• Welcome to AlpineZone, the largest online community of skiers and snowboarders in the Northeast!

    You may have to REGISTER before you can post. Registering is FREE, gets rid of the majority of advertisements, and lets you participate in giveaways and other AlpineZone events!

Presidential Traverse

Angus

Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2005
Messages
961
Points
16
Saturday day hike - not sure how many miles but approximately 20ish. Heavy rain all the way to Randolph with weather breaking a little before 5AM.

Went up Airline to Madison Hut and then Starr Pond up Mt. Adams. Weather from Madison to Washington had near zero visibility and high winds. temperatures on the peaks for most of day were in 40's - wind/rain jackets were required. Upon beginning the ascent of Washington from Clay, the winds really kicked up almost knocking me over. Amazing how busy the summit was given the weather.

Weather improved on the hike out on the southern ridge - got a glimpse of the valley on Monroe and by the time we'd reached Eisenhower good views were available for everywhere but the top half of Washington's cone

gulf side trail is much more rugged than the crawford path.

total time on trail was 13 hours with maybe 90 minutes for food breaks/map reading in clouds.

day hiked the Pemi Traverse last year - much more difficult IMO than Presi Traverse.
 
Last edited:

Nick

Administrator
Staff member
Administrator
Joined
Nov 12, 2010
Messages
13,176
Points
48
Location
Bradenton, FL
Website
www.alpinezone.com
That's tough hike. I did it several years ago and I underestimated how much harder boulder hopping would be then simply walking on a smooth trail. I remember we went down a mountain earlier and camped at the base (can't recall which one).. we had hoped to hit a few more peaks and just got completely worn out.

Glad you had a good time even with the weather!

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
 

TrailsNH

New member
Joined
Jul 11, 2011
Messages
6
Points
1
Location
Goffstown, NH
The Madison-to-Pierce Traverse is 19.8 miles with about 8,500 vertical gain. The ruggedness of the northers peaks is what makes it so challenging. But on a good day the miles of alpine views completely makes up for the effort.

Congrats Angus. Too bad about the zero-vis.

I keep track of all the Presi Range trip reports here, if your interested:
http://TrailsNH.com/Presidential_Range.php

-Kimball
 

mattm59

Member
Joined
May 11, 2011
Messages
243
Points
16
Location
Litchfield county Ct.
Website
community.webshots.com
pretty neat

going up in a couple weeks with my son. Planning on Franconia Ridge loop and Adams. Does Airline trail make the most sense for this? Figuring up and back, thinking 9ish hours? Would like scenery, but not at the expense of a fairly sane hike.

I'll be reading that blog as soon as I finish my chili;-)....Lowes looks good, though I'll probably hike this on a weekday.
 
Last edited:

TrailsNH

New member
Joined
Jul 11, 2011
Messages
6
Points
1
Location
Goffstown, NH
Mt Adams via Airline is an **awesome** hike on a blue sky day.
You can find a bunch of trip reports for Adams here: TrailsNH.com/find/Mt+Adams

I have to assume by "Planning on Franconia Ridge loop and Adams..." you mean as two separate day hikes.

The classic Franconia Ridge loop hike is also an awesome day hike, but perhaps sometimes a little too crowded.

-Kim
 

mattm59

Member
Joined
May 11, 2011
Messages
243
Points
16
Location
Litchfield county Ct.
Website
community.webshots.com
yeah Kim, 2 separate hikes. Going up on a wednesday, maybe I'll try for Franconia on a Thursday or Friday. Last time I was a bit leery of the weather and went up LaFayette, skipping the ridge, but time above treeline is awesome, at least in nice weather. Took a bunch of pix a couple years back, combining hiking with some canoe camping.
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/573551490jIFAPo
 

Angus

Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2005
Messages
961
Points
16
I did Madison and Adams a few years back with my son who was 10 or 11 at the time - it was a slog. the views of king ravine from airline are tremendous. again, we went up starr pond after summiting madison which is tough a tough trail and then down king ravine which again offered great views.

I've done the franconia ridge really early in the AM and had it to myself - if you get to the AMC hut on the bridal path by 6:30 your typically set but you're up and out early.
 

Aldon1397

New member
Joined
Dec 13, 2010
Messages
4
Points
0
Don't bother looking for trail signs marked "Pemi Loop"; the loop consists of a concatenation of trails. From the Lincoln Woods trailhead (see below), the basic loop takes the Lincoln Woods Trail to the Osseo Trail. Just below the top of Mt Flume the Franconia Ridge Trail begins. It passes north over Mts Flume, Liberty, Little Haystack, Lincoln, and Lafayette. From the top of Mt Lafayette the Garfield Ridge Trail takes you easterly, over Mt Garfield, to the Galehead Hut. From there the Twinway climbs South Twin and then dips a bit southward to the summit of Mt Guyot, where you turn due south on the Bondcliff trail, passing over Bond and Bondcliff. At the south end of the Bondcliff Trail turn west on the Wilderness trail to rejoin the Lincoln Woods Trail.

SOURCE: http://www.davidalbeck.com/hiking/pemiloop.html
 
Top