b]Date Hiked:[/b] June 17
Trails(s) Hiked: Valley Way, Watson Path, Osgood (to Mad Hut), Gulfside to Airline (top only), Lowe's to T-storm jct, Gulfside to North end of Jefferson Loop, Jeff Loop over summit, (10 yards on Cap's Ridge to summit), to Southern Jct. with Gulfside, to Crawford Path. Up to Washington summit then down to LOC hut & Monroe loop, Monroe loop over summit to defined path that skips Little Monroe, Crawford to Franklin loop, then Crawford to Eisenhower Loop, then Crawford Path to Webster Cliff. Summit Pierce after Ice Cream & then descend Crawford Path
Total Distance: 20 miles approx. 8200 feet of elevation gain.
Difficulty: Very Very Difficult
Conditions: Dry, only a few blowdowns, easily passed, or climbed over/under
Special Required Equipment: Sunglasses, I forgot, sunscreen & camera
Trip Report: The morning started at 3:00 at Hiker's Paradise, after getting dressed, popping the contacts in & having some leftover Pizza from the night before (six of seven hours old only) I headed to Appalachia to participate in the VFTT TBTS Fund Raiser. I started up Appalachia a couple minutes before 4:00 with three other hikers, one from VFTT all doing the Traverse but not part of the event. In the first hour I passed 11 people, yes, before 5:00 AM all heading over the Presidentials. It was a calm & warm so I decided to take the Watson Path when I reached the Junction. The Watson is not very defined below the trees & steep. In high water the stream crossing could be tough & once you reach treeline, the cairns are not very big & were okay to follow on this perfect morning but you cold tell they would be useless in the fog. I got to Madison at 6:50 and the other three hikers were there having taken the longer but easier Watson Path & leaving their packs at the hut.
The hut was alive with activity, the guest at Madison hut were eating their breakfast while a lot of the Traverse hikers were outside coming from different routes & meeting old friends. I headed up Adamsat 7:23 & arrived at the summit a few minutes after 8:00, meeting some of the hikers I saw on Madison & at the hut, i stayed 20 minutes & then headed to Jefferson. The wind was virtually non-existant gusting maybe to 6-8 MPH & no clouds. I had applied the first coat of sunscreen on Adams. I arrived at Jefferson's summit at 10:00 seeing the faster two VFTT Traverse hikers who had come up Howker Ridge & started about 45 minutes after I did.
I headed out a few minutes before them & we talked abit before they pulled ahead. There was a rumor Dave Metsky would have ice cream on Pierce of Jackson, feeling humerous & knowing Dave I told those guys Dave would eat the ice cream. Knowing hes a man of his words though, he was on the trail & not doing the traverse, he would have a snack for us. Giggy & Jay headed over Clay while I took the easier way on Gulfside meeting Peakbagger just below Jewell. He was passing out Snicker bars. Above the Clay loop I ran into Giggy & Jay who were with Silent Cal, Mtn Magic & I believe Skiguy who had water & donuts.
I reached the summit building around 12:20 where many road racers who had run the race were wrapped in space blankets, it looked like a bad Sci-Fi convention. I went down to the pack room where I met another four who were trying to do the traverse. They were bailing as they had started much earlier then I did but with no sleep the night before & they were bonked. I'd have run out of gas far sooner, they had only gotten to the summit a 1/2 hour os so behind me so they had been dragging for a while. I grabbed some lunch @ the concession stand & bought some shirts for the family (I'm wearing mine as I type this) & on my way back to my pack, Chomp had finally caught up, having started a hour & 33 minutes behind me. We grabbed some water, called Tee jay (who was pledging extra for each person who called from the top). About 100 feet down the Crawford Path I realized I forgot my poles & went back to the pack room to get therm. The other four hikers were sleeping, the lack of sleep the night before had caught up with them.
Tim & I headed down to LOC where we stopped for a wee bit before heading over Monroe & then to Franklin. Just before Franklin we caught up with my three hikers that I had been playing leap frog with all day. We talked them into climbing the extra bit over the Franklin loop which both Tim & I like but I don't think they liked it as much as we did.
At the north end of the Eisenhower loop, I stopped for a bite to eat to re-charge the batteries while Tim went ahead while he was still feeling good. he did not want to tighten up before climbing the steepest piece of trail we had left. We stopped a few minutes on Eisenhower, some of the guys Tim had hiked with while trying to catch me got to Eisenhower when we did. Some people got stung by wasp that apparently had built a nest in the summit cairn but I did not see any evidence of this. Washington & the nothern peaks had dark clouds around the summits while the Southern peaks remained in the clear.
I left a few minutes before Tim & the guys & they soon passed me heading to Pierce. I had decided to chang my plans & instead of doing Jackson too, named after a NH Geographer not a President, I was headed down the Crawford Path. I got to the junction with the Webster Cliff just as Bob, Geri & our other moderator Michael J were heading down.
True to his word, Dave M was just shy of the Pierce. He had a cooler & a large pack. true to his word he had two pints of Ben & Jerry's, some dried fruit, another candy light snack & ice cold (must have been frown in the AM since it still had ice in it!) water.
After going the extra 100 feet to the actual summit I told Tim I was heading down. he headed over to Jackson, it was around 5:00 or so when we headed off in opposite directions. I passed my fellow three hikers once again a bit above the Mizpah junction & started seeing campers heading up to the tent sites next to Mizpah hut. I got down to the Highland Center before Giggy & Jay who also had added jackson & Webster to their trip. they arrived a few minutes after I did, after some discussions on where we were heading, we headed back to our respective cars. While most of the group stayed the night, i had to home for Father's Day, a drive while I dreaded doing, I knew I would enjoy the result Sunday morning.
I woke up Sunday AM & my wife was out shopping for breakfast. Knowing her husband well,she knew I would enjoy a home cooked breakfast but also knew I would also like a simplier breakfast from the frozen food case.
Surprise, a pint of Ben & Jerry's. I wonder if Dave told her some how.
Trails(s) Hiked: Valley Way, Watson Path, Osgood (to Mad Hut), Gulfside to Airline (top only), Lowe's to T-storm jct, Gulfside to North end of Jefferson Loop, Jeff Loop over summit, (10 yards on Cap's Ridge to summit), to Southern Jct. with Gulfside, to Crawford Path. Up to Washington summit then down to LOC hut & Monroe loop, Monroe loop over summit to defined path that skips Little Monroe, Crawford to Franklin loop, then Crawford to Eisenhower Loop, then Crawford Path to Webster Cliff. Summit Pierce after Ice Cream & then descend Crawford Path
Total Distance: 20 miles approx. 8200 feet of elevation gain.
Difficulty: Very Very Difficult
Conditions: Dry, only a few blowdowns, easily passed, or climbed over/under
Special Required Equipment: Sunglasses, I forgot, sunscreen & camera
Trip Report: The morning started at 3:00 at Hiker's Paradise, after getting dressed, popping the contacts in & having some leftover Pizza from the night before (six of seven hours old only) I headed to Appalachia to participate in the VFTT TBTS Fund Raiser. I started up Appalachia a couple minutes before 4:00 with three other hikers, one from VFTT all doing the Traverse but not part of the event. In the first hour I passed 11 people, yes, before 5:00 AM all heading over the Presidentials. It was a calm & warm so I decided to take the Watson Path when I reached the Junction. The Watson is not very defined below the trees & steep. In high water the stream crossing could be tough & once you reach treeline, the cairns are not very big & were okay to follow on this perfect morning but you cold tell they would be useless in the fog. I got to Madison at 6:50 and the other three hikers were there having taken the longer but easier Watson Path & leaving their packs at the hut.
The hut was alive with activity, the guest at Madison hut were eating their breakfast while a lot of the Traverse hikers were outside coming from different routes & meeting old friends. I headed up Adamsat 7:23 & arrived at the summit a few minutes after 8:00, meeting some of the hikers I saw on Madison & at the hut, i stayed 20 minutes & then headed to Jefferson. The wind was virtually non-existant gusting maybe to 6-8 MPH & no clouds. I had applied the first coat of sunscreen on Adams. I arrived at Jefferson's summit at 10:00 seeing the faster two VFTT Traverse hikers who had come up Howker Ridge & started about 45 minutes after I did.
I headed out a few minutes before them & we talked abit before they pulled ahead. There was a rumor Dave Metsky would have ice cream on Pierce of Jackson, feeling humerous & knowing Dave I told those guys Dave would eat the ice cream. Knowing hes a man of his words though, he was on the trail & not doing the traverse, he would have a snack for us. Giggy & Jay headed over Clay while I took the easier way on Gulfside meeting Peakbagger just below Jewell. He was passing out Snicker bars. Above the Clay loop I ran into Giggy & Jay who were with Silent Cal, Mtn Magic & I believe Skiguy who had water & donuts.
I reached the summit building around 12:20 where many road racers who had run the race were wrapped in space blankets, it looked like a bad Sci-Fi convention. I went down to the pack room where I met another four who were trying to do the traverse. They were bailing as they had started much earlier then I did but with no sleep the night before & they were bonked. I'd have run out of gas far sooner, they had only gotten to the summit a 1/2 hour os so behind me so they had been dragging for a while. I grabbed some lunch @ the concession stand & bought some shirts for the family (I'm wearing mine as I type this) & on my way back to my pack, Chomp had finally caught up, having started a hour & 33 minutes behind me. We grabbed some water, called Tee jay (who was pledging extra for each person who called from the top). About 100 feet down the Crawford Path I realized I forgot my poles & went back to the pack room to get therm. The other four hikers were sleeping, the lack of sleep the night before had caught up with them.
Tim & I headed down to LOC where we stopped for a wee bit before heading over Monroe & then to Franklin. Just before Franklin we caught up with my three hikers that I had been playing leap frog with all day. We talked them into climbing the extra bit over the Franklin loop which both Tim & I like but I don't think they liked it as much as we did.
At the north end of the Eisenhower loop, I stopped for a bite to eat to re-charge the batteries while Tim went ahead while he was still feeling good. he did not want to tighten up before climbing the steepest piece of trail we had left. We stopped a few minutes on Eisenhower, some of the guys Tim had hiked with while trying to catch me got to Eisenhower when we did. Some people got stung by wasp that apparently had built a nest in the summit cairn but I did not see any evidence of this. Washington & the nothern peaks had dark clouds around the summits while the Southern peaks remained in the clear.
I left a few minutes before Tim & the guys & they soon passed me heading to Pierce. I had decided to chang my plans & instead of doing Jackson too, named after a NH Geographer not a President, I was headed down the Crawford Path. I got to the junction with the Webster Cliff just as Bob, Geri & our other moderator Michael J were heading down.
True to his word, Dave M was just shy of the Pierce. He had a cooler & a large pack. true to his word he had two pints of Ben & Jerry's, some dried fruit, another candy light snack & ice cold (must have been frown in the AM since it still had ice in it!) water.
After going the extra 100 feet to the actual summit I told Tim I was heading down. he headed over to Jackson, it was around 5:00 or so when we headed off in opposite directions. I passed my fellow three hikers once again a bit above the Mizpah junction & started seeing campers heading up to the tent sites next to Mizpah hut. I got down to the Highland Center before Giggy & Jay who also had added jackson & Webster to their trip. they arrived a few minutes after I did, after some discussions on where we were heading, we headed back to our respective cars. While most of the group stayed the night, i had to home for Father's Day, a drive while I dreaded doing, I knew I would enjoy the result Sunday morning.
I woke up Sunday AM & my wife was out shopping for breakfast. Knowing her husband well,she knew I would enjoy a home cooked breakfast but also knew I would also like a simplier breakfast from the frozen food case.
Surprise, a pint of Ben & Jerry's. I wonder if Dave told her some how.
....
