blaze
Active member
Our group of seven successfully completed the Madison to Pierce Presidential Traverse yesterday, Saturday March 6th.
We hit the trail at 4:23 AM. We ended up splitting into two groups, some of whom circumvented some summits and some of whom didn’t, so we did not all finish together, although we did hike together for much of the day.
The group of four that I finished with, that would be Kathy B, Tim G, Kevin P and myself, emerged from the woods at Crawford Notch at 6:20 PM, just a whisker under fourteen hours, and just under “book” time (14:10, according to Mohamed Ellozy’s very helpful Presi Traverse Page . Daymond N, Pat J and Nico W emerged shortly thereafter, after some navigational errors in the gathering dark. There were some tense moments at the Highland Center until all parties were present and accounted for.
I won’t go into the gory details on who in our group of seven bagged which peaks, because I’m not sure I can remember, and I can’t imagine you’d care. But I will say, that same group of four bagged all the summits that we had planned to do. Madison, Adams, Jefferson, Clay, Washington, Monroe, Eisenhower, Pierce. We went over Franklin as well, but modestly prevents me from referring to that as a “summit.”
Random notes for others contemplating a traverse, or planning a hike in the Presis.
Firsts:
Now for the “expression of gratitude” part… I am profoundly grateful to have had the opportunity and the ability to do this. Even a greater gift though, is to have done it with such capable and cheerful companions. I could slather this report in superlatives to describe the views, the weather, the company, and the entire experience. But it seems more appropriate to just say thank you.
Photos will be posted soon.
We hit the trail at 4:23 AM. We ended up splitting into two groups, some of whom circumvented some summits and some of whom didn’t, so we did not all finish together, although we did hike together for much of the day.
The group of four that I finished with, that would be Kathy B, Tim G, Kevin P and myself, emerged from the woods at Crawford Notch at 6:20 PM, just a whisker under fourteen hours, and just under “book” time (14:10, according to Mohamed Ellozy’s very helpful Presi Traverse Page . Daymond N, Pat J and Nico W emerged shortly thereafter, after some navigational errors in the gathering dark. There were some tense moments at the Highland Center until all parties were present and accounted for.
I won’t go into the gory details on who in our group of seven bagged which peaks, because I’m not sure I can remember, and I can’t imagine you’d care. But I will say, that same group of four bagged all the summits that we had planned to do. Madison, Adams, Jefferson, Clay, Washington, Monroe, Eisenhower, Pierce. We went over Franklin as well, but modestly prevents me from referring to that as a “summit.”
Random notes for others contemplating a traverse, or planning a hike in the Presis.
- Valley Way was firm and well packed. Indeed, at that absurd hour of the morning, it was even a bit icy. I regretted leaving my microspikes behind (I opted to carry crampons and snowshoes) but in the end snowshoes may have been the better choice anyway, not for flotation but for traction and for the “ascent” heel lift, which I appreciated more and more as the day progressed. Please do remember though, we went up Valley Way well before sunup, with temps in the teens. Conditions may be much softer on a sunny afternoon.
- Above treeline, there is a lot of snow, as has been reported. The trail is hard to follow in places. Cairns and blazes are buried in many spots. I’m sure we got off trail several times… sometimes but not always deliberately. Snowshoeing is excellent though. By and large we didn’t sink in far. IMO, snowshoes are still essential. We never used the crampons, but I would not attempt a traverse in winter without carrying them.
- As has also been reported, use extra caution coming off Pierce on the Crawford Path. Numerous parties have gotten confused here and others (including us) have followed the tracks of the confused, and so gotten confused ourselves. We finally did find the true path but we lost ~30 minutes blundering around in deep snow to find the path. We ran across a large group, clearly very tired and clearly not seasoned winter hikers, who’d dropped far down into the trees before they realized their error and turned back, for a demoralizing and difficult bushwhack back up to the actual trail. They were heading down Crawford Path, bushed but otherwise okay, when we passed them.
- Stuff that worked well: Trekking poles with snow baskets. I would never have made it without ‘em! Snowshoes with “ascent” heel lifts. Leukotape for preemptive blister control. Bag Balm between the toes. At least four liters of fluid. We saw no running or standing water anywhere.
- We also had navigational difficulties climbing out of Edmands Col. We got back on the trail quickly though. I noticed that our footprints were filling in quickly here as the snow blew.
- Other than Washington itself, the wind was particularly brisk on Madison. I started “losing my hands” on the climb up from the hut, and stopped to pull on the shell mitts. That and the moaning wind on the summit rattled me a bit. I wondered what we’d see for wind on the higher summits. But at least that day, Adams and Jefferson did not seem to be getting hit as hard as Madison.
Firsts:
- Kathy B, Kevin P – first presi traverse, tagging all the summits! Huzzah!
- Daymond N, Nico W – first Valley Way to Crawford Notch traverse! You guys rock!
- Pat J – first Valley Way to Crawford Notch traverse in winter! Outstanding!
- Tim G and Jonathan (blaze) – first presi traverse in winter, tagging all the summits. Also for me, my first presi traverse as a fifty year old. Bring on the next fifty years.
Now for the “expression of gratitude” part… I am profoundly grateful to have had the opportunity and the ability to do this. Even a greater gift though, is to have done it with such capable and cheerful companions. I could slather this report in superlatives to describe the views, the weather, the company, and the entire experience. But it seems more appropriate to just say thank you.
Photos will be posted soon.
Last edited:
)
