Presidential Traverse, NH 2009

This last week we completed the 'Presidential Traverse' in New Hampshire's White Mountains. The adventure was ranked the 25th in National Geographic Adventure's "50 Best American Adventures". We completed #2, Kayaking Lake Yellowstone, in 2005 and hope to conquer #15, Hike Buckskin Gulch, this fall.

Anyway, here is the lowdown on the Presi Traverse.

1. At the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) in Pinkham Notch we arranged for a shuttle from the AMC Highland Center to the Airline trailhead. We also reserved a one night stay at the Madison Spring Hut (a bit pricy, but nice to not have to carry the extra gear).

2. We grabbed our shuttle on Wednesday afternoon (1 pm) and started our hike to Madison Spring Hut at 2 pm.

3. We arrived at the hut at 5 pm.  The hike was about 3.4 miles with over 3000 feet of elevation gain.

4. Got up on Thursday morning and hiked the Gulf Side Trail to Crawford Path to our car at the AMC Highland Center.  The hike (15.8 miles) took us 12.5 hours.

Most of the hike was above treeline and the entire hike was pretty rocky and well worth the scenery. 

Check out some pics.