dangergirl
Active member
Amy and I set out to do a one day Presidential Traverse. The forecast looked bad but we decided to take the chance. We started at 6am under cloudy skies and a slight drizzle. We took Valley Way to Watson Path and averaged 2 miles per hour up to the summit of Madison. At that point it really started to rain. We put on our rain gear and made our way down to Madison Hut to top off camelbacks and regroup. We saw that the forecast was calling for thunderstorms late in the afternoon and decided to give it a go. We ascended Adams from the backside and it was a really steep but fun scramble. We took the trail near star lake to go up. We slipped our way down Adams and started out towards Jefferson where we encountered some areas with up to two feet of snow! When we got to Edmonds Col the rain slowed to a sprinkle and it was warm and comfortable out. On the summit of Jefferson we looked out and saw dense fog to our right and an anvil cloud forming to our left. We were sure to keep an eye on that cloud. The updrafts in it were really cool, but we did not want it to turn into a thunderhead. The terrain was very slippery and I had a few big but comical wrecks. I was saved everytime by my camelback! We really needed to get to Washington to fill up our camelbacks again. We kept moving forward, going up and over Clay before finally getting on Mt Washington. We had a quick lunch, checked the radar map and made the decision to go for it. Although the trails were wet and slick, the rain had stopped and it was warm. We got to Lake of the Clouds Hut and were surprised at how wet everything was! We then enjoyed the quicker pace and better footing over Monroe, Franklin, and Eisenhower. The trails to Pierce were soaked, muddy, and slick. We got up onto Pierce and figured we would just give Jackson and Webster a go. My horrible math skills made us think that we were only 4 miles from the road. We were actually 7 miles away. Oooopppss, sorry Amy! At least she didn't throw me off into one of the Ravines! We summitted Jackson after going down and up some really slippery, muddy, wet trails and ran into a party of three headed to Mitzpa Hut. They told us the trail to Webster was awful so we went down the other trail which was awful too. There was about 3 inches of running water, slippery roots and rocks, and sticky mud. We did get stuck out there after dark but had headlamps. We walked onto 302 at 9:30pm, tired but happy. Our feet were killing us and Amy had blisters so bad her foot was bleeding! My ankles turned into cankles. We got dinner at the Moat and then had a good nights sleep. We plan to go back later this year on a dry weekend to do the whole traverse. It was lots of fun and definitly an adventure! Here is a link to the pictures!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kfolcik/sets/72157624273028684/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kfolcik/sets/72157624273028684/
