Last month when we thought is was to be sunny we headed up to Summit Mt Adams and were shot down. (See Mt Madison Story) Today Rosie and I returned to get what we left, this would be “another day”. A high pressure system parked over New England so the forecast was to be exceptional. We started up the Valley way trail leaving the Appalachia parking lot at 9am. We moved quite steadily to get above tree line as early as possible. The trail from the parking lot to the Madison Spring Hut is 3.5 miles

.  We made the Hut about 1pm, refilled our camel backs, had a quick snack and moved on for our goal the summit of Mt Adams 5774′. Mt Adams is the 2nd highest mountain east of the Rockies with Mt Washington being the tallest at 6288′.

lI picked up a Lowe 75AW Toploader camera case recently . After my last hike up Madison i had seen a guy with what looked like a camera bag on his chest and did some research and picked up a second hand one from Ebay. I was eager to try it out. It worked very well allowing quick easy access to camera and provides great protection. I love the protection, expandability and various ways the bag can be strapped, very comfortable to walk with. . So for you curious types that is whats on my chest.

We left the Hut and started up the Airline trail, we had a solid mile of ground to cover and almost half of it was to be boulder walking, which isn’t hard, just a little tedious. The weather was superbly sunny with an occasional slight breeze.  We stayed very steady trying to get to the summit to be able spend as much time as we could there.  The views above tree line on days like this are hard to describe .

When we made the summit we had a snack and soaked in the views.  There were swarms of these weird bugs I had never seen along with a few black flies mixed in for good measure. We would get a slight breeze and they would go away, then it would stop and they were back. The hike in is so long and has so much elevation gain, it doesn’t afford much time to hang out unless you’re staying in a Hut or Tenting back below treeline.

We hung out on the summit for almost an hour and decided we would head off avoid the bugs and checkout some sights . Looking at the map and surrounding area, we decided to go back to the hut by taking Lowe’s Path to the Thunderstorm junction to The Gulfside Trail, to the Valley Way. This would be a little longer than the way we came-up but should be easier walking with less boulder walking and potentially faster.

By this point it’s about 3pm and we have about 4.8 miles to make the car. As we came down off the summit I took a large step and noticed my right knee became twingy. We moseyed along soaking in the day over to the Thunderstorm Junction and my knee was not improving, but was getting worst.  We snapped some pics at the massive cairn and moved on our way. I told Rose and she had some Ibuprofen I downed a few and we marched on.

I was concerned knowing the terrain what we had to go down, my condition and the daylight left. It was going to be a long slow painful trip. The Gulfside Trail has several sections where the trail has been worked to where it is almost smooth like cobblestones. I believe it was Edmunds and Lowe who worked at placing all the stones just right to fill the sections in and made for a welcomed rest

We kept walking and made the Valley Way about  4:30. After about a mile we ran into another couple heading UP. Speaking to them they were heading up and coming down. It was maybe 5:30 at the time and way late to be going the wrong way without tent or room at the hut. Rose and I passed a couple of the Appalachian trail workers Sherpa packing supplies up. We had seen them coming down in the morning with the racks and cardboard. It.s amazing to see what they haul.

We made it back to the lot at just after 8pm. My hands were sore and blistered from using my poles so heavily to move my weight and maintain footing.  I worked much harder coming down that going up that’s for sure.  The tally for the day was 9.7 Miles and leaves only Mt Washington as the last of the Presidential Range peaks for me to Hike. I believe when the day comes i will go up the Amonoosinic Ravine trail to the summit and down the Jewel trail.