Madison, Adams & Jefferson as a Day Hike

I climbed Washington yesterday (first time up there), and when the clouds finally cleared I got some views of this very fine set of mountains over the Gulf. Wow.

So I was left wondering what a day hike including all three would be like. And what about route suggestions?

Thanks in advance for your collective wisdom!

congrats on washington, that's a fun climb. I did madison and adams a week ago from dolly copp campground. It was quite a climb, 4800 vertical and around 12 or 13 miles probably. You can check out my report in the trips section. You could take the route i took up daniel webster, onto osgood, and then follow the at over to jefferson, and then take the six husbands trail over to the great gulf trail. That would be a real long day though. If you park up in jefferson notch, you can take the caps ridge trail, which is much much easier, only 2700 vertical i believe. Then you could hop over to adams and madison, and double back, or have someone spot a car or ride in appalachia and take the airline trail down or the valley way trail. that would be the easiest hike of the three.

Here is one where you can start and end at the same place - Dolly Copp Campground.

Daniel Webster Trail to Madison
Star Lake Trail to Adams
Gulfside/AT to Jefferson
Six Husbands to Great Gulf Trail back to the starting point.

Real rough guess is about 13 miles.

I did this last year, early in my hiking career. It was difficult then, probably not too bad now. A great hike on a nice day.
Jefferson Madison Adams trip report at Alpinezone

I did this last July. I went Caps Ridge over Jefferson, Gulfside to thunderstorm junction, up over Adams, down to the hut, then up Madison, then back to the hut, back over Gulfside to Edmands Col. From there I decided not to go back over Jefferson as I was sick of going up. I went around the Cornice instead. Very poor decision. I can't quote you the elevation, but the total round trip was about 12 miles.

Three possible routes spring to mind:

• Start at Appalachia. Go up Valley Way to Madison Hut, run up Madison, hit Adams, over to Jefferson, then back to Appalachia via Randolph Path, Shortline, and Airline
• Start at Caps Ridge. Go up Jefferson, and across to Adams and Madison. If you have a second car leave it at Appalachia. You can do this in reverse and save you knees at the end of the day.
• Start at Great Gulf trailhead. Up the Great Gulf to Six Husbands, then up Jefferson, over Adams and Madison. Take either Madison Gulf or Osgood Ridge back to Great Gulf trail and back to your car.

All three are big dayhikes, I've done the second one and most of the third, and my legs were shot at the end of the day. There's water at the spring in Edmands Col and the hut, that should allow you to stay hydrated during the day.

-dave-

If I had to do em all in a day I'd go up Great Gulf from GG trailhead (not Copp) as Dave said, cont. up Six Husbands over Jeff, Gulfside to Adams, retreat to Gulfside same way, over to Hut (dump everything there), then go up Madison and back down to the hut, then down Buttress and out GG trail. Just my $0.02. Lotsa miles but much better terrain...

Better yet, I'd hike in on a Fri eve and camp at junction of Buttress and Six Husbands, then start and finish at camp. Started to do that last month but was called out of the woods on a minor family emergency. Matter of fact I may try to do that again later this month. Lemme know if yer interested...

The problem with doing it all in one day from the road is yer at the complete mercy of the weather as you have no time to spare...

If I could give any advice on this trip.. I would certainly agree with all of the above suggestions. but I would have to add.. STAY AWAY FROM THE CORNICE

I would vote for Dave's first choice. My sister and I did that route a few weeks ago, except we did not go up Madison because of the weather. Its a long day but doable and you don't need to worry about spotting a second car.

-MEB

Another option would be to camp at the Bluff or Clam Rock in the Great Gulf. From there, take a daypack and follow the AT over Madison, Adams, Jefferson, Clay and Washington. Return to your tent via the Glen Boulder, Wamsutta and Great Gulf trails. It would be possible to return to your tent at different points along the trail if the weather turns bad or you run out of energy.

Great Loop

whitelief, I did this a few years ago as part of a 3 day adventure that included Washington.

As a day trip I would imagine it's do-able but I think it would be tough.

Great Gulf Trail - Six Husbands - Gulfside - Osgood looks like the best for a day trip, we stayed at the Wilderness Camp near the intersection of the Great Gulf and Six Husbands trail so our loop was shorter and slightly different. You can't beat the views of the Gulf that you get all day.

It was my first and only time in the Whites (so far). I hope to get back there someday after I finish my Adirondack quests. So I submit that my advice is inferior to most on this site when it comes to the Whites.

Enjoy

I love hiking those three Presidentials. If you don't mind an overnight you could try for a stay at Crag camp or Gray knob. You won't need much for extras - a lightweight sleeping bag and food for dinner. Last I knew the cooking facilites were still open to guests. Doing this opens up tons of route possibilities from one parking area.

Good luck and may the weather be with you.

Smitty

David Metsky said:

Three possible routes spring to mind:


#1) Start at Appalachia. Go up Valley Way to Madison Hut, run up Madison, hit Adams, over to Jefferson, then back to Appalachia via Randolph Path, Shortline, and Airline


-dave-

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I have done nearly all of the already mentioned routes multiple times, but this one Dave mentions is the "easiest".
Once your on the Gulfside its a cruise to connect the three peaks.
Leave a pack at Mad Hut for Mt Madison, then again at Thunderstorm Junction for Adams,
And maybe at Edmonds col for Jefferson.
There eare SO many trials on the north side of range, if you want the fastest, least impact route, go Dave's #1 way.

However, these peaks are really better done over several trips so you can take advantage of really cool tougher climbs, like Six Husbands, Madison Gulf, King Ravine, Airline and Starr Lake Trail (one of my favorites)

Jeff

David Metsky said:

[*]Start at Great Gulf trailhead. Up the Great Gulf to Six Husbands, then up Jefferson, over Adams and Madison. Take either Madison Gulf or Osgood Ridge back to Great Gulf trail and back to your car.
-dave-

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Gris said:

If I had to do em all in a day I'd go up Great Gulf from GG trailhead (not Copp) as Dave said, cont. up Six Husbands over Jeff, Gulfside to Adams, retreat to Gulfside same way, over to Hut (dump everything there), then go up Madison and back down to the hut, then down Buttress and out GG trail. Just my $0.02. Lotsa miles but much better terrain..

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Gris, what is the benefit of taking the Buttress down instead of MG or Osgood? I'm assuming the Buttress is easier?

I'm planning to try one of these routes this weekend (Saturday).

I third the Great Gulf>Six Husbands>Jefferson and beyond, but keep in mind that it will be a somewhat long and tough day.

The tip of hiking into and camping at the Bluff in the late afternoon/early evening is a good one, but I'd suggest going as light as possible: tarp instead of tent, etc.

Another slight variation of the above route is up Madison Gulf and down the Sphinx Trail. Madison Gulf is a beautiful, lesser traveled trail. Still, Six Husbands is the tops.

Gris, what is the benefit of taking the Buttress down instead of MG or Osgood? I'm assuming the Buttress is easier?

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Madison Gulf is a tough, steep scramble - not a trail you want to descend unless you are a super hiker! Osgood (the AT) is moderately steep and rocky but is probably the way to go if you're a strong hiker trying to get back to the GG trailhead and don't mind some rock hopping. (It's clearly the most direct route from Madison to the trailhead.) The Buttress is a shorter but not really steeper, more sheltered, descent that puts you down in the watershed onto the flat GG trail quicker, from where it is a 3.0 hr. easy walk out. This would be my choice only because I have somewhat bad knees and would rather hike a few extra miles on the flat than deal with a lot of rock hopping descent at the end of a long day. I also understand the argument in favor of doing it from the northside, but I'm all about minimizing the elevation gain/loss and/or doing as much as possible at the beginning of a long hike. But, hey, what do I know? I'm just a lowly mountain-sniffing flatlander!

Gris said:

Madison Gulf is a tough, steep scramble - not a trail you want to descend unless you are a super hiker!

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I've gone down MG after one of these three peaks days and it wasn't that bad. Perhaps my brain was so shot that my memory failed me, but I actually found it easier on the body than going down Osgood Ridge. I've never gone down Butress.

-dave-

I'm just going on what Sherp said after he hiked it 2 weeks ago (i had to bail out the night before). he did post some picks that made it look like it was very steep!