September 30, 2007 | Miles: 13.4
Start: Mt. Washington
End: Pinkham Notch
Danielle:
An unorthodox way to do the northern Presidentials, but hey, why not? It was a beautiful day, and we knew we only had a few more weeks to get in this hike before winter arrived in the Pressies, so we decided to go for it. An early start got us to Great Glen for a 9am hiker shuttle up to Washington and hiking by 10am. It was a bit odd to start at the highest point and hike down, especially as the going was rocky and rough, but we eventually got into a groove and enjoyed the views along the way. Fall foliage was slowly creeping into the hills and the leaves of the alpine blueberry, bunchberry and others were changing red, lending a nice hue to the tundra as we walked along. We meandered up and over and along the northern Pressies, and finally descended to Madison Hut in time for a late lunch around 1pm. The hut was already closed but we sat on the rocks outside, took off our shoes and rested for a while. Then the quick but stiff climb to Madison summit where 2 other hikers were relaxing in the sun. Nice guys who are doing the NH 4000 footers. Things slowed down alot in the next few miles as we descended the Osgood Ridge, which was basically a steep and rough jumble of rocks. Where was the nice flat, mellow terrain of last week in VT?! NH is hard! My knees and feet were taking a beating! After the long descent, we finally reached Osgood tentsite, where things mellowed out considerably. The trail meandered through the woods, crossing many brooks and streams, until we reached Lowe’s Bald Spot, a beautiful outcropping near the Auto Road, with great 360 degree views of the Presidentials and the Carter range. Still 2 miles to go… most of it was along an old road but it still seemed to go on forever. We met up with a group of Quebecois near Pinkham—very nice but tired from their hike—and best of all, it was them who picked us up as we attempted to hitch back up Rt. 16 to Great Glen. Thanks guys! We changed quickly and headed to Moat for nachos and beer before the drive home. All in all, a long day but a nice hike.
Ryan:
Nowhere to go but down. Starting a hike at the top of the highest peak around is a weird way to go, but why not? Due to the logistics of getting to the Auto Road and then getting to the top, we didn’t start hiking until just before 10:00. As it turned out, we didn’t stop hiking until just after 6:00. Yup, it was a long day. The Whites are hard. Actually, there was nothing particularly hard about the hike, but everything above treeline is really rocky, which makes for slow going. After the summit of Madison along the Osgood Ridge the trail is ridiculous, if you can even call it a trail. It’s basically just a jumble of sharp rocks. Good times. Luckily, we had a beautiful day: clear and little to no wind. It was a great day to hike and take some photos. We lucked out on weather, just as we did for our hike from 302 to the summit of Washington, so really I can’t complain. It was another great day on the Trail…even if it was a long one.
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