Last weekend, Eric, my Dad Lee and I climbed Mt Madison.
We somehow managed to time this perfectly, on the coolest day of the summer. It was an overcast day, about 65 degrees at the base, and a chilly 48 at the summit. No wind to speak of, except in the last half mile, when it was quite blustery. Several pop up showers made the going slick in places, which doesn't help me much since I am a clod.
We set off early. REALLY early. We picked Lee up at 2:55 (AM, yes. early)
 |
| This is how dark it was |
We took some guesses on how many cars, and hikers we would see in the Appalachia lot. I guessed "a few cars and two crazy people.)
WRONG. The lot was packed, and cars basically poured in behind us. It was a decent enough day to take a crack at a traverse, and people were getting after a 4AM start.
 |
| Three weirdos |
Armed with headlamps, we ambled off into the night. We pulled over several times to allow faster hikers to pass by us. Trail traffic was certainly heavy, but with the exception of seeing people pass us, we hiked alone. We had decided to take Valley Way all the way to the Madison Hut, and this seemed to be a good choice.
The footing on the trail was excellent for dark hiking. We were well into daylight hours by the time the typical White Mountain rock-heap nonsense became an issue. So, we enjoyed a lovely start, gradual incline, nice dirt path (some roots but nothing stupid) and the sounds of a river close by (I tried for quite some time to catch a glimpse of it- and discovered on our descent that it was literally right next to the trail....) I'm sure that in wet weather this river could cause some soggy terrain (there were several signs of "stream crossings" but this summer is dry as a bone- no wet feet for us!)
Just after sunrise (which we completely failed to capture evidence of, except for this late to the game pic) the real hiking began.
And it should be mentioned that, in my sleep deprived state, I could not FOR THE LIFE OF ME say "sunrise". I called it "sunset" no fewer than 8 times. UGH #dementia
 |
| The post *sunset* photo op |
The first rocks we encountered were a decent warmup for things to come. And actually, this is a solid trail in that regard. You get off to a fairly easy start, hit the odd rock or two, then shit gets real. It breaks you in gradually. There was a solid amount of climbing up the *shit gets real* section of this mountain. Not like the death-terror-caps of Jefferson, but in the "giant stone stairs for forever" manner.
 |
| These are the polite, small rocks. |
By the time we reached the "giant stone stairs forever" portion of our day, we were about halfway there. Good news! Also, bad news because it meant a lot of straight uphill walking was still to come. We were having a good time though, there were so many toads (21!) and the weather was quite reasonable.
 |
| Selfie break time. |
Lee and I were both grouchy about the food we packed. Who really can guess what will taste good, when you force your body to get up at ass o'clock and hike? Neither of us guessed correctly, so Eric got to listen to a long Bradley list of complaints about dry sandwiches, and dry candy bars, and dry goldfish. It was pretty funny at the time. And DRY.
 |
| This was where shit began to get real |
Suddenly (although not all that suddenly, after 3 plus hours of hiking haha) the trees got tiny and the famous "you're f***ed" sign popped up. Almost there! Almost somewhere, anyway.
 |
| DO NOT CONTINUE! CERTAIN DEATH AWAITS! |
We reached the Madison Hut right on schedule (actually, ahead of schedule. We ran about 15/20 minutes ahead of *book time* all day.) There were a GAZZILLION people at the hut, because it was breakfast time. There were another billion people bagging the peak, or whatever it is that real hikers say. Maybe I will make my own catch phrase for this event. (smashing the summit? tumbling at the top? I don't know, this requires some thought. )
 |
| Eric and Lee, on a properly nice stretch of trail. #norocks |
So. We still had a half mile climb up the giant rocks that apparently are called *trails* around here. Lee ditched his pack like the smartest person ever, but Eric and kept ours because we are foolish. Or, trying to get better at rock scrambling with a 12.2 pound pack (not that I weighed in, or anything.)
It was chilly. And rainy! And WINDY!!! Very exciting. We watched a guy wipe out and fall straight into a shrub, which seemed a much better choice than straight into a boulder.
 |
| Lee, casual in the wind |
We summited successfully! Bagged it! Tagged it! #orsomething
 |
| Mt Madison Summit |
Then, we spider monkey climbed down, and sat at the hut for a bit. Eating DRY food and making new friends, like crazy Sean, who was planing to low key traverse in less than 10 hours. Mental!
Then, we walked back down. Down is tricky because rocks are hard, water is wet, and when you combine the two it can be problematic!
 |
| Whoops. Typical.... |
We met more hikers on our way down than we had encountered (passing us) on the way up. We did not see any more toads. We saw two people hiking in sandals, but they looked confident so good for them (ouch. not recommended by me considering I can barely stay upright in shoes.)
It was fun checking out the final mile of so in the daylight! It was really pretty, and a really enjoyable part of the hike.
 |
| This was what we hiked in the dark, basically a 5 lane paved highway! |
We detoured just a few steps to check out a pretty little waterfall. So nice!
 |
| I love waterfalls |
And then, 8 hours later (7 hours moving time, 1 hour futzing around) we MADE IT BACK!!
 |
| YAY! |
It was a good hike, and a fun hike (despite my continued skepticism about the "trail" of massive beast boulders.... *sigh*) We figured out a few gear issues that we can improve before the next trip. We decided to bring some less dry snacks next time. We shared one beer (so tired!) stopped and ate a whole pizza (not dry!) and went home for naps. Except for Lee, who somehow managed to stay up partying until 9:30PM which is just ridiculous!
Mt Madison:
Miles: 8.5
Elevation gain: 4,056 ft
Time: 8 hours (7 moving time)
Rocks: so many
Challenge level: moderate for sure. it's just a long, rocky climb. not terrifying.
No comments:
Post a Comment