Three Day Presidential Traverse Backpacking Trip

Hike date: 08/30/2019-09/01/2019

Description: While some people choose to do the Presidential Traverse in a single day, we chose to stretch it out over the course of 3 days to take it slow and enjoy the time in the outdoors. We opted to go north to south, since this gets the big peaks (and a lot of the elevation) done with early on. Our plan was to spend the first night at The Perch Tentsite and the second night at Nauman Tentsite. We chose to do our trip over the Labor Day long weekend since it was going to be our only chance for a while where we could get 3 days off from work and school. Because of the holiday weekend, we knew we were going to want to get an early start to secure our spots at the tent sites, so we drove up Friday night and camped at the nearby Jefferson Campground.

Trails Used: Appalachia Trailhead → Valley Way → Osgood Trail → Mount Madison → Osgood Trail → Gulfside Trail → Airline Trail → Mount Adams → Gulfside Trail → Israel Ridge Path → Perch Path / Tentsite → Israel Ridge Path → Randolph Path → Gulfside Trail → Mount Jefferson Loop → Mount Jefferson → Mount Jefferson Loop → Gulfside Trail → Mount Washington → Crawford Path → Mount Monroe Loop → Mount Monroe → Mount Monroe Loop → Crawford Path → Mount Eisenhower Loop → Mount Eisenhower → Mount Eisenhower Loop → Crawford Path → Mount Pierce → Webster Cliff Trail → Nauman Tentsite → Webster Cliff Trail → Mount Jackson → Webster Cliff Trail → Mount Webster → Webster-Jackson Trail (Mount Webster Branch) → Webster Jackson Trail → Route 302 / Highland Center

Trail Summary: We spent the night prior to our trip at the nearby Jefferson Campground, which was only 15 minutes away from our starting point. On Saturday, we woke up at 3 AM and were at the Appalachia trailhead ready to go just before 4 AM. We donned our headlamps and started making our way up the Valley Way Trail, the easiest way up to the Madison Spring Hut and Mount Madison. There are a lot of brooks and small falls along the first mile of the trail. As a result of this, you’ll encounter many junctions and side paths on the lower portion of the trail. Since we were hiking in the dark, we used care to make sure we didn’t wander down the wrong trail by accident. After 2.5 miles of hiking, you’ll reach a junction with Watson Path. After this point, Valley Way starts to climb more steadily and gets a bit steeper, though the grade is still moderate. Once you’ve passed the Valley Way Tentsite, the trail again becomes steeper and more rough as you near the treeline. We were hoping to get above treeline in time for the sunrise, but we were too late. Luckily, we were able to get some glimpses through the trees since we were high enough. Soon, you’ll pop out of the scrub and find yourself at the Madison Spring Hut! From the Appalachia trailhead to the Hut, you’ll have hiked 3.8 miles and gained 3,500 feet of elevation. We must have been moving pretty quickly, because it only took us roughly two and a half hours!

At the hut, we enjoyed a quick snack and talking to some fellow hikers about their trips. After the break, it was time to make the quick trip up to the summit of Mount Madison! From the hut, you’ll follow the Osgood Trail for 0.5 miles to get to the summit. We gained another 550 feet in elevation on this short, steep, and very rocky section of the trail. We opted to leave our backpacking packs at the hut so that we didn’t have to carry them since we’d be coming back to the hut after the summit anyways. The trail is all above treeline and very exposed to the elements, so we brought our down jackets and gloves with us (we’re glad we did - the winds at the summit were INSANE!). It was a beautiful and clear morning to be above treeline and we soaked in the views of Mount Adams and the other Presidential peaks we would soon be climbing. After some photos, we headed back down the same way we came to get back to the hut. We strapped on our packs and we were ready to head over to our next peak, Mount Adams.

A NOTE ABOUT WEATHER ON THIS TRIP: A very large portion of this hike has you traveling high above treeline. This is great for panoramic views, but it also means you are at the mercy of the weather. You should always be carrying warm clothing and the appropriate gear with you while on the Presidential peaks as the weather can change in a heartbeat! When we checked the forecast for our trip window, it was looking like clear skies the whole time. In reality, that was not the case: Our first day, we had a clear day so navigating via the cairns was easy. The second day, we were completely socked in by clouds with heavy wind and frequent light showers. In in low visibility situations, you’ll need to pay careful attention to the cairns in order to avoid going off trail. Extra care and warm clothing was needed on this day to ensure our safety. On our final day, the weather was gorgeous again. You are 100% exposed to all of the elements, and bail out points can sometimes be tough to get to, so we can’t stress how important it is to be prepared for this when planning your trip!

To get to Mount Adams from Mount Madison, you’ll travel on the Gulfside Trail. From the hut, you’ll start a steep ascent towards a subpeak of Mount Adams (Mount Quincy Adams), which will be on your left. Soon you’ll come to a junction with the Air Line Trail, which you’ll want to take up to the summit of Mount Adams. Air Line continues to climb very steadily to the summit. There are a lot of large rocks (and some are loose), so paying attention to your footing is crucial to avoid an injury! Above treeline on this portion of the hike, the views are astounding! The summit of Mount Adams was again very windy, so we put on our rain coats while we took photos and enjoyed one of the best views in the White Mountains. From the Hut to the summit of Mount Adams, you’ll travel another 0.9 miles and gain another 1,000 feet of elevation.

From the summit, you’ll descend for 0.3 miles on Lowe’s Path to reach the Gulfside Trail again. This area is known as Thunderstorm Junction and a number of trails connect here at a large cairn. As you continue south on Gulfside, you’ll start to descend a bit on a nice easy portion of the trail. Soon you will reach a split where Israel Ridge Path goes right. Since we chose to spend our first night at The Perch Tentsite, we headed right to go down the Israel Ridge Path. It’s a pretty steady descent from the treeline to Perch Path, dropping roughly 1,000 feet in just under a mile, but the terrain isn’t too bad for a majority of the trail. Unfortunately, there are limited backcountry camping options (aside from the huts), so we had to do some extra mileage and elevation gain to stay at a tent site.

At Perch Path, it’s a quick 0.1 mile hike on basically flat ground to arrive to the tent platforms and shelter. Because we started so early, we got to The Perch at 12:30 in the afternoon. We were okay with this though, because we knew since it was a holiday weekend the site would fill up early (all platforms were claimed by 3 PM!). We set up our tent and took a nap for a few hours because we were exhausted from waking up early and doing a lot of elevation! For the rest of the evening, we talked to fellow hikers, played some games (Farkle and Yahtzee are our backcountry go-to’s), made dinner, and went to bed early. We were happy to have our 0 degree sleeping bags with us, because it ended up dipping into the 30’s at night!

A NOTE ABOUT CAMPING ON THIS TRIP: When planning our trip, we had played around with a few different sleeping options. The choices are pretty limited due to the ruggedness of the area and the fact that everything is so high above treeline. The AMC Huts are a great option and are located at convenient points along the traverse, but they are expensive and fill up quickly (a reservation is needed). If you’re interested in staying at the Huts, your options are Madison Spring Hut, Lake of the Clouds Hut, and Mizpah Hut. We prefer camping at tentsites and it is a cheaper alternative to the huts. Tentsites in the area include Valley Way Tentsite, The Perch Tentsite, and Nauman Tentsite. You could also stay at Crag Camp, Grey Knob Cabin, or even Hermit Lake Shelter, but these would require significant elevation loss and much more of a detour. Ultimately, we decided spending the first night at The Perch and the second night at Nauman Tentsite was the most ideal for us in terms of mileage and elevation per day.

An interactive map with the route for the first day of the trip can be found here. You can zoom in and move the map around to see the trails we used that we’ve referenced above!

The next morning, we woke up very early in order to get back to treeline for the sunrise. Unfortunately for us, everything was completed shrouded in clouds and we could not see a thing. Navigating in the dark while in the clouds was a bit challenging, but we took it slow and stayed calm. We made our way back up on the Israel Ridge Trail, but instead of taking it all the way back to Gulfside, we took Randolph Path (which links up with Gulfside further south and closer to Mount Jefferson). This saved some time and some unnecessary up and down. Randolph Path was a nicely maintained trail and was a great warm up for our tired legs! From The Perch to the junction with Gulfside (via Randolph Path), we gained about 700 feet of elevation. This area at the junction is known as Edmands Col.

In 0.1 miles from Edmands Col, you’ll come to a junction where the Mount Jefferson Loop heads to the right, up to the summit of Mount Jefferson. You’ll want to head up here to get to the first peak of the second day - Mount Jefferson! From here to the summit, it’s a quick 0.4 miles and 500 feet of elevation gain over rough and rocky terrain. There were a few steep sections where we used our hands to get up due to the high winds and our heavy packs! At the top, you’ll come to a four way intersection with a large cairn. Make sure to tag the true summit of Mount Jefferson by making a short scramble up the pile of rocks to your right (50 yards along the Caps Ridge Trail)! Unfortunately for us, the summit was still completely socked in with clouds so we didn’t get to enjoy the normally fantastic 360 degree views from the summit. Because of the high winds, we hunkered down behind some rocks for a quick snack before we pushed on. Continuing south along the Mount Jefferson Loop from the summit, you’ll descend on moderate terrain and grades for 0.3 miles until you reconnect with the Gulfside Trail. This area is known as Monticello Lawn because it is a flat, grassy area.

Now it’s time to start making your way towards the biggest peak of the trip, Mount Washington! Now that you’re back on the Gulfside Trail after the summit of Mount Jefferson, the trail descends for 0.6 miles and you’ll lose about 450 feet of elevation before you come to a junction with the Sphinx Trail. This area is known as Sphinx Col. Worse case scenario and if you need an emergency bail out in case the weather turns really bad, you can take Sphinx Trail and get to the safety of treeline rather quickly. From Sphinx Col, there’s only 2.3 miles to the summit of Mount Washington! In a short bit, you’ll come to the side loop where you can opt to make a trip up Mount Clay. Doing this adds about 300 feet of elevation gain, though the mileage is the same as staying on Gulfside (Mount Clay Loop reconnects with Gulfside further south). We opted to stay on Gulfside Trail since it is easier terrain and less elevation and we knew we’d have no views from the top of Mount Clay anyways.

The portion of Gulfside after the junction starts the moderate ascent towards Washington. We enjoyed this stretch of the hike because we gained the elevation slowly and it didn’t feel like much of a grind. After the Mount Clay Loop rejoins, the trail becomes much more of a grind as you make the final climb towards Washington, but the terrain really isn’t too bad (we were definitely feeling tired on this ascent!). Soon you’ll cross over the tracks of the Cog Railway and that’s when you know you’re really close! From the Sphinx Col to the summit, you’ll gain roughly 1,400 feet in the 2.3 miles you hike. At the summit of Mount Washington, even on this cloudy and windy day, there were still tons of tourists who either drove or took the cog up. We had to wait in line for about 10 minutes just to grab our picture with the summit sign! We still had zero views at this point and had been battered by the elements for the last few hours so went inside the visitor center to warm up, eat lunch, and relax. We had tuna, cheese, and crackers for lunch and it was delicious! Our down jackets got a bit wet from the mist, so we dried those under the hand dryers in the bathroom. At the summit of Mount Washington, we knew the most grueling part of the traverse was now complete and that things would be “easier” from here. After resting and refueling, we were off to Mount Monroe!

From the summit of Mount Washington, it’s time to hike on Crawford Path! Head south from the buildings and the trail will be on the right side of the railroad tracks. In the next 1.5 miles on your way towards Lake of the Clouds Hut, you’ll drop about 1,300 feet of elevation. This section of the trail descends pretty moderately and steady on a very nicely maintained trail. There’s still a lot of rock, but there’s also a nice gravel footbed too. Because of how popular this path is, be prepared to see tons of people! Since we were now dropping in elevation, we could finally start seeing views because we were below the clouds - we were so excited! As you’re coming down Crawford Path, you’ll be able to see Lake of the Clouds, the Hut, and Mount Monroe ahead of you.

Once we got to Lake of the Clouds Hut, we stopped by inside to refill our hydration packs, use the bathroom, and buy one of their sweet treats (if you don’t know, the huts usually offer some sort of delicious dessert item for a few bucks). From the hut, it is about 0.4 miles up to the summit of Mount Monroe. The first 0.1 miles will be on Crawford Path, and then you’ll come to a junction where you want to split right to get on the Mount Monroe Loop. It’s a quick steep and rocky 0.3 mile climb (with 300 feet of elevation gain) to reach the summit of Mount Monroe. As you’re hiking up, the summit feels so close because you can see it right there and you just want to get there! While the first half of our day we were socked in the clouds, we finally got some decent views to the south, where we were heading next. Like all of the other peaks, it was extremely windy at the summit due to the high level of exposure. After taking some pictures at the top, it was off to our next peak: Mount Eisenhower.

A NOTE ABOUT WATER ON THIS TRIP: On all of our backpacking trips and on longer day hikes, we always carry our Sawyer Water Filter with us. This trip was no different, but with easy access to the huts at various points along the traverse, it makes for quick and simple water refilling! Every time we stopped by a Hut and at the visitor center on Washington, we topped off our hydration packs since we were drinking tons of water and always want to stay well hydrated. There are plenty of springs and other water sources along the way to filter water from if needed, but we definitely recommend taking advantage of the huts for drinking water!

From the summit of Mount Monroe, you’ll descend a steep boulder field into a flat grassy area before ascending slightly to a small subpeak of Mount Monroe known as Little Monroe. After this subpeak, it’s a quick descent down to reconnect with Crawford Path and continue south. In a short bit, you’ll have the option to make a quick side trip via a loop trail to Mount Franklin. If you opt to do this, there is a path that is very obvious, though it is not marked by a sign, that will lead you here. We had no desire to visit Mount Franklin on this trip, so we continued on Crawford Path. To be completely honest, we hated this next section of Crawford Path because we dropped over 500 feet in elevation that we were going to have to regain on the way up to Mount Eisenhower (we were also starting to get really tired so that may have had something to do with it!). The trail descends steeply then becomes a more moderate descent, but Crawford Path is very nicely maintained here. The whole time we saw Mount Eisenhower right in front of us as we were getting lower and lower!

In the col between

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