Presidential Traverse 6/28

[surf88]

From Highland to Appalachia 10hrs 20 min. Plus a photo op with Travis Pastrana at the Summit of Washington!
Presidential Traverse 6/28/14 Trip Report

 

[natron]

prezzi traverse and pastrana combo? all time awesomeness!!

 

[alexmtn]

I didn’t want to use the huts or state park for food at all so I carried 3 PB&J sandwiches with me and 2 Water bottles.

The Presi Traverse hike is a perennial favorite of mine - weather permitting, I do 2-3 of them each year amid various other mega-hike challenges. A longstanding, very enjoyable tradition of mine is a stop at the Visitor Center mid-traverse to enjoy a chili dog, coke and chips. While years ago I found the throngs of out-of-shape summit visitors pouring off the train, tour vans and parking lot, jockeying for table space, etc. to be unpleasant, it's evolved to the point where all that's pretty much tuned out amid the food aromas and gastronomic pleasure of my mid-traverse nosh. Similarly, on pemi loops I always check in at Galehead to see what hot soup's on (yes, even on an HHH day, sheer bliss) -the minestrone's a favorite.

I'll prove my manly ability to cover the distance and vertical without support when I'm on routes that don't offer it - just finished a Great Range Traverse this past weekend. Roughly mid-hike as my group completed the famed Saddleback descent and we were on our way up Basin, fond thoughts of the Visitor Center were starting to flash in my mind - bittersweet, as that day there would be no chili dog nosh - just bites from sandwiches, CLIFs, pretzels and summit cookies I'd packed.

The creature comforts do have their place!

Alex

 

[Driver8]

I'll prove my manly ability to cover the distance and vertical without support when I'm on routes that don't offer it - just finished a Great Range Traverse this past weekend. Roughly mid-hike as my group completed the famed Saddleback descent and we were on our way up Basin, fond thoughts of the Visitor Center were starting to flash in my mind - bittersweet, as that day there would be no chili dog nosh - just bites from sandwiches, CLIFs, pretzels and summit cookies I'd packed.

The creature comforts do have their place!

Oh, how I love the huts and their croos. They've been good to me without fail, from my first meeting of one, the Lakes hut, on an unexpectedly very windy May 12, 2012, hid behind my unoccupied, still-snow-drifted friend from the knock-you-over wind gusts at 4 pm that day, to recent stops on the front and back ends of a there-and-back to Z peak, cliffs, falls, etc. Agreed: there's nothing better than warm hut soup.

 

[surf88]

The Presi Traverse hike is a perennial favorite of mine - weather permitting, I do 2-3 of them each year amid various other mega-hike challenges. A longstanding, very enjoyable tradition of mine is a stop at the Visitor Center mid-traverse to enjoy a chili dog, coke and chips. While years ago I found the throngs of out-of-shape summit visitors pouring off the train, tour vans and parking lot, jockeying for table space, etc. to be unpleasant, it's evolved to the point where all that's pretty much tuned out amid the food aromas and gastronomic pleasure of my mid-traverse nosh. Similarly, on pemi loops I always check in at Galehead to see what hot soup's on (yes, even on an HHH day, sheer bliss) -the minestrone's a favorite.

I'll prove my manly ability to cover the distance and vertical without support when I'm on routes that don't offer it - just finished a Great Range Traverse this past weekend. Roughly mid-hike as my group completed the famed Saddleback descent and we were on our way up Basin, fond thoughts of the Visitor Center were starting to flash in my mind - bittersweet, as that day there would be no chili dog nosh - just bites from sandwiches, CLIFs, pretzels and summit cookies I'd packed.

The creature comforts do have their place!

Alex

For day hikes *(just up Washington)Chile at the summit of Washington is a tradition, but for mega hikes I get a little more idealistic because of the epic nature of the larger undertaking. Its a dichotomy between ideals and reality for me.Idealistically I would like to be as self sufficient as possible, using the huts and state park kind makes me feel dirty like I cheated, but realistically when I am halfway into a hike like the pemiloop or the traverse the thought of baked goods is too much to resist. I think back to the first time I did the loop clockwise they had just pulled chocolate chip cookies out of the oven at Galehead. Having taken in very few carbs up to that point in the day my cravings were huge, eating them quite possibly might have given my brains pleasure receptors the largest shot of dopamine they have ever registered. Compromising my ideals was worth it in the moment, but it still reduced my sense of personal accomplishment for the day.

The ultimate irony would be to do the Hut Traverse without using the huts for support

 

[alexmtn]

For day hikes Chile at the summit of Washington is a tradition, but for mega hikes I get a little more idealistic . . .

. . . the ultimate irony would be to do the Hut Traverse without using the huts for support

Ummm, any mega-hike I've contemplated to this point *is* a day hike -- right up to the hut traverse, which by definition should be completed within a single calendar day -- so eat that chili with a smile! And I agree, it would be somewhat 'off' to ignore the huts on a hut traverse - visiting all of them is kinda the point in the first place.

However, I did learn a long time ago that each of us embraces our own unique set of standards -- aka 'moral compass' -- under which we pursue our hiking goals -- and what level of external support we accept is a great example. What safety/contingency gear do we bring? Is it OK to slack pack a spur? Etc. etc. The variation among hikers' 'rule sets' makes true apples-to-apples trip comparisons impossible -- but then at least for me that's not the point of all this anyway -- imo, the hyper-competitive pursuit of better and better times on rough trails is about as straightforward an invitation to injury as I can think of -- in the heat of competition, we're at risk of answering the question "am I pushing this beyond the point of reason?" incorrectly -- or worse, ignoring it altogether.

Alex