N
NH_Mtn_Hiker
Guest
Date(s) Hiked:
Saturday, June 12th, 2004
Trails(s) Hiked:
Airline (up), Airline-Gulside-Osgood (across), Osgood-Valley Way (down)
Total Distance:
9.9 Miles, 5050' elevation gain
Difficulty:
Very Strenuous. The last 4-5 tenths of a mile up each summit involved alot of rock hopping, and not all of the rocks remain stationary when you put your weight on them.
Conditions:
Very Sunny, High 30's going up and at summits. Warmed to mid-50's at the bottom on the descent. Wind: 10 mph at Madison Spring Hut to about 30 mph at Mt. Adams summit.
Special Required Equipment:
Windbreaker, sunscreen, sunglasses or brimmed hat. Trekking poles also useful, as well as good foot placement when rock hopping.
Trip Report:
My alarm was set to go off at 3am this morning. I woke up at 2:40, so I got up, got dressed, grabbed a few granola bars for the road and headed out the door at 3am.
I arrived at the Appalachia parking area at 5am. I threw my boots on, grabbed my pack, and headed up the Airline Trail. The Airline is one of the better trails I've hiked in the White Mtns. Up to the tree line it was very well marked, easy to read signs at every intersection, the trail has recently been cleared of blowdowns, and the trail wasn't all washed out in places like some other trails due to the heavy rain this spring, and there wasn't any mud worth mentioning.
Once above treeline however, the trail is not so clearly marked. While some cairns are about 4' tall and set on large boulders and can be seen a mile away, others are about a foot-and-a-half tall and set amongst the shrubbery so they can't be seen until you nearly trip over them. In a couple of places I had to rely on trial-and-error to find my way. "Nope, that's not the right way, let's try over here."
Two other pleasant characteristics of the Airline trail is the fact that most of the elevation gain is in the middle section of the trail, perfect for me, and the awesome views from Durand Ridge above treeline (the knife edge). In one place the trail is about 12 inches wide and the right side drops off sharply into King Ravine.
After bagging Mt. Adams I went to the Madison Spring Hut for a well deserved break, then I proceded up Mt. Madison. Madison is a little more difficult than it looks, though it's only about 4 tenths of a mile from the hut to the summit, it's a 550' elevation gain, and about 400' of that occurs in the first two tenths of a mile, with alot of rock hopping. I just love finishing up the ascent with the hardest part of the climb, short as it may be. :x
I took the Osgood trail back to the hut and then descended to the parking area via tha Valley way trail. The Valley Way had several blowdowns, two of them large, and it was washed out a little at the upper end, the steep part. In some places rocks had rolled into the ditch/trail making the upper half mile even more difficult. The only good thing I saw about this trail was, it's in the trees from the parking area to the hut, making it the smart choice during inclement weather.
It was truly a great day to be out hiking in the Presidentials. As usual, no pictures.
17 down, 31 to go.
Saturday, June 12th, 2004
Trails(s) Hiked:
Airline (up), Airline-Gulside-Osgood (across), Osgood-Valley Way (down)
Total Distance:
9.9 Miles, 5050' elevation gain
Difficulty:
Very Strenuous. The last 4-5 tenths of a mile up each summit involved alot of rock hopping, and not all of the rocks remain stationary when you put your weight on them.
Conditions:
Very Sunny, High 30's going up and at summits. Warmed to mid-50's at the bottom on the descent. Wind: 10 mph at Madison Spring Hut to about 30 mph at Mt. Adams summit.
Special Required Equipment:
Windbreaker, sunscreen, sunglasses or brimmed hat. Trekking poles also useful, as well as good foot placement when rock hopping.
Trip Report:
My alarm was set to go off at 3am this morning. I woke up at 2:40, so I got up, got dressed, grabbed a few granola bars for the road and headed out the door at 3am.
I arrived at the Appalachia parking area at 5am. I threw my boots on, grabbed my pack, and headed up the Airline Trail. The Airline is one of the better trails I've hiked in the White Mtns. Up to the tree line it was very well marked, easy to read signs at every intersection, the trail has recently been cleared of blowdowns, and the trail wasn't all washed out in places like some other trails due to the heavy rain this spring, and there wasn't any mud worth mentioning.
Once above treeline however, the trail is not so clearly marked. While some cairns are about 4' tall and set on large boulders and can be seen a mile away, others are about a foot-and-a-half tall and set amongst the shrubbery so they can't be seen until you nearly trip over them. In a couple of places I had to rely on trial-and-error to find my way. "Nope, that's not the right way, let's try over here."
Two other pleasant characteristics of the Airline trail is the fact that most of the elevation gain is in the middle section of the trail, perfect for me, and the awesome views from Durand Ridge above treeline (the knife edge). In one place the trail is about 12 inches wide and the right side drops off sharply into King Ravine.
After bagging Mt. Adams I went to the Madison Spring Hut for a well deserved break, then I proceded up Mt. Madison. Madison is a little more difficult than it looks, though it's only about 4 tenths of a mile from the hut to the summit, it's a 550' elevation gain, and about 400' of that occurs in the first two tenths of a mile, with alot of rock hopping. I just love finishing up the ascent with the hardest part of the climb, short as it may be. :x
I took the Osgood trail back to the hut and then descended to the parking area via tha Valley way trail. The Valley Way had several blowdowns, two of them large, and it was washed out a little at the upper end, the steep part. In some places rocks had rolled into the ditch/trail making the upper half mile even more difficult. The only good thing I saw about this trail was, it's in the trees from the parking area to the hut, making it the smart choice during inclement weather.
It was truly a great day to be out hiking in the Presidentials. As usual, no pictures.
17 down, 31 to go.
Nice report and it sounds like a great hike. Still have a few peaks ahead of you....I just have Jefferson that was last year and I should have gotten one yesterday when I was down there.
