri Hayes. They were making their way from Madison to Monroe. We stopped for a brief visit but were soon back into the hike to Adams. There had been quite a few people after us on Gulfside and the return hike was on a much better trail. As we approached Adams from the south the tracked section left Gulfside and simply headed for Adams. We reached the start of the steep final ascent and contoured around to the north to locate the main tracked section for the summit and made our climb. As we gained elevation the wind came up and we were soon back in a pretty stiff breeze, probably ~20 to 25mph. At the summit we got our pictures, paused for a brief time of sight seeing, and set off on Airline back to Gulfside. Ahead was Madison, our final target for the day.
Back on Gulfside we were again generally out of the wind and soon making our way down to the Madison Hut. There we made another quick stop for refreshments before starting the climb to Madison. Within a couple hundred yards of the hut, Sue and I had the televators up on our snowshoes and the three of us were making our way up the steep climb. Clearly, Madison had seen a lot of traffic. The tracked out trail was wide and followed multiple routes all of the way up. Near the summit, all of the separate routes generally merged and contoured around the east side before moving to the ridge and on to the summit. We made our way to the high point, got more summit shots, and u-turned to the hut.
The return hike to the hut was a fast one. The trail is smooth but has good grip and we could safely snowshoe at a fast pace down. At the hut we de-layered, had more refreshment, and set off on our exit via Valley Way. The hike down was uneventful. Roughly half-way to the trailhead is was dark and enjoyed the final ~1.5 miles with the help of our headlights.
The hike was terrific; trailhead to trailhead on snowshoes, completely clear sky – all day, mild wind, and after starting later than planned finishing roughly one hour ahead of plan. Not bad. It was a real pleasure to meet and hike with Stu – I sure hope you’re able to join more of our hikes – it was a fun day. As always, thanks Sue for another great day in the mountains.
Pictures will follow.
Trails: Valley Way, Gulfside, Jefferson Loop, Lowes Path, Airline, Osgood Trail
Summits: Jefferson, Adams, Madison
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue), Stu, and me
The three of us had an early meet time set for Appalachia. When Sue and I arrived on schedule there was a solo hiker heading off and a couple cars down from where we parked was Stu, patiently waiting. Introductions all around (which included me explaining to Stu that I don’t hear very well – please speak loud) and we went through our final pre-hike prep. While this was going on a group of three set started up Valley Way. Appalachia sure was a busy place. A little before 6:00am we started our adventure for the day. The plan was simple; hike Valley Way to the ridge, summit Madison, hike south on Gulfside to Jefferson and summit Adams along the way, at Jefferson make a u-turn and hike back to Valley Way and our exit.
The day was quite a bit cooler than expected. When I checked the conditions before leaving the house the temperature was 10 degrees. When Sue and I arrived at Appalachia it had dropped to -5 degrees. That’s a pretty good change for only three hours. Otherwise, there was no wind at all, the trail had seen a lot of traffic and was in great shape, the sky was completely clear with millions of stars, and we had a very favorable forecast for the day. Weather history shows a peak sustained wind of 26mph on Washington, which was probably about the same for Adams (perhaps a little less). Below the summit of Adams the wind speed fell off quickly. A couple hundred feel loss in elevation really made a huge difference in wind speed.
We found only one large blowdown across Valley Way as we hiked to the Madison Hut and had no trouble crossing over it. As we were making our way to the ridge Stu suggested we consider hitting our furthest target first and then work our way back. That was an easy change and we were shooting at Jefferson for our first summit. A short distance below the treeline we met two others headed down Valley Way, later we learned they camped near Star Lake the previous night. We reached the hut and turned right on Gulfside for our hike to Jefferson. Already there were others on the trail to the ridge south of the hut and on Madison.
The group of three that set off ahead of us appeared to be making their way to the ridge south of the hut. The broken track followed the actual trail for a short distance and then drifted east for a while. Roughly a third of the way up from the hut we were back on the actual trail. Slowly we made our way to the ridge. At the junction of Airline Stu asked if we were hitting Adams now or later. Remembering comments from Kevin Rooney regarding ascending Adams via Airline versus Lowes Path I said let’s get it later. Gulfside between Airline and Thunderstorm Junction had a couple sets of tracks but nothing that really looked good due to drifting, etc.. We continued south on Gulfside eventually taking off on our own route that held a higher elevation and contoured around Adams at roughly the elevation of Thunderstorm Junction. At Thunderstorm Junction the north wind kept us moving. As we left Thunderstorm Junction we continued to lose elevation all of the way to Edmands Col. I expected the wind in this area to be much lower due to its direction and the terrain, and it was. We reached Edmands Col, paused for a quick break and enjoyed the scenery, then started the climb to Jefferson.
The climb to Jefferson starts on Gulfside but quickly drifts west and heads straight up. Instead of working around the east side of the rocks and ledge above Edmands Col the tracked route goes straight through it. As it crossed the Cornice Trail the tracked route kept going straight up. I guess that’s the most direct route to the top. We slowly made our way to the summit area and found a couple people there before us in the process of leaving and a long string of others arriving from the south. We hit the summit and got a few pictures. Then we dropped to the south side of the summit for a sheltered lunch.
We still had some hiking ahead of us and decided to get after it. We made our u-turn and headed north to Adams. Roughly a third of the way to Thunderstorm Junction we met a large group which included Bob & Geri Hayes. They were making their way from Madison to Monroe. We stopped for a brief visit but were soon back into the hike to Adams. There had been quite a few people after us on Gulfside and the return hike was on a much better trail. As we approached Adams from the south the tracked section left Gulfside and simply headed for Adams. We reached the start of the steep final ascent and contoured around to the north to locate the main tracked section for the summit and made our climb. As we gained elevation the wind came up and we were soon back in a pretty stiff breeze, probably ~20 to 25mph. At the summit we got our pictures, paused for a brief time of sight seeing, and set off on Airline back to Gulfside. Ahead was Madison, our final target for the day.
Back on Gulfside we were again generally out of the wind and soon making our way down to the Madison Hut. There we made another quick stop for refreshments before starting the climb to Madison. Within a couple hundred yards of the hut, Sue and I had the televators up on our snowshoes and the three of us were making our way up the steep climb. Clearly, Madison had seen a lot of traffic. The tracked out trail was wide and followed multiple routes all of the way up. Near the summit, all of the separate routes generally merged and contoured around the east side before moving to the ridge and on to the summit. We made our way to the high point, got more summit shots, and u-turned to the hut.
The return hike to the hut was a fast one. The trail is smooth but has good grip and we could safely snowshoe at a fast pace down. At the hut we de-layered, had more refreshment, and set off on our exit via Valley Way. The hike down was uneventful. Roughly half-way to the trailhead is was dark and enjoyed the final ~1.5 miles with the help of our headlights.
The hike was terrific; trailhead to trailhead on snowshoes, completely clear sky – all day, mild wind, and after starting later than planned finishing roughly one hour ahead of plan. Not bad. It was a real pleasure to meet and hike with Stu – I sure hope you’re able to join more of our hikes – it was a fun day. As always, thanks Sue for another great day in the mountains.
Pictures will follow.
