NorthShore
Member
More pics at:
http://www.herdpath.com/tripreports/20110713Madison-Troop565.html
This was part of a boy scout trip and we hiked Mount Madison as a day hike from Appalachia after aborting a hut to hut trek on the Summit of Mt Washington the day before.
On Tuesday, after groping our way up the summit cone in rain and fog from the Lakes hut and arriving at the summit a bit behind schedule in zero visibility with winds already gusting to 50 mph and a forecast for severe thunderstorms, we decided that hiking the northern Presis to Madison Spring was best left for another trip. An expensive, but comfortable stage ride to Pinkham followed, along with a longish drive around to the Highland Center where we were able to switch our reservation from the Madison Springs hut.
The day hike to Mount Madison the next day was the consolation prize, and well worth it. Airline is a beautiful trail; well-maintained below and with great views on the exposed sections of the Durand Ridge. Someone had recently re-painted blue blazes with astonishing frequency for a White Mountains trail, although we noticed looking over our shoulders that there didn’t seem to be many in the down direction. For much of the day the skies were clear to partly cloudy and the summits were mostly in the clear, but as we neared the crossover to the hut we could see the rain shafts beneath the clouds gathering to our west. Our stop for lunch at the hut was well timed, missing a heavy shower and catching the Lentil soup that croo member Courtney had prepared.
After lunch some of the group dropped packs at the hut and some of us didn’t but we scrambled up to the summit. The weather had cleared nicely and the summits were cloud free, including Mt Washington. As we reached the summit the clouds and fog moved back in, although the cloud base wasn’t far below us and we could still see downhill into the gulf. Raingear was donned and we hiked back to the hut. It didn’t rain and we removed the raingear at the hut and cooled off before starting down Valley Way.
This was my second time hiking down Valley Way to Appalachia. For the most part this trail has very good footing (last time my son and I ran much of the way) but for some reason it seems to take forever no matter how fast my perceived rate of travel. I don’t think we did any better than about a mile an hour down to the junction with Watson Path even though it felt like we were flying. After a while, we weren’t moving as fast because rain began in earnest and continued for a couple of hours. At one point the rain shower became a hailstorm for about 10 minutes, which was actually pretty cool since it was not accompanied by any lightning. The hail was only pea sized, but for a short time it was heavy enough to sting.
The entire week was a pretty good learning experience for the boys, including the intense discussion and decision making about whether to bail from the summit of Mt Washington and the need to patiently deal with a "crisis of confidence" on the part of one of the scouts on Mt Madison. The same boy had experienced difficulty going up Mt Washington the day before and we were making plans to get him down to the valley even if most of the troop had continued along the ridge to Madison Springs. The other scouts had helped him up Mt Washington and then kept him going on Madison the next day when it appeared he was looking for any excuse to bail. In the end he was very pleased with himself that he had completed the hike and none the worse for the wear. That’s one of the things I like about scouting; the adults can set things up and monitor safety, but the boys themselves have to make things happen. They are probably learning more than they realize in the process.
http://www.herdpath.com/tripreports/20110713Madison-Troop565.html
http://www.herdpath.com/tripreports/20110713Madison-Troop565.html
This was part of a boy scout trip and we hiked Mount Madison as a day hike from Appalachia after aborting a hut to hut trek on the Summit of Mt Washington the day before.
On Tuesday, after groping our way up the summit cone in rain and fog from the Lakes hut and arriving at the summit a bit behind schedule in zero visibility with winds already gusting to 50 mph and a forecast for severe thunderstorms, we decided that hiking the northern Presis to Madison Spring was best left for another trip. An expensive, but comfortable stage ride to Pinkham followed, along with a longish drive around to the Highland Center where we were able to switch our reservation from the Madison Springs hut.
The day hike to Mount Madison the next day was the consolation prize, and well worth it. Airline is a beautiful trail; well-maintained below and with great views on the exposed sections of the Durand Ridge. Someone had recently re-painted blue blazes with astonishing frequency for a White Mountains trail, although we noticed looking over our shoulders that there didn’t seem to be many in the down direction. For much of the day the skies were clear to partly cloudy and the summits were mostly in the clear, but as we neared the crossover to the hut we could see the rain shafts beneath the clouds gathering to our west. Our stop for lunch at the hut was well timed, missing a heavy shower and catching the Lentil soup that croo member Courtney had prepared.
After lunch some of the group dropped packs at the hut and some of us didn’t but we scrambled up to the summit. The weather had cleared nicely and the summits were cloud free, including Mt Washington. As we reached the summit the clouds and fog moved back in, although the cloud base wasn’t far below us and we could still see downhill into the gulf. Raingear was donned and we hiked back to the hut. It didn’t rain and we removed the raingear at the hut and cooled off before starting down Valley Way.
This was my second time hiking down Valley Way to Appalachia. For the most part this trail has very good footing (last time my son and I ran much of the way) but for some reason it seems to take forever no matter how fast my perceived rate of travel. I don’t think we did any better than about a mile an hour down to the junction with Watson Path even though it felt like we were flying. After a while, we weren’t moving as fast because rain began in earnest and continued for a couple of hours. At one point the rain shower became a hailstorm for about 10 minutes, which was actually pretty cool since it was not accompanied by any lightning. The hail was only pea sized, but for a short time it was heavy enough to sting.
The entire week was a pretty good learning experience for the boys, including the intense discussion and decision making about whether to bail from the summit of Mt Washington and the need to patiently deal with a "crisis of confidence" on the part of one of the scouts on Mt Madison. The same boy had experienced difficulty going up Mt Washington the day before and we were making plans to get him down to the valley even if most of the troop had continued along the ridge to Madison Springs. The other scouts had helped him up Mt Washington and then kept him going on Madison the next day when it appeared he was looking for any excuse to bail. In the end he was very pleased with himself that he had completed the hike and none the worse for the wear. That’s one of the things I like about scouting; the adults can set things up and monitor safety, but the boys themselves have to make things happen. They are probably learning more than they realize in the process.
http://www.herdpath.com/tripreports/20110713Madison-Troop565.html
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