Monday, August 26 -- Pinkham Notch to Madison Springs Hut -- 7.8 miles
Day One! Up early in anticipation -- managed to pull everything together despite late arrival 8/25 -- left Pinkham Notch about 9:30 -- past Madison Gulf Trail cutoff for lunch. Terrain pretty easy through a.m. through spruce/fir/birch woods. Weather perfect -- about 70 degrees and clear -- just like home. Trail not too bad -- some rocks, some open. Past Olmstead Tentsite at 1:30. Endless steep up from here (three miles, 3000 vertical feet) to summit of Madison.
Kept good pace; at summit about 5:00. Treeline about halfway; rocks after that. Trail below treeline was steep but well constructed, while the rocks above treeline were difficult and slow. Hiked last mile with a guy and his young daughter -- turns out he had done a long section hike on the AT back in the '80s. Very tired at end of the day. Madison Springs Hut very pleasant. Talked with section hiker and with thru-hiker (Flame) after dinner.
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| Starting out at Pinkham Notch |
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| Mt. Washington from Osgood Ridge |
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| Hiking toward Mt. Jefferson (note hiker on the trail to the right) |
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| Looking toward Mt. Washington summit from Mt. Clay |
Tuesday, August 27 -- Madison Springs Hut over Mt. Washington to Mizpah Hut -- 11.8 miles
Left Madison about 7:40 -- another absolutely beautiful day. Temperature in 50s -- was comfortable in shirt and single long-sleeved poly. Light wind. Past Mt. Adams and to Edmonds Col by 9:30. Could see Green Mountains clearly to the west. Relatively few people on trail. Stayed pretty calm overall except at cols. After rocky climb, got to summit of Mt. Washington about 12:30 and stopped for lunch. Steep downhill to Lake of the Clouds Hut at 2:30 -- stopped briefly. Trail got rougher and way less populated as I went south toward Mizpah. From outlooks near end of day, could see nothing but woods. Steep downhill at end of day. Pleasant company at dinner at Mizpah -- guy from near Northampton and a couple of thru-hikers. Seemed impressed I had made it from Madison in one day. Overall, caught a huge break with the weather. Long day after all -- ten hours from start to finish.
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| Looking north from the summit -- I had crossed those peaks that morning |
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| Looking south down the ridge to Lake of the Clouds Hut |
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| Mizpah Hut, where I spent the second night |
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| Looking north the third morning -- Mizpah Hut visible to the left, Mt. Washington in the distance |
Wednesday, August 28 -- Mizpah Hut to U.S. 302 (Crawford Notch) -- 6.4 miles
Left Mizpah about 8:20. Easy walking first two hours (lots of bog bridges) except for a few ledgy spots. At Mt. Webster 10:10. Some high clouds but could still see to Green Mountains. Felt better than I thought I would after yesterday. Feet not hurting at all. Some steep and interesting downhills -- had to toss pole and scramble a few times. Would have been gnarly if wet. Trail moved in and out of trees onto cliff. Steep and rugged downhill through the woods to notch (see photo of trail below). Had lunch with thru-hiker Radar and talked with two others (brothers) at the bottom. Out at Crawford Notch at 1:30. Saw first moose by side of road while waiting for Pam to pick me up.
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| The trail down from Mt. Webster to Crawford Notch |
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| My first moose |