Today’s Miles: 11.8
Trip Miles: 1878
“I am, I am, I am Superman and I know what’s happening
I am, I am, I am Superman and I can do anything” – R.E.M.
Up at 6:00. Good night’s sleep. Had breakfast at 7:00. On trail at 8:00.
Mount Washington summit forecast is 55 degrees, 5 mph wind, sunny. It doesn’t get much better than that this time of year up there! Awesome!!!
Rest of the day it’s going to get to low 70s with a light breeze and mostly sunny.
Entered the Presidential Range. The Presidential Range of the White Mountains is the highest range of mountains in the Northeast and is home to the largest above-treeline alpine zone.
Summited Mount Pierce at 8:30. It’s very warm with zero wind. That’s my climb for the next several hours to Mount Washington.
Clouds in the valleys and cairns to mark the way.
Great view of Bretton Woods.
Cairns leading to Mount Eisenhower.
YouTube video from Mount Eisenhower.
Stopped at 9:50 for a snack. I wish it were a little cooler. I still can’t believe this weather!
Here is a view back where I hiked from this morning. You can see the trail across the bare rock is an S-curve.
Summited Mount Franklin at 10:30. Hard climb the last mile but not too bad.
Little Monroe on the left and Monroe on the right with a view of Mount Washington through the saddle.
Onwards and upwards to Washington.
Reached Lakes of the Clouds Hut at 11:05. Stopped for water and a snack. I have 1.4 miles to the summit of Washington and then another 5.7 miles to Madison Springs Hut. I’m guessing I’ll get to the hut about 5:00 this evening. Back on trail at 11:25.
The ascent up Washington begins
Just following the cairns. Notice that instead of painting white blazes, they try to tip the cairn with a piece of white quartz. Cool.
Looking back down from the midpoint of the ascent at Lake of the Clouds and Mount Monroe at noon. Got .6 miles to the top.
Summited Mount Washington at 12:22! Oh yes!
Good picture of the cog railroad that you can take to the summit from below Lake of the Clouds.
YouTube video from Washington summit
YouTube video from Washington summit facing south
Started the trek to Madison Springs Hut at 1:15.
Crossed the cog train tracks on the descent.
Skirting around Mount Clay. That’s Washington over his left shoulder.
Next up, Mount Jefferson. Ugh:(
Oops. That was just a false summit. This is Jefferson on the left.
The backside of Washington from just below the summit of Jefferson.
Started down the backside of Jefferson at 3:00. Now I have to get over Adams and then I’ll be at the Hut for tonight.
Mountains after mountains as far as the eye can see. And at this altitude, I can see a long way.
Finally passed over the top of Mount Adams at 4:25. I feel like yelling “Light the beacons of Gondor”!
Passed by the summit of Mount Quincy Adams on the final descent to the hut.
Arrived at Madison Springs Hut, at the base of Mount Madison, at 4:55. That last 2 miles was tough, but not terrible. Got changed into dry clothes, cleaned up as best I could, and laid my clothes out on a rock to dry. Lots more people at this hut tonight. My bunk room sleeps 9 and only 2 bunks are open at the moment.
Gravy and Sprawl are both doing work-for-stay here tonight.
Nice dinner and conversation. Trying to plan my day tomorrow. The hike looks brutal based on comments from other hikers including Overkill. It’s 7.3 miles and I’m planning 7 hours. Trying to arrange a shuttle pickup at 3:30 tomorrow. Waiting to hear back. Not sure how well this will work. I have a hostel option and a motel. Prefer the hostel, but need to call tomorrow as they don’t do text messaging. I have a lot to plan out for the next week. Need better internet service to do that. Stressful.
Overall, amazing day. The hike from Washington to Madison Hut was long but not bad. Took 3.5 hours. Rocky, but done worse.
Technical Notes:
- Oatmeal 200
- Apple juice 300
- Bacon 200
- Pancake 220
- Scrambled eggs 350
- Snickers 250
- Brownie 250
- Chili dog 350
- Pepperoni pizza 350
- Dr Pepper 240
- AMC Hut Dinner 2500
- Water 1.4
- Miles 11.6
- Time 8:45
- Elevation gain 4117
- Calories consumed 5500
- Calories burned 6500
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