whistler
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Delayed repost of my TR, just registered for VFTT, hello all, thank you David.
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What a day. Sorry for the weak TR to follow, I only vaguely remember summit times.
On Friday 6/14, my buddy Eddie and I took a train up to Stamford Connecticut from NYC to pick up a rental car to drive up to the Whites. We picked up the rental and were on the road around 2PM.
We met our friend Derrick around 8PM near the Highlands Center where we had parked just after we'd all individually grabbed a bite to eat. He jumped in our ride with his gear and we made our way north to the Dolly Copp campground where we set up tents and waited for the remaining crew from Boston to arrive.
Unfortunately... they took the scenic route and showed up at 11PM. Very little sleep was had that night, which I wasn't too thrilled about. I'd been sleeping very early for the week prior so I wouldn't be in a daze at 4:15 AM wake up.
Nevertheless, between their late arrival and the fact that we were *all* so incredibly wired due to our upcoming undertaking we popped out of our bags with maybe 4 hours of sleep, packed our tents, changed, and got in the cars.
So that's 7 people altogether, 2 cars at the camp site at this point ours and the Boston crew. Derrick left his car at the south exit. We drove to the trailhead, 6 of us got out and we parked 1 of the cars. The last man, Tim C. stayed in our car, took the wheel, drove to the south. He was solo traversing S -> N
The six of us got on the trail by 5:05 AM (I think Tim got started around 6:15 AM) and began at a fast clip up Valley Way. We branched off and onto Watson Path and summited Madison well ahead of schedule.
Conditions above the treeline were chilly, gloves were definitely welcome although not 100% necessary (I wish I had them, I did not bring, but my buddies had spares). Windy! Really windy! Easily 25mph winds with gusts twice that. The sun had pretty much no effect until around noon and it wasn't 'warm' until 2pm. Not a cloud in the sky though and after all the rain we'd received for the week prior, the rivers were full but the path was relatively dry. Overall: great conditions.
So the Boston crew are definitely not hikers. But they are all in phenomenal shape. Where as my buddy from NY and I are definitely not in phenomenal shape but are hikers. It had some effects on our overall performance but I wouldn't have changed a thing. We were clearly better at pacing ourselves, we didn't beast through the uphill but were much much faster on the downhill. The non-hikers were being brutalized by the rock hopping at certain points, but these guys toughed through.
From Madison we took the Gulfside pretty much the entire way (iirc) to Washington. We were a full hour ahead of schedule by the time we were leaving Jefferson but that is when bad sleep and not *nearly* enough calories started to catch up. And cramps. By the time we reached Washington we were only 30 minutes ahead and starving. We took time on Washington to eat enough, hydrate and recover. Plus some unintentional time waiting to be able to take our summit photo.
Our stomaches were ripping apart anything we put into them. It was like the scene in Back to the Future 2 (or 3?) where Doc puts random scraps out food into the "Mr Fusion" which powers the Delorean... With some more fuel in the tank we set back out now again right on book time.
Anyway, Crawford Path to Monroe, Franklin, Eisenhower and Pierce and down the Crawford Notch back to the lots where we encountered an S&R situation being handled expertly by the experts, a twisted knee on an older woman. Our assistance was offered and refused.
We ended up finishing 13 hours and change, some of us a bit more or less as the downhill really took its toll on some and caused them to slow a bit.
We ate delicious brisket at the Moat and headed to my friend Derrick's place near Lake Wentworth to sleep. Eddie and I headed out early the next day to begin our long trek back to NYC.
Great day, lots of lessons learned. If I did it again (which I'll need some serious inspiration for) I'll be much quicker I think. Poles, gloves, sleep and way more calories could decrease my time. But I'm not in it for all that jazz anyway. We all made it out uninjured and saw some incredible incredible exposed views with crystal clear visibility extending 70+ miles in any direction. Can't ask for more.
----
What a day. Sorry for the weak TR to follow, I only vaguely remember summit times.
On Friday 6/14, my buddy Eddie and I took a train up to Stamford Connecticut from NYC to pick up a rental car to drive up to the Whites. We picked up the rental and were on the road around 2PM.
We met our friend Derrick around 8PM near the Highlands Center where we had parked just after we'd all individually grabbed a bite to eat. He jumped in our ride with his gear and we made our way north to the Dolly Copp campground where we set up tents and waited for the remaining crew from Boston to arrive.
Unfortunately... they took the scenic route and showed up at 11PM. Very little sleep was had that night, which I wasn't too thrilled about. I'd been sleeping very early for the week prior so I wouldn't be in a daze at 4:15 AM wake up.
Nevertheless, between their late arrival and the fact that we were *all* so incredibly wired due to our upcoming undertaking we popped out of our bags with maybe 4 hours of sleep, packed our tents, changed, and got in the cars.
So that's 7 people altogether, 2 cars at the camp site at this point ours and the Boston crew. Derrick left his car at the south exit. We drove to the trailhead, 6 of us got out and we parked 1 of the cars. The last man, Tim C. stayed in our car, took the wheel, drove to the south. He was solo traversing S -> N
The six of us got on the trail by 5:05 AM (I think Tim got started around 6:15 AM) and began at a fast clip up Valley Way. We branched off and onto Watson Path and summited Madison well ahead of schedule.
Conditions above the treeline were chilly, gloves were definitely welcome although not 100% necessary (I wish I had them, I did not bring, but my buddies had spares). Windy! Really windy! Easily 25mph winds with gusts twice that. The sun had pretty much no effect until around noon and it wasn't 'warm' until 2pm. Not a cloud in the sky though and after all the rain we'd received for the week prior, the rivers were full but the path was relatively dry. Overall: great conditions.
So the Boston crew are definitely not hikers. But they are all in phenomenal shape. Where as my buddy from NY and I are definitely not in phenomenal shape but are hikers. It had some effects on our overall performance but I wouldn't have changed a thing. We were clearly better at pacing ourselves, we didn't beast through the uphill but were much much faster on the downhill. The non-hikers were being brutalized by the rock hopping at certain points, but these guys toughed through.
From Madison we took the Gulfside pretty much the entire way (iirc) to Washington. We were a full hour ahead of schedule by the time we were leaving Jefferson but that is when bad sleep and not *nearly* enough calories started to catch up. And cramps. By the time we reached Washington we were only 30 minutes ahead and starving. We took time on Washington to eat enough, hydrate and recover. Plus some unintentional time waiting to be able to take our summit photo.
Our stomaches were ripping apart anything we put into them. It was like the scene in Back to the Future 2 (or 3?) where Doc puts random scraps out food into the "Mr Fusion" which powers the Delorean... With some more fuel in the tank we set back out now again right on book time.
Anyway, Crawford Path to Monroe, Franklin, Eisenhower and Pierce and down the Crawford Notch back to the lots where we encountered an S&R situation being handled expertly by the experts, a twisted knee on an older woman. Our assistance was offered and refused.
We ended up finishing 13 hours and change, some of us a bit more or less as the downhill really took its toll on some and caused them to slow a bit.
We ate delicious brisket at the Moat and headed to my friend Derrick's place near Lake Wentworth to sleep. Eddie and I headed out early the next day to begin our long trek back to NYC.
Great day, lots of lessons learned. If I did it again (which I'll need some serious inspiration for) I'll be much quicker I think. Poles, gloves, sleep and way more calories could decrease my time. But I'm not in it for all that jazz anyway. We all made it out uninjured and saw some incredible incredible exposed views with crystal clear visibility extending 70+ miles in any direction. Can't ask for more.
