Another Adventure in the White's

"It is the hopeful, buoyant, cheerful attitude of mind that wins. Optimism is a success builder; pessimism an achievement killer." -- Orison Swett Marden

Similar to my post last August, I once again was a bit too optimistic that I would be able to complete a Hut traverse.  This time, I was planning a two day trip, but with the weather and trail conditions, even that was a bit too much.  

The Original Plan

The original plan was to drive up on Friday afternoon, drop a car at the Basin, a second at the Highland Center and then catch a ride to and stay at Pinkham Notch.  

Day 1 involved going over the Wildcats and down to Carter Notch and back out to 16 (via 19 Mile Brook Trail).  After a short road section, turn onto Great Gulf Trail, then Osgood trail to Gulfside Trail up to of Madison.   

From there, stay on Gulfside trail / presidential ridge until just before Washington and take Westside trail over to Lake in the Clouds.  Then take Crawford Path almost all the way to the Highland center with a brief detour on Webster Cliff and back via Mitzpah Cutoff (to tag the Mizpah hut).  

Joe Dodge Lodge

Day 2 would take us up Zealand Falls, Guyot, South Twin, Garfield, Layfette before descending down Old Bridle Path and working our way over to Lonesome Lake.  We would finish with a 2.5 mile descent down to the Basin. 

The route was roughly 51 miles with 21k' of climbing.  We picked this route to avoid having to do out and backs on the trail.  

We made it up Pinkham Notch around 6:30 PM, just in time for dinner.  Post dinner we took a short walk up to Square Ledge before an early bedtime. 

Day 1 - The First Four Huts

Wildcat D

With the report of some snow on the trails and the first day having 28+ miles with 11k'+ of climbing, Doug and Mat decided they would take a shorter route and go directly up Mnt Washington.  After a big breakfast, Donal and I began our assault on the Wildcats. 

Mile 2 had a whopping 1465' of climbing.  We were first greeted with snow at 3200', but made it up to Wildcat D without much trouble.  Descending and climbing the rest of the Wildcats required micro-spikes, but we were still moving at a reasonable clip.  

We arrived at Carter Notch (Hut #1) around 10:40AM (~30 min behind our goal time), signed the trail book, and started blitzing down 19 Mile Brook.  At this point, we were already 5.5 miles in with 3500' climbing in and the real hut traverse was just beginning.  

Signing the book to make it official

By the time we made it to the Osgood Trail, we were just over 10 miles in and holding an average

Mount Madison

moving pace of just under 20 min / mile.  We new the Osgood climb was going to be the most difficult all day with roughly 5.5 miles / 4000' climbing.  After a long slog, including 32 and 40 min miles each with over 1200', we finally made it to Madison and quickly descended down to the hut (Hut #2, 15 miles, 5 hours 50 min elapsed).  Thankfully, we saw next to no snow on this portion of the route. 

It is a big debate on whether you should take the Osgood Trail over Madison or take the Madison Gulf trail straight to the hut (which is shorter and a bit less climbing).  Last August I took Madison Gulf and it was super difficult to follow in the dark.  Now that I have done both, in nearly identical times, I can say, "There is no easy way up."

Surprised, we found the Madison Springs Hut still boarded up from the winter.  I guess I didn't do my homework very well.  Luckily, there was water overflow from their intake that we were able to refill out packs from.  

Next up was Northern Presidential Ridge.  I've said it before, and it still bears repeating, "There is no easy way through the northern Presidential's." The following 4.7 miles went well.  The weather was holding (~50 degrees and bit windy) and our pace bounced around in the upper 20 min / mile range. 

Snow fields at 5800'

For the most part, there wasn't much snow, but occasionally, we had to cross something really slick.

Around the time we turned off Gulfside Trail, the sky opened up.  The original forecast said 2pm, lucky for us we made it to 4pm without getting rained on.  With the rain, came the wind.  

They say Mount Washington has the worst weather in the world and with that it can change quicker than anywhere else.  Donal put it so aptly, "The White's are angry."

With the Lake in the Clouds hut (Hut #3) also boarded up, we did the only thing we could, just push on.  Over the next 6 miles we pushed has hard as we could while trying to stay on our feet with a singular goal of getting to the tree line.  I've read enough books about adventures in the mountains to know that if you let your core body temperature drop, that is when it all starts to go sideways.  While I was chilly at this point and a bit miserable, I still had a lot of energy.  

Key Lime Pie

2.5 hours later, we arrived at the Mitzpah Hut (Hut #4) and were thrilled it was open. As we walked in, the caretaker looked at us and said "What do you need?" in which I responded with "Please tell me you have hot chocolate." As I drank two mugs, I could feel myself re-warming from the inside. At this point, it was already 7pm and if we were going to get out of the mountains before dark, we better get going.  

About 50 minutes and 2.5 miles later, we popped out of the woods and ran straight into the Highand Center.  Never so glad to be done with a days work. Mat and Doug were happy to see us and even got our dinner to go as we had missed mealtime.  

Day 1 Complete.  Nearly 13 hours moving time, 28.95 miles, 11,729' climbing (my second most climbing ever in a day).   

Day 2 - The Audible

Hut #5 of the Trip

After how Saturday unfolded, it was pretty clear that we were not going to be able to complete the second half of the traverse.  With multiple ridges expected to be covered in snow and ice, we were estimating it was going to take at a minimum 12 to 13 more hours. 

Over breakfast we discussed various options including the North Twin, Zealand, Hale loop, but ultimately decided on the Franconia Ridge Loop and then finishing with Lonesome Lake to the Basin. 

On the drive over, I noticed that I could go tag Kinsman and South Kinsman for nearly the exact mileage of Franconia loop, so when Doug, Mat, and Donal headed up Lincoln, I headed over to the Kinsmans. 

South Kinsman

One of my goals for this year is to finish the NH 48 4000' peaks.  I had been stuck at 39 since last August.  

First stop, 1.6 miles and 1000' of climbing in was the Lonesome Lake Hut.  This was the final of 8 huts we were supposed to visit on the traverse and the only hut I had never visited before.  It was bitter sweet to finally get there and being a beautiful sunny day didn't hurt either. 

After a few minutes break, I headed up to North Kinsman (#40) and reached the summit about an hour later.  For the most part the trails were in decent shape, but there were a few with super slick ice slabs right down the middle.  

Relaxing at Lonesome Lake

A little less than a mile later, I reached the South Peak (#41) and took a few minutes to take it all in before beginning my descent to back to Lonesome Lake.   I was already another 5 miles with 3000' of climbing into the day. 

The Basin

An hour and 10 minutes later, I was back at the lake and laid down on the dock as I waited for my friends and took a long break before they arrived.  I signed the trail book again, this time with "5/21 - Scot, aborted hut traverse.  5 huts / 2 days."

We finished the day with an easy run down to the Basin.  It was beautiful way to finish off a pretty epic weekend.  

On the way home we stopped for a bite to eat and a beer at One Love Brewery in Lincoln, which has become a staple of our mountain trips.  

One Love Brewery

Next Time

I think I am done with the huts for the year, but some day I'll go back and get it done all in one go.  When I planned this trip, I really didn't realize that mid May is still pretty early for the White's.  I also keep breaking my own rule about specificity of training leading into an event as this was my first trip to the mountains this calendar year. 

So next time when I try this, I plan on the following.

1. Get up to the mountains for a least 3 good days prior to attempting the traverse.
2. Do it in June when you have the most day light. 
   
3. Stay overnight in Carter Notch and start super early.  Simple getting to Carter Notch on the first two attempts has been a good workout.
4. Stay at Lafayette place at the end. I'm going to need at least 18 hours to do this and will be in no shape to drive home.

It is good to know that some things in life take more than one attempt. 

"Defeat happens only to those who refuse to try again." -- Nick Vujicic

Scot