ChileMass
Active member
Trails Hiked: Great Gulf Trail, Six Husbands, Buttress
Date: Saturday, Aug 13, 2005
Distance: 11 miles round trip
Vertical: approx 2400'
Conditions: Mostly excellent. A few muddy spots - mainly sunny with temps in mid-80s with low humidity.
Difficulty: moderate due to length, not vertical.
Another beautiful day in the Whites. We thought at the start there might be some late-day weather problems (thunderstorms), but they never happened. A crystal-clear, warm day in the heart of the Presidentials. Disclaimer - I left my darned camera in the camper, so no pics for this trip - bummer!
We started out with a group of 8 adults and 10 kids for a lunch hike to the Bluff. The day was beautiful, and the kids were all up for a hike. We left the cars in the GG parking lot off Route 16 at 11:10AM (it's hard to get an early start with this group). The walk into the Bluff was easy - very good footing, a very shallow grade, and the Peabody River rushing along for most of the way. The kids liked bouncing on the suspension bridge at the botom of the trail. Thankfully, no one was around to see their shenanigans.
Ran into a Ranger just as we got to the GG Wilderness, and he told us again to be careful of storms later in the day. Saw only a couple more people on the way to the Bluff, made a quick stop at some of the rocks and cascades on the Peabody and got to the Bluff overlook at 12:35. Busted out some lunch for everbody, taught the kids about LNT (some sandwich bags and snack wrappers got away momentarily, but were quickly scooped up and pocketed), and we all enjoyed the views. As Greg had mentioned, the view from the big boulder is tremendous. The Washington Auto Road is far above, and the views up to Adams and Jefferson were great. It was so clear, you could see every tree. Hung out for about a half-hour and at 1:10PM the kids and most of the adults headed back to the cars for an afternoon at the river.
3 of us contiuned on (me, ole buddy Rob and his wife Teresa) with our goal the rocky slope on the Buttress Trail on the lower slopes of Adams. I had heard for a long time that the view up the Great Gulf and up into Jefferson Ravine was just tremendous, and I had to see it. We talked about continuing on to Madison Hut and down Osgood, but it would depend on how our legs felt when we got to Buttress and how much daylight was left. The walk along the Peabody afte the Bluff was definitely rougher on the feet, but the vertical gain was still very gentle and the shady walk along the Peabody continued to be Tolkein-like. The GG Trail is very wide and well-trodden, but when we turned right at the 6 Husbands trail, it became much narrower and showed much less evidence of use. At the Buttress Trail we momentarily lost the trail in the campsite area, but old buddy Rob got us back on track. Very shortly, we started to climb steeply for the first time all day, but it was a very short distance which broke out into the steep field of boulders the White Mountain Guide had described. The boulders ranged from the size of a bathtub to the size of a car, and as we hopped up the rocks the incredible view just got better and better. Reached the top of the rock slope at 2:30PM.
With the low humidity, the GG headwall below Washington was clearly visible, and looked just insanely steep. Jefferson's north knee towered above us, and we could see the line (if not the trail itself)where the 6 Husbands trail goes straight up the knee to the summit of Jefferson. A very cool spot indeed. Wish I'd had the camera with me.
We all decided we were probably too tired out to try to reach Madison Hut and then get down by nightfall, so we turned around and headed out the same way we came. Unfortunately, we underestimated how much water we'd need, so we were pretty parched by the time we got down almost 2.75 hours later. Reached the car in the parking lot at 6:15, so it was just over 7 hours total. Not huge vertical on this hike, but it was a very LONG walk out, so we were tired by the end. The cold beer at the Red Parka Pub in Glen took some of the edge off. Beers and wings on their patio is becoming a post-hike tradition - strongly recommended!! :beer:
Date: Saturday, Aug 13, 2005
Distance: 11 miles round trip
Vertical: approx 2400'
Conditions: Mostly excellent. A few muddy spots - mainly sunny with temps in mid-80s with low humidity.
Difficulty: moderate due to length, not vertical.
Another beautiful day in the Whites. We thought at the start there might be some late-day weather problems (thunderstorms), but they never happened. A crystal-clear, warm day in the heart of the Presidentials. Disclaimer - I left my darned camera in the camper, so no pics for this trip - bummer!
We started out with a group of 8 adults and 10 kids for a lunch hike to the Bluff. The day was beautiful, and the kids were all up for a hike. We left the cars in the GG parking lot off Route 16 at 11:10AM (it's hard to get an early start with this group). The walk into the Bluff was easy - very good footing, a very shallow grade, and the Peabody River rushing along for most of the way. The kids liked bouncing on the suspension bridge at the botom of the trail. Thankfully, no one was around to see their shenanigans.
Ran into a Ranger just as we got to the GG Wilderness, and he told us again to be careful of storms later in the day. Saw only a couple more people on the way to the Bluff, made a quick stop at some of the rocks and cascades on the Peabody and got to the Bluff overlook at 12:35. Busted out some lunch for everbody, taught the kids about LNT (some sandwich bags and snack wrappers got away momentarily, but were quickly scooped up and pocketed), and we all enjoyed the views. As Greg had mentioned, the view from the big boulder is tremendous. The Washington Auto Road is far above, and the views up to Adams and Jefferson were great. It was so clear, you could see every tree. Hung out for about a half-hour and at 1:10PM the kids and most of the adults headed back to the cars for an afternoon at the river.
3 of us contiuned on (me, ole buddy Rob and his wife Teresa) with our goal the rocky slope on the Buttress Trail on the lower slopes of Adams. I had heard for a long time that the view up the Great Gulf and up into Jefferson Ravine was just tremendous, and I had to see it. We talked about continuing on to Madison Hut and down Osgood, but it would depend on how our legs felt when we got to Buttress and how much daylight was left. The walk along the Peabody afte the Bluff was definitely rougher on the feet, but the vertical gain was still very gentle and the shady walk along the Peabody continued to be Tolkein-like. The GG Trail is very wide and well-trodden, but when we turned right at the 6 Husbands trail, it became much narrower and showed much less evidence of use. At the Buttress Trail we momentarily lost the trail in the campsite area, but old buddy Rob got us back on track. Very shortly, we started to climb steeply for the first time all day, but it was a very short distance which broke out into the steep field of boulders the White Mountain Guide had described. The boulders ranged from the size of a bathtub to the size of a car, and as we hopped up the rocks the incredible view just got better and better. Reached the top of the rock slope at 2:30PM.
With the low humidity, the GG headwall below Washington was clearly visible, and looked just insanely steep. Jefferson's north knee towered above us, and we could see the line (if not the trail itself)where the 6 Husbands trail goes straight up the knee to the summit of Jefferson. A very cool spot indeed. Wish I'd had the camera with me.
We all decided we were probably too tired out to try to reach Madison Hut and then get down by nightfall, so we turned around and headed out the same way we came. Unfortunately, we underestimated how much water we'd need, so we were pretty parched by the time we got down almost 2.75 hours later. Reached the car in the parking lot at 6:15, so it was just over 7 hours total. Not huge vertical on this hike, but it was a very LONG walk out, so we were tired by the end. The cold beer at the Red Parka Pub in Glen took some of the edge off. Beers and wings on their patio is becoming a post-hike tradition - strongly recommended!! :beer:
