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Page Type:
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Trip Report |
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Lat/Lon:
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44.26010°N / 71.26107°W |
GPX File:
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Download GPX » View Route on Map |
Date Climbed/Hiked:
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Dec 29, 2021 |
Activities:
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Hiking, Mountaineering |
Season:
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Winter |
This is my first time writing a trip report. I found trip reports to be of the most useful research tools when getting ready for some new adventure, so I feel compelled to contribute to the community and to practice my technical writing. On December 29th 2021, I completed a solo winter traverse of the Presidential Range in New Hampshire's famed White Mountains. I was on leave from the military and traveling before and after the traverse, but I drove up to NH on the 28th from Pennsylvania and slept in my truck bed at the trailhead that night. After my traverse, I drove down to my hometown in southeast CT.
I have pretty limited winter mountaineering experience. I've climbed Washington half a dozen times - once in the winter. I summited Mt Baker in the North Cascades in a blizzard this past summer. Mostly though, I lean on my endurance running fitness, long distance thru-hiking and experiences in the military for confidence in these hills.
This trip report is modeled after Summit Post user Dcgain's March 2020 Presidential Traverse trip report.
Departure: 3:31am from Appalachia Trailhead, Madison summit 6:26am, Adams summit 7:54am, Jefferson summit 9:55am, Clay summit 11:00am, Washington summit 12:25, Monroe summit 1:25pm, Eisenhower 2:56pm, Pierce 3:50pm, Finished at 5:06pm at AMC Highland at Crawford Notch.
Total Time: 14 hours 5 minutes
19.52 miles and 8,816ft of vert recorded on my Garmin
Weather was nice, pretty warm for the winter Whites (high teens, low 20s). Generally overcast, some blue skies in the morning and then working in a dense cloud the entire second half of the day. Winds weren't an issue; the only time I needed to cover all exposed skin from high wind exposure was on Adams summit.
Weather: As most people who are headed out into the Whites in the winter, I was checking the forecasts religiously. The days before and after had considerably higher winds forecasted which was confirmed by some folks at coming off the trail at the Appalachia trailhead the night before I did my traverse. They reported at least 70mph gusts in the vicinity of Mt Adams and Jefferson which prompted them to bail from whatever plan they had for the day. Mountain Forecast was predicting sustained winds no higher than 20mph all day on the 29th around Washington - so I felt comfortable with my weather window. Obviously, these hills are world renowned for their bad weather, so check the weather and don't underestimate the effect of wind especially in highly exposed areas.
Trail Conditions: I knew there was substantial fresh snow about 10 or so days before my traverse, but there was hardly any precipitation since then, so I was pretty optimistic about the snowpack and trail conditions. This turned out to be the biggest obstacle of the day however. The initial climb up to Madison below treeline was highly trafficked and well packed - the moving was fast. Generally, the entire trail between Madison Hut/Star Lake all the way to Jefferson was very slow going through deep snow. I was postholing knee to hip deep every 10-15 steps and plenty more shallower postholes that just made the movement in this section very slow, tiring, inefficient and frustrating. I attribute this section of the day for finishing later than I had planned well after sunset.
Route: I used this AllTrails Presidential Traverse route https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/new-hampshire/presidential-traverse-trail. I downloaded the route to my Garmin Fenix 6. This was a huge advantage as opposed to using a phone. The Presidential Traverse is not one single trail, it links many of the Presidential Range's summit trails in order to create the traverse - so it is not intuitive and easy to follow without some sort of navigation guide whether that be map or GPS route. It is easy to lose the route, especially under winter conditions. I relied heavily on the rock cairns that so magically exist on the trails up there, but they are often difficult to find amongst all the other snow covered rock formations and boulder fields. All that said, the route is tricky - have a tool for guiding your traverse that you are confident in.
Abilities: As I mentioned in the intro, I have some winter mountaineering/hiking experience, but certainly not enough to lean on for confidence on a route like this. The confidence that got me to the trailhead comes from my cardio/endurance background as well as ~8 years in the Army most of which in the Infantry and being comfortable navigating difficult terrain. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the power of these mountains and the weather they conjure - I went into this traverse attempt prepared to bail out down a side trail at any moment if things got sketchy. Winter Presi Traverse has been a big bucket list item of mine - I would have had no issue with bailing out and putting it off until a later year. I think this mindset is necessary for people of every skill level. There are little to no technical mountaineering skills needed for this traverse; it's simply an endurance hiking event. There are a few pretty sketchy high exposed sections of this traverse, but they don't require tools to accomplish - just the awareness to identify them and the steady feet to get through them carefully.
Logistics: So obviously, this traverse is a one-way route. By car, the northern and southern terminuses are about 35 minutes apart. I highly recommend you don't decide to simply wing it in terms of getting back to the start like I did. I was hoping I would meet another south bound hiker on the way who had a plan I could capitalize on or I was just going to hitch hike. I ended up coincidentally having a friend in a town nearby who was climbing Washington the next day who was able to pick me up and drive me back to the Appalachia Trailhead, but that was just me getting lucky. The last thing you want is to get through this extremely difficult day and then be stranded at the AMC building.
I carb loaded for this traverse in the days leading up. Started the morning of with oolong tea, raspberries, a bowl of oatmeal and 2 scoops of Tailwind. Snickers bars are my go to for days in the mountains - they have it all and are very calorie dense + you can't beat the morale boost of a snickers bar when the difficulties of the day are taking their toll. I'm of the mindset that it is acceptable to stop and break anytime you feel the need to when working in the mountains - for changing your clothing situation, drinking and eating. So I stopped pretty often during my traverse for adding/subtracting layers and changing glove/hat/gear situations and anytime that I stopped, I ate and drank. I made sure to eat and drink everything I brought by the time I finished - no good to carry unused fuel.
The summits are of course the best parts of the day. I summited Madison as the early lights of sunrise were peaking over the horizon and was blessed by a gorgeous sunrise during my climb up Adams from Star Lake. This was the most aesthetically pleasing part of the day, the views diminished for the rest of the day as a dense cloud rolled in while I was moving along the ridge between Jefferson and Clay. The morning views from Madison, Adams and Jefferson were all I ever needed though to make this a tremendously beautiful day.
The huge ridgelines and saddles were so much fun to move quickly across. Too often a mountain day for me involves summiting one big peak and headed down, but it is so much fun to hit a big summit and see the next section of a route down across a huge ridgeline to another big summit. A different experience, but such a valuable one.
Of course, I can't reflect on this event without mentioning the wonderful New Hampshire people. I've never ventured into the White Mountains and not come out without refreshing and fun interactions with New Hampshire mountain people. This area of the country has some of my favorite people and of course the most exuberent, fun and kind of those people are often encountered on the trails in the mountains.
This is an incredible challenge with huge rewards. It should be on any serious mountaineer/winter hiker's bucket list. These hills are incredibly special and this traverse is the best way to appreciate them. That being said, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention one last time the inherent risk with an all day, physically demanding event in the winter Whites. If you're doing this solo, make sure to communicate your plan to someone and communicate with them as much as possible so they can contact authorities if you're overdue. These mountains have claimed many lives over the years and they must be respected. Know your limits, challenge yourself and have fun.
https://www.strava.com/activities/6444518847
Happy trails, Chase.
Welcome to SP Chase.
Great sunrise photos and thanks for the technical info.
Mike
Appreciate all the beta...very helpful! We're looking to do it in March of this year (2023). We did Washington a few years back, and the Great Range Traverse in the 'Dacks so this one seemed in order :-)
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