Go With the Flow; A Presidential Range Traverse.

When I decided to organize a traverse of New Hampshires Presidential Range a month ago I had delusions of a bevy of friends queuing up to join in. When I made the initial calls I had six or seven probably's. Nice. Things are looking promising.

I posted an invite here as well and got some useful beta, which ultimately didn't need to be used, but it was encouraging regardless. I also got a resounding 'Hell yeah!' Sort of response from Wilbeer. So it was decided, Wilbeer would join my friends and myself for a two day traverse.

After all my local friends bailed, citing domestic duties and general laziness, Wilbeer and I figured out the details.


We left the trailhead at 6:30 and the grind up to Madison Springs hut is a great way to wake up. It's around 3800 feet in four miles, the last two being considerably steeper than the first.



At the hut, we relaxed, drank some water and talked with some guy who wanted to know where he could go to get food stamps. I powered down a gu and promptly puked it back up. No worries, I'm not a breakfast guy anyhow.



On to Mt Adams, which is the culmination of the large vertical. The trailhead is at 1200', summit at 5700', in around 4.5 miles. Nothing crazy hard, but a good warmup.



From there, we are completely in the clouds, whiteout style, for hours. The Presidential Ridge, while not as ragged and dramatic as ridges out west, is still pretty demanding physically. For miles you are only on talus, it's punishing if you're off the couch like I am.






Mt Jefferson was next, more one foot in front of the other sort of hiking. We didn't set a blistering pace by any means, but we were steady, stopping only at the Madison hut and on each peak to chill and drop the packs for ten or fifteen minutes.


This whole stretch is fairly level topographically but jagged in the small scale and this is where my knee began to twitch.


We cruised up to the summit of Washington. Ha! Cruised might not be the word. But we were hanging out in the cafeteria at 4:00


At this point my knee is a huge problem and I'm using my hands to move over rocks and limping. I can't step down onto my right leg, or it will crumple underneath me.

We leave the summit to go and camp at Lakes of the Clouds.


Where I was able to ascend with only moderate pain and instability in my knee, I was less fortunate with descending. We trudged down 1000 feet and 1.5 miles of talus to the hut and bivied in the lee.



We were the only ones there and the clouds lifted, giving us a really nice sunset and views off to Mt Mansfield, Jay Peak, and Canada.







When I woke up I took a short walk and weighed the options with my knee. Continue hobbling down four miles of steep, rocky terrain, possibly scrambling my entire knee? Or, limp comfortably up a mile and a half of steep, rocky terrain to the summit? Wait, what? There's an auto road to the summit?


I should say right now that Wilbeer is a rad partner for a trip like this. The dude drove up from western NY to backpack with some internet loser he'd never met and was ready to go with the flow the whole time.

So, when I decided that we'd hike back up to the summit and find a ride down, I wasn't surprised that the answer was a smile and a no worries.




Back at the summit, it was great to walk on flat ground again.





Coffee, a chat with personnel at the cafeteria, and we decided that paying $30 a person for a ride down was out of the question. I took a walk outside and sure enough, the first tourists I ask for a ride agree without blinking.

A ride to Gorham, some hitching, a serendipitous ride up a long ass hill, and we were back at the Vanagon.




In all, it was a great hike. We covered a lot of terrain and miles and went with the flow when things didn't go as planned.

I'd also say, having had a day to think about the trip, that bailing was a really good thing to do. I had a hard time accepting it, but I think I would have done far more damage to my knee if I had tried to tough it out.

And, if anyone's out in the Dacks, look up Wilbeer! I can't speak for his climbing, but he's a hiking machine and damn fun to share a trail with. He'd be a hell of a tour guide in the Dacks.