Saturday, August 27th
Skip boring report and go straight to boring photos
Friday's weather was absolutely perfect for a late summer Presidential Range traverse....so I waited until Saturday.
My only previous traverse was Madison to Jackson. It bugged me that I skipped Webster last time. I don't know what the "rules" are for a Presidential traverse, nor do I really care. My hike, my rules...so this hike would be Madison to Webster.
Because the weather didn't allow for photos of sweeping scenic vistas, many of the photos are of summit signs and cairns (thus the thread title).
Madison summit cairn
Nice soft morning light on the way up Adams
"I do not, for one, think that the problem was that the band was down. I think that the problem may have been, that there was a Stonehenge monument on the stage that was in danger of being crushed by a dwarf."
- David St. Hubbins
There were lots of rumors on the Mt Washington summit about some sort of storm possibly approaching. Typical New England rumor mill.
Tiny hiker silhouettes approaching Monroe's summit
Somewhere between Monroe and Eisenhower
View north from summit of Mt Pierce
Flag trees on Webster
A few thoughts on hikes like this. I've done two Pemi Loops and two Presi traverses, and I've realized this ain't my kind of hiking. I'm not a fast hiker (barely broke 13 hours on Pemi Loop, barely broke 12 hours on Presi traverse), so I have to keep moving, no long breaks, no lounging on the summits, no changing lenses and filters to set up nice photos. Enough of that, unless she's REALLY good looking. I'm sick of rushing over summits, sick of saying "excuse me, mind if I pass?", sick of running endlessly up and down the Blue Hills to train for these types of hikes, sick of snapping crappy fast photos to time-stamp a summit or trail junction. It's a nice feeling of accomplishment to complete these hikes, but not much more than that...to me it's just a temporary ego stroke. Time to slow down and go back to the types of hikes I really enjoy, and go back to hiking for the reasons I love hiking.
EDIT TO ADD: Let me add in the strongest way possible, this is in no way meant to be a "you have to go slow to enjoy the mountains" kind of thing. I'll use Tim Seaver as a prime example. He can fly like the wind and still take amazing photos, and I've never met the guy, but I bet you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who appreciates the mountains more than he does. No hidden agenda in my statements, it's just a totally selfish me me me explanation of how I like to enjoy the mountains. You either love the mountains or you don't....hiking speed and summit lounging doesn't add to or detract from it. End of sermon.
Skip boring report and go straight to boring photos
Friday's weather was absolutely perfect for a late summer Presidential Range traverse....so I waited until Saturday.
My only previous traverse was Madison to Jackson. It bugged me that I skipped Webster last time. I don't know what the "rules" are for a Presidential traverse, nor do I really care. My hike, my rules...so this hike would be Madison to Webster.
Because the weather didn't allow for photos of sweeping scenic vistas, many of the photos are of summit signs and cairns (thus the thread title).
Madison summit cairn
Nice soft morning light on the way up Adams
"I do not, for one, think that the problem was that the band was down. I think that the problem may have been, that there was a Stonehenge monument on the stage that was in danger of being crushed by a dwarf."
- David St. Hubbins
There were lots of rumors on the Mt Washington summit about some sort of storm possibly approaching. Typical New England rumor mill.
Tiny hiker silhouettes approaching Monroe's summit
Somewhere between Monroe and Eisenhower
View north from summit of Mt Pierce
Flag trees on Webster
A few thoughts on hikes like this. I've done two Pemi Loops and two Presi traverses, and I've realized this ain't my kind of hiking. I'm not a fast hiker (barely broke 13 hours on Pemi Loop, barely broke 12 hours on Presi traverse), so I have to keep moving, no long breaks, no lounging on the summits, no changing lenses and filters to set up nice photos. Enough of that, unless she's REALLY good looking. I'm sick of rushing over summits, sick of saying "excuse me, mind if I pass?", sick of running endlessly up and down the Blue Hills to train for these types of hikes, sick of snapping crappy fast photos to time-stamp a summit or trail junction. It's a nice feeling of accomplishment to complete these hikes, but not much more than that...to me it's just a temporary ego stroke. Time to slow down and go back to the types of hikes I really enjoy, and go back to hiking for the reasons I love hiking.
EDIT TO ADD: Let me add in the strongest way possible, this is in no way meant to be a "you have to go slow to enjoy the mountains" kind of thing. I'll use Tim Seaver as a prime example. He can fly like the wind and still take amazing photos, and I've never met the guy, but I bet you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who appreciates the mountains more than he does. No hidden agenda in my statements, it's just a totally selfish me me me explanation of how I like to enjoy the mountains. You either love the mountains or you don't....hiking speed and summit lounging doesn't add to or detract from it. End of sermon.
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