It was finally time. I had completed 44 of the NH48. I had four left: Madison, Adams, Jefferson, Washington. A “Northern Presi traverse”. We would split the traverse up into three days, with two overnights in the high huts.

I picked up Rainbow Wednesday afternoon, and we drove up to Gorham. I had reserved a hotel room so we could get an early start without having to be up at 4AM. We got up, got ready, hit Dunkin for breakfast and were at Appalachia trailhead, ready to start as planned at 8AM.

It wasn’t long before we saw this sign on Valley Way trail.

It seems like there are a hundred trails that leave from Appalachia trailhead. They all weave in and out of each other.

Let’s see, the trail left looks fairly flat, without many rocks or roots. The trail right starts to ascend and immediately has rocks and roots. Which way do you think we were going?

Of course, always up. I should mention at this point, that our packs were heavy. What I mean by that, is we were staying in the huts, so we were looking forward to having lighter packs than a backpacking trip. We could leave home our stoves, shelters, sleeping bags, bear bags, etc. Unfortunately, the weather forecast was cold, windy, and wet for the second and third day, so we had to pack a lot more clothes. My pack weight when backpacking: just under 25 pounds. My pack on this hut trip: just under 25 pounds. *sad trombone sound*

As we ascended, we got to the alpine zone. As always, with its warning about the “worst weather in America”.

I didn’t take a ton of pictures on the way up. First, we were just trying to get up to the hut. We knew it was a steep climb. Also, it was mostly sheltered in the trees, so there wasn’t a lot to take pictures of.

We actually got there much earlier than I anticipated, and were the first to check in! So far, Madison Spring Hut is my favorite hut. (Top right and bottom right photo credit: Rainbow). Since we were first, we grabbed bottom bunks and unloaded some of our stuff so we could summit Madison. But first, a quick flora and fauna break.

At one point during the hike, Rainbow called back “Are you talking to me?” and I replied, “No, I’m talking to this butterfly”. Not the butterfly pictured, but a different one. I also talk to rocks. And sometimes my hiking partners.

Mt. Madison is “just” a half mile up from the hut. And also 550 feet of elevation gain. And also a pile of boulders. From The 4000-Footers of the White Mountains by Steve Smith and Mike Dickerman, “Osgood Trail quickly begins steep climb up N side of exposed W ridge of Madison, with scrambling over boulders and ledges…At top of steep scramble…along narrow, rocky crest.” On paper, it looked like it should have been a one hour round trip, took two and a half hours. Particularly scary for me was the “narrow, rocky crest”.

Left: me, climbing up to Madison. You can see the hut below me. Photo credit: Rainbow.

Right: Rainbow, following the cairns up Madison.

Upper left: Me, hugging the summit and holding on for dear life (photo: Rainbow). Upper right, one small slice of the view from the summit. #45! Bottom, the view back the way we came and Adams, which we planned to climb the next day.

You can see Washington in the background, as well as the auto road snaking down on the left.

We headed back to the hut.

Looking down at the hut. On the left is Star Lake. The next day we would head out to Adams and beyond.

While at the hut, we had the chance to talk to many other hikers. Some had come from Washington and Lakes of the Clouds, others, like us, were hoping to go there the next day. The forecast was not looking good. The Mount Washington Observatory’s “high summits” forecast had rain, chance of thunderstorms, and wind gusts up to 80 MPH. Remember earlier in the day and the sign about the worst weather in America. Yeah that.

• Distance: 4.8 miles
• Elevation gain: 4,100 feet
• Total time: 7 hours, 39 minutes
• Moving time: 5 hours, 4 minutes

Day 2