Steve and the Tank! - Left for Dead on the top of Mt. Washington...

Monday, July 30, 2007

Left for Dead on the top of Mt. Washington...

On Saturday I set out with six friends to attempt the Presidential Traverse in the White Mountains in New Hampshire. The traverse or Prezzie Traverse is a one day hike of about 21 miles and has you summit 9 peaks, most at about 5,000 feet, with an 8,500 elevation gain (and loss) over the day. It starts down on the Dolly Copp road and hikes up the pine link trail to summit Mt. Madison (5366), and then walk along the ridge that will take you over Mt. Adams (5799), then over Mt. Jefferson (5716), Mt. Clay (5583, to be renamed Mt. Reagan?), Mt. Washington (6288), Mt. Monroe (5372), Mt. Franklin (5001), Mt. Eisenhower (4750), and Mt. Pierce (4312).

The Team

Norm-the open source geek

Donna-the trail nazi

Ned & Laura, the ones on a mission

Walter-the saint

Rob-the machine

Warm Up

The trip this weekend took me through 7 states total, or 14% of all 50 states. The states were: New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. On Thursday I drove up with Norm and Donna and Norm took a ride up Mt. Ascutney in Vermont on his bike while Donna and I hiked out to a hang glider launch pad. On Friday while waiting for the entire team to show up (Walter had to fly in from San Francisco), Norm, Donna, and I hooked up with Ian from Business School and went kayaking down the Androscoggin River-18 miles from a dam in New Hampshire to Bethel Maine. It was a great time despite the harsh sunburn I was foolish to acquire.

The Prezzie Traverse

On Friday we all go to bed by 10pm since we are to get up at 2am to be on the trail by 3am. We get to the trailhead on time and after an attempt to take a "before" photo went array, we get started with our headlamps on. The fun starts right away, we trek right up a hill to gain about 4200 feet in 3.8 miles. We make the whole way to the ridge and then watch the sunrise and attack Mt. Madison. We are all very strong and make it over the mountain and down to the Mt. Madison hut around 7:30am. We all go in and refill our water bottles and take a break. I notice that there are a disproportionate amount of super hot hiker babes in the hut and comment that I want to stay longer. The group calls me a wimp and tells me to move on. (But Norm and Ned agree with me about the pretty girls in the hut.)

So we trek over to Mt. Adams. The sun is shining and the mountain, while steep is an awesome sight. There is huge amount of rock to climb over and you really have to scramble (a lot a 4.0 level scramble). The summit is awesome and you can see Mt. Madison and Mt. Jefferson (our next target).

The hike over to Mt. Jefferson is a slog, I'm starting to get tired already and the bottom of my feet hurt from the downhill on the rock. I complain but Norm tells me to stop being a "Ned". I am also at the back of the bus at this point, but everyone gracefully waits for me. I get up Mt. Jefferson and there is a 15 foot hill at the top to the true summit. I drop my poles and pack (at Norm's suggestion) and trek up and down (and pee on top). When I get down Norm keeps telling me that I did not do the "real hike" since I left my pack for that 15 foot ascent. I tell him to screw himself and claim "entrapment" and he says that he is not a cop, but I say he is the trail cop. I am starting to get lightheaded and even more slow as we approach Mt. Clay.

The hike up Mt. Clay was pretty easy, and I shout out many Reaganisms on the way up for sport. Once were are down there is one thing left before a nice break, Mt. Washington.

Mt. Washington

I tried to climb Mt. Washington a few years ago on Memorial Day. I had to turn back about 1000 feet from the summit due to a white out. Snow in late May, go figure. The world's worst weather has been recorded on top of Mt. Washington and it is the highest peak in the Northeast. There is a cog railway that takes tourists up to the top and Norm jokes when I tell him I may quit at Washington that my ride down is the cog rail. I say that the cog railway is for wimps (a direct jab at Ned and Laura who took it down last year when they were finished for the day.)

Norm has to visit the men's room (a la natural) and I stay behind and we summit together. We see a sign saying that the summit is 1.1 miles and we know it is about 1300 feet gain. Ug. After about 20 minutes of hiking we hit a sign that says .9 miles. We say that THEY LIE! The summit seems to be getting further away as we climb. It starts to rain. The cog rail comes by and blows tons of black smoke at us, mocking us. (Later I learn that you are suppose to moon the tourists on the train, I wish I knew this custom beforehand-now I know for next time.)

We reach the summit around 1pm and Donna is waiting for us on the top, she climbed Mt. Washington earlier that day and was going to do the rest of the day with us. Norm and I go straight to the summit and then to the tourist observatory and restaurant where the gang is waiting for us. Technically we summited first since they went straight to the observatory to get out of the cold and rain.

At this point I was still very lightheaded but knowing my body well I knew I was not dehydrated or sick. (Later I would determine it was the sunburn, since I had the same feelings on Sunday and Monday when I woke up.) I considered walking down Washington with Donna but she wanted to hike a little longer and since I was fine muscle and cardio wise I figured what the heck, so after a chili lunch on top of Mt. Washington I walked down to the Lake of the Clouds hut with the team. Norm promised "no more rocks" and that the southern traverse is "just like the Catskills." He lies.

The Rest of the Peaks

I was slow but the view was awesome upon arrival. It compares to the Italian alps. Donna and I decided to trek down to another path to bail out early but eventually decided to truck on. We went around Mt. Monroe (a shitty president) while the rest of the team went over the top and we waited for them at the bottom. Then we moved on to Mt. Franklin and I was going so slow that Donna was enticing me with snickers bars to move faster. We caught up with the team and later on circled around Mt. Eisenhower while they went to the top and then we all went up Mt. Pierce together. From there it was about 3+ miles to the car but it took us 2.5 hours to get there, finishing up at 9pm, coming out in the dark in headlamps. We treated ourselves to McDonalds (only thing really open) after we got the cars.

Would I do it Again?

Having completed the entire Presidential Traverse and 6 out of the 9 peaks (technically I did not get to the top of Pierce, there was a little run up and run down that I skipped) it was a hell of an accomplishment. In total it was an 18 hour, 21 mile hike. I felt ok the next day, just a little stiffness in my quads. That said, I see no reason to do it all in one day except for pure ego.

I have had other long days, days that were necessary: summiting Mt. Rainier was an 18 hour day-but there is no other way. Climbing the Western Breach on Mt. Kilimanjaro was about a 10 hour day and there is really no other way either. The slog over Kala Pattar into Everest Base Camp was another 12+ hour day, but there is no other paths to take.

So would I do it again? Honestly after about 12 hours I was not having fun and after about 16 hours I just wanted it to be over. I see no reason to do it all in one day. The only reason to do it in one day is pure ego and at the end of the day shouldn't you enjoy it more? (Also if I tell my friend's I did the Prezzie Traverse, they would say, is that in Washington DC?)

I would do it again, but I would do it over 3 days and that is my advice to anyone. Take the time and enjoy it. The the Presidential Traverse has 3 huts you can stay at. Start where we did (but at a reasonable hour, like 9am) and hike to Madison hut, that will take you about 7 hours. Then stay overnight there (bring earplugs) and then trek to the Lake of the Clouds hut the next day, that will take you about 8-9 hours. Spend the night there and then do the rest of the southerns all in one day, about 7 hours or so.

Was I really left for dead? No, my friends may have talked me into moving on when I was not feeling that well, but it was my call to move on. But I did have fun telling them every hour or so that I was left for dead.

Posted by Steve in New York.

Mountain Climbing

Monday, July 30, 2007 1:40:28 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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