Thursday, August 17, 2017

Hiking the Whites Day 5 - Back to the Alpine Zone

Our short break at Crawford Notch was busy but productive. After showers, we drove a few miles south to a campground at Crawford Notch State Park, where we dropped off Carmel and Traci to do the laundry, while David and I headed to the small town of Jackson to resupply at a local grocery store. Cleaned up and resupplied, we enjoyed a nice buffet dinner back at the lodge and hit the sack early.

The plan for the next leg was to shuttle north, hike back up into the mountains, and then head south to return to our car at the Highland Center - three days of hiking with stops at Madison Springs Hut and Lake of the Clouds Hut. After fueling with another great breakfast, we caught our shuttle and were soon at the Valley Way trailhead.

No kidding folks - be prepared. At the Valley Way trailhead. 
 Valley Way Trail takes a direct route up to ridge line, paralleling the course of a brook to the top, where the trail pops out within sight of Madison Springs Hut. The 4-mile trail is relatively easy until a 1/2 mile rock scramble at the top, and passes through some quiet woods until you hit the alpine zone. Despite having to swat mosquitoes at the lower elevations, we enjoyed a pleasant hike, highlighted by a curious red squirrel that took great interest in us when we took a snack break.

Hoping to pick up a handout.

Bees load up on the wildflowers.
Madison Springs Hut occupies a dramatic location, directly on the lower slope of Mt. Madison to the north, with Mt. Adams looming overhead to the south. We'd arrived early, so had plenty of time to relax after snagging our bunks. We spent some time chatting with day hikers and thru-hikers, and while waiting got to see one of our croo members hiking in a packboard full of supplies.
Madison Springs Hut

Carmel and Traci arrive at the hut. 

Croo member arrives with supplies.

Traci looks on with awe.

After a little time for relaxation, David and I took off to summit Mt. Madison, while Traci and Carmel stayed behind to listen to a croo member give a talk and demonstrate the packboards.
Looking towards Mt. Adams from the summit of Mt. Madison. The rock cairns mark the trail.

Mt. Adams in the foreground, with Mt. Washington in the back.

Mt. Washington. 
Carmel (above) and Traci (below) try on a packboard.


Our day ended with a short nature walk to an small lake above the hut. Our croo member guide was a great guide to the plants and geology of the area.
Our croo nature guide.

Posing on a large quartz outcropping. You'll find them scattered throughout the area in the vicinity of Mt. Washington.
With that, we called it a day. Tomorrow's path would take us over Mt. Washington to Lake of the Clouds Hut, the largest hut in the system, sleeping nearly 90. In the meanwhile, we awaited the morning weather forecast - there was talk of bad weather coming in...

Next time - A challenging day

No comments: