Rock Hopping the Northern Presidentials
On Adams looking at Washington
I spotted another unseasonably warm Spring day from all the research I conducted and found one on Friday - certainly worth taking the day off. I put in my out-of-office, submitted my vacation day, and packed my gear. Ready to hit the trail at 7 AM at the Appalachia trail to go up Adams which is the second highest peak in all the northeast. I have been building confidence of my hiking ability and I was ready for a bolder challenge. And a challenge it was for after you hit tree line it’s just all boulders and more boulders. Boulders for miles with no reprieve, anywhere, not one spot on the trail. I felt like the games of rock hoping as a kid to see if I could get from one point to another, like "there's lava on the floor", was just training for this, but now on steroids. The boulders are all 4 to 5 feet tall with crevasses for snapping ankles in between. Slow and steady wins the race… or prevents being carried down the mountain. It surprised me how fleet of foot I still have… even for my age and size, plus my knees have enough muscles around them where it’s not slamming down on each step.
When I first pulled into the parking lot Ralph, a retiree with two forks on his goatee with hair ties, was nice enough to chat about snowshoes and trail routes. I geared up and put on a hard-shell jacket to which I took off all my top layers down to just a tee shirt after about only 10 minutes into the trail. I packed about 5 different types of jackets but only used the thin windbreaker to which that was even too much. I noted that it was 63 degrees even at the col between Adams and Madison. During these shoulder seasons it is tough to know what to bring for layers, so I just add more weight to my pack, so I am comfortable no matter what even though it’s a brunt on my back. Making sure that these hikes are comfortable for weather makes it more bearable for the uncomfortable nature of rock hopping 5000+ feet of elevation.
I caught up to Frank about a mile in just around the time the ice was building up and my microspikes needed to be put on. He was behind a tree and yelled to me to which scared me a bit as I was in the zone. We hiked together and chatted about, you guessed it, hiking. He told me that Scotty B had passed him, and I put two and two together and figured out it was 'mainebeefman' who posted on the trail reports website. I felt like he posted every day and sometimes twice a day for two different hikes. He is working on his Grid, which is all 48 4000 footers in each month totaling 576 peaks which is just insane amount of hiking. Ed the Hiker who I met on Cannon had done the grid 7 times! Scotty B to me was another legend just crushing it out there. I am in awe of some of these hikers. Ralph showed me his 4000-footer club tattoo on his arm with the 67 New England club. I am starting to learn that there is an inner realm of people who just love hiking and dedicated so much time and effort to getting out there. I feel like it’s your favorite ball club and know the stats and accomplishments of these guys. I caught up with Scotty B when he was on the way down from Adams. I asked him if he was mainebeefman and said he was, so I chatted with for 5 or so minutes. He is a super humble guy, and I was stoked to talk with him - he even mentioned me in his trail report.
I saw 5 other people today, on a major hiking route in a popular destination which was just outstanding with the calmness and quiet. Ralph and I agreed that winter hiking is great, and he noted that it "keeps the idiot factor down". I concur.
The route up Airline trail was a consistent 20 degrees upward with it going from dry, to wet, to snow, to ice and snow, to mushy snow and back to bear rock. Spring hiking is probably the most challenging season in the Whites, but I have begun to ignore that as the miles and elevation are the real challenges. Slipping off the snowy monorail into a foot of snow is not much different that slipping off a wet rock. There is far too much hiking to do to wait for the optimal times to go. I met another Scott on the top of Adams, and he said he would walk down to Madison AMC hut, then he said he was not planning but would accompany me up Madison, then he and I walked down Valley Way trail to the cars. It was great having someone to hike and chat with for the second half of this 8-hour hike. The top of Adams was probably the best view of all the hikes I have done even though you had to work for it. You could see 360 degrees with Washington next door and even to the ocean. Hiking up Madison took only 30 minutes, but it was just adding insult to injury with rock hopping straight up. The top of Madison is the end of the Presidentials and felt like the end of world visually.
This was the highest elevation gain and the longest moving time for me so far. I am so grateful I get to do this, and my body is holding out. Looking out over rows and rows of mountains fills me full of happiness and courage.
Date
April 10th 2021
Distance
9.9 miles
Elevation Gain
5,020 feet
All Trails
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