Northern Presidential Range (Adams – 18 , Madison – 19)
Dedicated to Kate Matrosova: On this sub-zero Saturday before Presdent’s day in February I am left Hikeless and indoors, because there is a limit to my madness. This is even too cold for me the snow-miser! Although there are those far more adventurous and far more equipped to go out and brave the elements on a day like today and to those who are able to take it to these levels YOU HAVE MY UTMOST RESPECT AND ADMIRATION! One of these high caliber hikers took to the trails in the same area I write about here and sadly lost her life last year at this time. So I dedicate this post to Kate and to all those who are not only hikers like myself but are true mountaineers and an inspiration to us all! Having said that, my own bravery has a limit as I said earlier so I spend the day today framing my new 3D poster of the whites, planning out some options for my next hike, and reflecting on a weekend when I absolutely pushed my physical and mental limits to the max, and created without question one of the most memorable hikes ever. At the time, last July 4th, my thoughts were “Good riddens Adams” but over time as my joints and muscles healed it became, and remains to this day, MY FAVORITE in many ways! This was such an EPIC weekend journey I had to break this entry into 2 parts (Part1 Adams, Part 2 Madison). This could become an annual revisit (like the franconia ridge loop) …If I can summon the strength every year…
Part 1 Adams– As I sit here on this overcast Independence Day (because SIT is about all I can do) in my campsite #88 at Dolly Copp Campground I ponder the EPIC hike from the day before that brought me to new heights through an awesome rugged landscape of waterfalls, caves, and steep rocky terrain. Actually I don’t know if you can use the word “hike” for this one. At times, it felt a lot more like technical rock climbing, without the ropes, rings, & carabiners, or at least what I imagine it to be. This one really pushed my physical and mental limits and left me as this useless motionless bag of bones and shadow of my former self that I am today. But even if I can’t move, I feel invincible rejuvenated and re-Born on the 4th of July! I have just conquered a beast of a mountain and feel like there is nothing I can’t do ….starting tomorrow.
The presidential range has been looming in my mind and causing me some anxious moments lately. I know I wanted this summer to be the time to tackle at least some of them. The conditions any other time can be pretty scary and make for a daunting task to say the least. Mount Washington has more of a mental head game attached to it for me, being the highest peak with all the well documented fierce weather it encounters year round. Plus with the summit having a busy merging of hikers, auto-road travelers, cog railway passengers, shops, museums, observatories and other structures, I thought my first Presi should be something more wild from base to summit. So I decide to tackle the 2nd highest of the NH48: Mount Adams, although I suspect elevation is probably the ONLY category this peak takes home the 2nd place trophy for.
This would prove to be a very humbling adventure, though I was very much in awe of the task ahead of me to begin with… but Adams would confirm every apprehension I had toward it and added many more. Still, I feel the time is right for me to go forward with this, since I am probably at the top of my game physically and I’m confident that I can muster up enough mental toughness to overcome my trepidation. “There’s a time and the time is now and it’s right for me. It’s right for me and the time is now.” ~ Yes
My plan is actually to bag another peak while I am up there. Mt. Madison seems very doable to combine into the loop as long as I get an early start on this EPIC (a word I will likely use often in this post) full day journey. I chose to do this as a single day hike because I want to travel light and give myself every advantage I can. That’s not to say I have sacrificed any of the 10 essentials I usually carry in my daypack, I just don’t want the added weight of the overnight pack. Also, I must be conscious of time and distance on this trek and give myself a bailout route and a rigid turn back point. I have the feeling if there is a peak that will force me to turn back even on this perfect bluebird day, it will be Adams especially given my planned course. Go big or go home!
I have contemplated several different routes and the possibilities are endless! I ended up settling in on a loop that is sure to make this a memorable day. This loop will start me on the popular Airline trail, then branch off to Shortline trail (what’s short about it?). This will take me into the impressive King Ravine, where I can take in some scenic waterfalls, including Mossy Falls, before I begin the steep rocky climb up King Ravine trail. Another short side option is the Subway which takes you through a series of underground Ice Caves before rejoining with KR Tr. Once I connect at the ridge with Gulfside Tr, I can continue to Adams via Airline Tr, then either backtrack the same way or take Star Lake Tr to Star Lake & Madison Spring Hut. From there it is just a ½ mile up the rocky cone of Madison via Gulfside. There are a few options for decent depending on timing and how I feel. Watson Path if I want to hang around above tree line for a bit longer or down Valley Way all the way to Appalachia…
Well that was the plan anyway, but we all know what happens to them in the whites! It is quite pointless to think you are going to stick to the plan no matter what. If a pitcher only threw fastballs everyone would be batting 500, but the curveball is always a pitch away. The first off speed pitch was minor. After a 5:30 wakeup, an EPIC breakfast, and an EPIC stretch to go with this EPIC hike (notice a theme here?), I get in my dented up RAV4 that’s pushing 250K now and it is apparently not as geared up to move as I am this morning – battery dead. So of course I shrug this inside delivery off and get back in the batter’s box refusing to dust myself off. This will not be a sign of things to come for this day! 
I walk around to neighboring campers to get a jump. After a few strikeouts (ok enough already with the baseball analogies!) I finally find someone willing to oblige, and in no time at all I am on my way to the Appalachia trail head. I am of course greeted with a full lot but there are plenty of roadside spaces available. A few gear adjustments, chug down a Gatorade, and a quick 2nd stretch, and I am off to begin Journey a la Epiche at 8:30 am (a bit later then I wanted but so be it).
The first 1.5 miles or so is pretty standard White Mountains hiking with typical White Mountains beauty. By now you’ve heard me go on and on about this, so I’ll spare you the descriptions because more (you guessed it) EPIC portrayals await! After Shortline and Randolph Path merge and then diverge again, I am traveling along Cold Brook which has some pretty impressive photo ops reminiscent of the Falling Waters hike that started this madness. So I just have to stop and take it in for a while. 
Contrary to what many may observe when accompanying me on the trail, I actually consider myself a slow hiker. My style is not to plow through at a rapid pace and miss out on my surroundings. I like to experience everything that I am in contact with and take it all in. Please understand I am not knocking the speed hikers at all. I have the greatest respect for those who are able to keep up that pace and if that is what inspires them to climb it is no less valid. We must all hike our own hike. Truthfully I do like to pick up the pace but also like to stop when the scenes are inspirational. I guess it is all relative as companions have found it hard to keep up with me at times, and I must slow it down a notch on the rare occasion I have a hiking buddy. Anyway, I digress! Let us move along the trail now (I guess my writing style matches my hiking style)… So after a pattern of hike a bit/ stop a bit, with alternating moving scenery and still beauty that I have described many times over, The Mossy Falls make their appearance becoming the pinnacle of the many water cascades and the turning point in the hike. Things are about to get interesting! I think this is good spot for an extended rest and a snack.
(Click here for video: Mossy Falls 1)
(Click here for video: Mossy Falls 2)
(
Shortly after my stop at the falls I enter King Ravine Trail where the hike makes a dramatic transformation into a steeper rockier climb. After a while a north facing outlook provides my first views out of the mammoth King Ravine with the ridge that forms the Airline Trail to my right, another ridge that forms Spur Trail to my left and behind me to the South, the most impressive nearly vertical rock face I could imagine and have ever seen!!! (<– lots of these exclamation points today!!!) 
Mount Adams towering ahead of me, along with Sam Adams, Abigail Adams, and John Quincy Adams all standing shoulder to shoulder to shoulder as if dressed in full armor and saying “NONE SHALL PASS!”, forming a seemingly impenetrable wall between them with the kind of rugged beauty you see in Hollywood flicks of faraway lands or have only read about. 
Falling from this wall are waterfalls that stretch for miles and seem to have no end! I stand there DUMBFOUNDED for what seems like an hour (but was in fact a few minutes), flabbergasted at what stands before me. This cannot be real!!! Well if this is a fantasy land I will draw my sword and climb the castle wall to sleigh the dragon!
(Click here for video: Climbing up King Ravine)
So I begin to make the climb up this wall rock by rock, boulder by boulder, cliff by cliff. What else is there to do? Turn back?? I think not!! Just take it slow and methodical, ONE… STEP… AT… A… TIME! Right hand (One Mississippi, Two Mississippi)… Left Foot (Three Mississippi, Four Mississippi)… Left Hand (Five Mississippi, Six Mississippi) Right Foot (Seven Mississippi, Eight Mississippi)… STOP, LOOK, Plan your path, continue on, Repeat… THIS… MAKES… FOR… VERY… SLOW… GOING… Thoughts enter my head of a recent documentary I saw on Discovery about the rock climbers that scaled the vertical faces of Yosemite National Park, and how they contort their limbs to the rocks and do a sort of ballet with nature. 
Also, a funny little song enters my head from a childhood Christmas special (Santa Clause is Coming to Town) where the Winter Warlock transforms from Evil to Good and they sing “Put- one—step—in –front—of –the-other and- soon—you’ll –be-walking-out—the-doo—oo—oor…(etc)” And at some point I realize my trekking poles are better suited fully collapsed and hanging off my wrists in case I need them, but more often than not, my hands are better tools for grasping the notches in the rocks and pulling me upward. The poles are swinging to and fro, slamming against the rock face and taking quite a beating, but sometimes they serve a purpose where my push off point is not “grabable” and is better suited and at the right height to push off with my poles.
About a ½ mile into this slower scaling of the wall, signs for The Subway to the Ice Caves appear. I take a look down the first chasm, and decide that I don’t need any more challenges today. So I chicken out for this time around, although in hind sight the detour ended up meeting back u with the main trail after a short distance and I probably could have managed. Oh well next time. I was on a role scaling the wall STEP… BY… STEP… and I wasn’t about to interrupt that rhythm for a distraction. One thing I did notice after a while: Although my pace was considerably slower, the tops of these massive formations were becoming larger and closer, quicker than you might expect, given the rate of movement. Every so often I would stop and look back Northward at the view that was growing increasingly more and more gorgeous, and then forward and upward from side to side where the endless cascades spewed out from the wall and the ominous faces of the Adams family grew larger and larger, hovering over me, daring me to continue. 
As I climbed higher and higher, cool winds were picking up stronger and stronger, as if to push me up the mountain. I can’t begin to imagine this force during the winter months. Occasionally I think there may be a time where I become brave enough to attempt completing the Winter 48, but after this I am not so sure that day will come (but who knows what the future may bring?)… For now it is a warm summer day and the wind is refreshing at first, but I have some extra layers packed if needed, (and they would be).
As I near the top of the wall I pause to add some of these layers and then FINALLY reach the top of the ridge just below JQ Adams, and get my first views to Madison and Star Lake, the Hut and the Great Gulf Wilderness. I haven’t reached the summit yet but I feel like the toughest part is behind me. I breathe a huge sigh, pause for some photo ops (that never do the scene justice), then continue rock hopping up to the summit of Adams.
(Click here for video: Top of the Ravine)
My legs and hands and back and lungs and head shoulders knees and toes and toenails and eyelashes are all aching at this point, but I have come this far and I make the final pushes until… at last… I reach… THE SUMMIT OF MOUNT ADAMS!!!!!!
My first Presidential is in the books! I am 5,799 ft above sea level and on top of the world!All around are 360 degree views of the Presidential range and beyond along with the famous Mt Washington which no longer seems out of reach. In fact I now think it will seem like a cakewalk compared to what I have just put myself through. A breakthrough- My anxieties toward the Rockpile no longer exist!
Shilajit capsules is branded as cheapest viagra tablets to erectile dysfunction. This buying viagra canada product works by strengthening the veins, thus reducing the leakage of fluid from blood vessel walls. The researchers divided cialis purchase the study into two parts. The usefulness of a hand tool shows that they are cheapest brand viagra browse around now not going away anytime soon. (Click here for video: Adams Summit)
(Click here for video: More summit)
However this long slow trek has put me far behind schedule and I am not sure I will be able to make it over to Madison at this point and still make it down before dark. Night hiking is not the end of the world, but I prefer to have daylight, especially if I am unfamiliar with the trail. Still there is NO WAY I am going down the way I came up, so I at least have to start down toward the hut and get a more moderate trail to descend, even if I have to save Madison for another day. As I make my way down there is still a part of me that is holding on to the hopes of a 2 peak day… Or maybe there is a bunk open at the Hut? (Fat chance on this holiday weekend!). 
Still I am racing downward unsure exactly of what my next turn will be. By the time I get to the hut, it is 4:30 and the top of the Madison cone seems within arm’s reach. Should I run up and down with a ½ minute of summit views? Just so I can say I tried, I ask the caretakers if there are any bunks and of course there are none. So now, it’s crunch time. What’s it gonna be? Adams was an awesome undertaking with rewards like no other, but it totally kicked my ass! Downhill can be knee jarring especially when fatigued from a long day’s journey. So I reluctantly give succumb to the reality that Madison will have to wait. So close and yet so far!
As I begin my descent down Valley way at first I am upset and overcome with disappointment in myself and pissed off at the Adams family. Now I will have to climb all the way up here again???? …But wait… Now I GET TO climb all the way up here again! Slowly I come to grips with my disappointment, and look at things in a new light. 
I just pushed myself to accomplish an amazing task that went beyond my previous limits and now I can take another route perhaps from the east or southeast to Madison’s summit, which will take me through unseen areas of the whites. It is only Friday and I still have Saturday and Sunday on this trip, so there is plenty of time to get some redemption. I am pretty sure I will be resting tomorrow, but I will now set my sights on Sunday for a Madison return after an early morning checkout. 
I soak my feet in the cool stream a ways down and continue to the base grateful for this experience.
As I approach the base of the mountain and the Appalachia trail head, I pass a sign that warns “Try this trail only if you are in top physical condition…”
That is the understatement of the day for sure…
Part 2 Madison- “Madison” as in Mad is the Son of God at me for coming back so soon after the message was made clear that I was an unwelcome guest up here. Or at least that’s the way it seemed as I struggled to stay upright and make my way across the rocky windy viewless summit… But it all started out just fine on another mostly sunny summer day….MOSTLY sunny.
This is more like it! Normal hiking up moderate mountain trails and (other than the summit) no rock climbing! Fresh off the toughest climb of my life just 2 days ago, I am back to finish what I started. Adams deprived me of a 2 peak day, putting me within arm’s reach of Madison’s summit – so close and yet so far. Today I woke with the birds, packed up camp and got an early start at some redemption. I chose Pine Link Trail to lead me up the east side of the mountain, and in the early goings, things are much better with conditions more like what I am used to. This trail must be one of the lesser used as well because I have the place to myself. Either that or everyone has hit the road early on this post-holiday Sunday. In any case, I am glad to be settling the score immediately following a disappointing finish to Friday’s hike.
The sun has returned after yesterday’s overcast and there are higher winds (I would soon learn just how high) in the forecast. There are plenty of photo ops as usual and I am reminded that I need to invest in a better camera soon, as I have to delete pics from my phone to make room for new ones. 
About a mile into the trek the trail merges with trickling streams and I find myself hiking in the water for a good stretch, luckily with good waterproof boots. Today I plan to first and foremost summit Madison of course, then if possible hike down the west side to Madison Springs Hut and take a walk to the nearby Star Lake, since I rushed by this section the other day. Then I’ll follow Pine Link along the north side of the summit area boulders to rejoin the trail to the point where I can retrace my steps back to where my ride home awaits.
Throughout the course of the day, a few outlooks offer some decent views to surrounding mountain ranges, like the Carters and the Northern Presi ranges. At the last of these I get a great 180°+ view including a look up to the summit that eluded me when I last stepped on this ground just days before. 
Maddie looks different from this approach (I nickname her only now that I am scribbling across the page the words that portray the beauty, unpredictability, and wrath of a woman). The winds are picking up a bit now and clouds are blowing across the peak that no longer appears cone shaped. Some of the more distant clouds, quickly making their way on to the scene are appearing dark and ominous. Hmmm could be sumth’n-a- brew’n up there. It doesn’t look too menacing though –still more white than grey and a good amount of blue in the mix, but it all seems to be moving in quickly from the direction of my fresh footprints and claw prints I left along the wall of King Ravine. There is no foul weather in the forecast, so ONWARD AND UPWARD.
As I continue to push on, I witness the lands transformation around me: The trees dwarfing, the lush green plants morphing to dry sparse scrub, the wet ground mud giving way to boulders, the wind picking up, and then sure enough the sign: “Welcome to the Alpine Zone…”, where Maddie had her own little wakeup call in store for me.
Those clouds are causing some concern in the back of my mind as I drive forward with the summit within reach. I know I will be completely exposed up there, and if things turn on me I have 2 options: turn back for a second time to the protection of the forest, or hustle up and over the summit to the Hut to wait out any possible storm. No eminent threat is in view other that high winds and some off color clouds, so I am opting for the second option for now and cautiously continue onward. A sign for Watson Path soon appears. This being the most direct route, I follow it.
The trail is no longer littered with blue blazes and now only an occasional Cairn marks the way every 30 feet or so, and strangely out of place on these gray rock piles are a white topping of quartz. Then further ahead an outcropping of these white stones splashed among the sea of gray that make up the majority of the area. The wind is now getting much stronger, to the point where it is extremely difficult to stay upright. 
Each step I take is now more deliberate, as I hunch over and widen my stance, digging in hard with my poles in an effort to make myself a more stable object. The gusts are the strongest I have in memory and I am now in fear for my safety. I am the only one up here that I can see, although I can’t see 20 feet in front of me so there may be others for all I know. But this feeling of being alone and exposed and uncertain if a storm is on the way gives me a strange uneasiness. 
Well at this point it is no easier to turn back than it is to push forward, so I struggle through the intense wind trying not to get blown off the mountain, my face contorting, my knuckles whitening, my limbs shaking, my ears popping, my heart racing, my rain jacket windbreaker flapping violently in this tempest.
When I find a spot where I think I have a decent balance, I make a mad dash for my phone to try to get some of this unbelievable force of nature on video. This proves to be a precarious task indeed, as it feels as though these fierce winds will rip the device from my two handed death grip, or worse, rip me off of the mountain, and I am only able to get a few very shaky seconds of footage.
(Click here for video: Maddie’s wrath)
As I merge with Osgood Trail and finally reach Madison’s summit, I can faintly make out another group in the distance ahead, making their way down toward the hut. This is somewhat reassuring and puts my mind a bit more at ease. I take a quick summit photo and take the same route toward the hut to get out of this wind. No lingering around and taking in any views today. More of a tag-it and bag-it kind of day for me! I feel good that I made it anyway and that I’m heading toward shelter from this exposure.
As I make my way to the saddle area between Madison and Adams, I see a few more groups heading up opposite my direction. This makes me relax even more and makes me think that some of my anxious moments were never any real cause for concern, and now I am assured that I am NOT the only one crazy enough to be up here. The wind has calmed considerably and I can now return to hiking normally as the color returns to my knuckles.
I have been starving for some time now, but stopping at the summit was not an option. So after a quick pit stop at the hut I head back out and take the side trail to Star Lake for a well-deserved lunch break. I can now settle on a rock, take it down a few notches and enjoy some of my surroundings, taking some shots across the lake toward Maddie’s cone, and behind me up toward the Adam’s family, and to the south across the great gulf more views of Washington and the auto road.
After I have had my fill of above treeline scenes, I make my way back to Pine Link which skims the north base of the cone at a more sheltered elevation. As I slowly head across the bolder field I realize that although I was never in any real danger , I now have a deeper respect and appreciation for mother nature and her brute force in the alpine zone. 
This was a wakeup call and a reminder of how quickly things can turn around up here. I was already aware of the dangers and unpredictable weather patterns in the area but there is something to be said for experiencing some of it first hand, even though I know this was really just a small taste. It’s no joke! The mountains demand respect, but somehow someway I LOVE IT EVEN MORE!
I slowly retrace my steps down the mountain and see the scenes unfold in reverse order on my out and back route. Carefully lowering myself down the stream soaked trail, knee jarring foot burning step after step until at last – HOME SWEET CAR!! – complete with a change of clothes, a cooler of food and drink and a nice soft car seat where I get to spend the next 3 ½ hours on the long drive home. I am so thoroughly exhausted from my two day experience, and no, I wouldn’t have it any other way! Until next time, good night mountains – I will see you again very soon.
