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View Full Version : A few notes from a long day hike along the presidential Ridge in NH



peakbagger
06-22-2014, 21:42
A local tradition is to hike the presidential ridge line from Mt Pierce to Mt Madison on or around the longest daylight time of the year bagging all the summits along the way in one day. My day hike included hiking a few hours up from the base of the mountain and then back down again at the end of the day which adds about 4 hours to the day that a thru hiker would not do. The AT actually bypasses several of the summits (Monroe, Jefferson, Adams, Eisenhower). Some years I have done all the summits but generally when solo I settle for a Presi lite, which entails hiking the AT route skipping the section that goes over the summit of Mt Washington, in favor of taking the West Side trail around the summit.

The summit of Washington is a zoo in summer and fall and it tends to be a bit of black hole that few thru hikers escape in much less than a hour. At times, getting a picture at the summit sign can be a 45 minute wait and with autoroad and the cog pumping folks up to the top continuously on good day, expect all manner of folks. The West Side trail is a real nice way of skipping the zoo but I expect most will stick to the AT despite the zoo up top.

It took me 11 hours for my hike, subtract 4 hours total for the hike up to the ridge and down and the reality is that a thru hiker can probably do the entire above treeline section is 6 to 7 hours (5 hours plus 45 minutes to head up the to the summit and back plus 1 hour dealing with the madness up top. Folks that are willing to blue blaze can easily pick up the 4 skipped summits as they all have trails they diverge from the AT and converge again later. Those white blaze purists should budget in an extra 2 hours for up and backs from the same point on the trail. Add in bad weather and it could take a couple of days.

There are water sources along the ridge, they aren't plentiful but with a bit of planning, no need to camel up. The most important spring is Greenough Spring, near Mt Clay. Many hikers miss this spring as the elect to go over Mt Clay (a blue blaze) and miss it as its about 1/8 of a mile south of the north intersection of the blue blaze. The is the last reliable flowing source until Madison hut, although there are usually wet areas south of Adams that would require filtering.

One minor note for planning is that during my recent visits to Lake of the Clouds huts, they did not have AYCE soup for lunch which is normally available at other huts. They do have home baked snacks, although they tend to be a pricier than the other huts and do run out on busy weekends.

As for stealth sites, the "go west 1 mile down and 1000 foot elevation loss" rule of thumb is still valid, practically this means Edmunds Path and Jewell Trail or the various trails that lead to the RMC huts. Ammonusuc Ravine rail, is posted no camping way down to the base of the mountain and Caps Ridge trail is also a significant drop down. In an emergency there is some shelter near the Sphinx trail basically up against the side of rocks but given its the top of the ridge with significant exposure, its definitely not something to depend on unless you know the weather will be perfect overnight (a dangerous assumption but you can check the forecast at the AMC huts along the way). There are traces of some folks attempting to camp in the scrub immediately south of Eisenhower, but unless someone has to get out of the weather, at best it would be a very uncomfortable night in dense growth. There is usually water in this scrub patch. There are flat rocks in the area, but these definitely would be above treeline and exposed to all weather. There are some limited un official tent sites far closer to Mt Pierce about 1/4 mile north of where the Crawford Path comes in. The trees are arguably tall enough not to be above treeline but all of them are immediately off the trail to the east. There is no water and given the popularity of the hiking trail, watch your step as your idea camping spot may be someone' ideal place to take a dump.

The options around Madison Hut for camping are bad. Valley way tentsites are generally full and you would have to hike a long way down Valley Way to find a spot to pitch a test. Heading north on the AT requires long hike down into the Great Gulf before the woods open up. Seriously stopping short of Madison hut and consider visiting the RMC camps. If there on a Sunday to Thursday, its worth the walk down to Crag Camp, its location without a doubt is one of the most spectacular along the AT sitting right on the edge of Kings Ravine. Gray Knob is a great place on bad night but no views as is situated to be out of the weather.

The entire section of the ridge is rocks, some have been laid flat but much if it stepping from sharp rock to sharp rock. Nothing you haven't seen before but hard to watch where you are stepping while looking at all the views.