A Great Big Walk

My Presi Traverse Experience

The Presidential Traverse, a hike that crosses all of the major peaks in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains in New Hampshire, has been a goal of mine since I got really into hiking a few years ago. It’s well known as one of the most beautiful, and challenging, hikes in New England.

The logistics of doing a traverse are somewhat daunting. You can either knock it out in one day, a real challenge at nearly 23 miles and close to 9,000 feet of elevation gain, or break it up into a multi-day backpacking trip. I knew I wanted to make it a multi-day, so that I could stay up high and do some sunrise and sunset photography at several points along the route.

Instead of bringing along another photographer, like I normally do, I asked my good friend Scott, who’s not a photographer, to join me. An avid hiker and fellow adventurous spirit, he happily accepted, and was awesome company.

We decided stay in the huts run by the Appalachian Mountain Club and the Randolph Mountain Club. To stay in an AMC hut, you usually need to book months in advance, which we did. That made planning for the weather impossible. In fact, we were worried that this trip wasn’t going to work due to a poor weather forecast in the week leading up to the trip, but at 3 days out, it improved enough for us to give it a go.

I know some folks might like to hear more about the planning, or the gear, that went into the trip, but you’re not going to get that from me (unless you ask, to which I will happily reply). For the most part, I could care less about gear. I do these hikes because I want to see pretty things, and do something hard to challenge my mind and body and boost my spirit. I hope that last point really resonates with my audience, because I think we all need a boost!

On to the hike. My hopes of great photography weather were a major impediment to my mood on the first half of this trip. It was cloudy and rainy, and because we were up above 4,000 feet, we were inside of those clouds, with very poor visibility. This photo of the summit marker on the top of Mount Jefferson gives you some idea of what our ‘view’ was for most of the first two days.

I had really wanted to see the views from Mount Adams and Mount Jefferson, because I’d never been to the top of either one, and this was a major disappointment. I’m slightly jealous of my friend Scott’s perspective, who thought the atmosphere was cool and mysterious. He was able to enjoy just the hiking part a lot more since he wasn’t worried about big views or getting any photos. Here’s Scott heading up Mount Adams, a decent climb!

We did have a little bit of clearing on the side of Mount Madison, and the atmosphere was definitely cool and mysterious in a way that even I appreciated. You can see a little patch of snow from the winter still hanging on, the first of many we encountered on the hike.

We had a good hike up and down Madison and Mount Adams, and started our descent to Randolph Mountain Clubs Gray Knob hut, on the side of Adams, around 3 PM. I got super anxious here because I thought there might be a chance for clearing at sunset that day and sunrise the next morning. I didn’t want to hike down and away from the summits and miss any potential photo opportunities.

We considering backtracking to Madison Springs Hut. After starting to climb back that way, which would have been at least two miles in the opposite direction and a thousand feet of elevation gain when we were already exhausted, I gave up and we decided to stick with our original plan and stay at Gray Knob. I was so bummed about the weather, and not hiding it well! The stay at the hut was nice, though, and we enjoyed talking with a church group from Ohio.

One of the major components of the trip, which I had been looking forward to and could enjoy even in the fog, were the spring wildflowers. I was happy to see many patches of these around, and hoping, in a big way, to showcase them in a wide-angle landscape at sunrise or sunset with great light.

Well, the summits did not clear for sunset that night, or sunrise the next morning, and we didn’t miss anything by staying at Gray Knob. In fact most of the next day we were were in the clouds, as well, which had been forecasted to be partly cloudy. Here’s a photo of us at the summit of Washington.

As we descended Washington for our next lodging, at Lake of the Clouds, I hoped, hoped, that we would finally get some clearing at sunset.

It began to look promising.

Finally, it opened up, and I went kinda nuts running around looking for interesting perspectives.

This was great, and my spirits were definitely renewed, but I felt like with the sun lower in the sky, it could be even better with more warm light and a more dramatic sky. So, I went in to dinner and happily ate a ton of food as I dreamed of the possibilities for sunset.

Then… the fog moved back in. Not kidding.

I was so distraught!

I gave up, went back inside, and got ready for bed and planned on an early wake-up for a sunrise hike the next day. As I was brushing my teeth, I looked out the window, and even though the sun had set, noticed that it was again clearing. I kicked myself for not being out as this was happening, and quickly grabbed by pack again and rushed out the door!

The next hour was pure photographic bliss.

The first place I ran over to was this view of Upper Lake of the Clouds with Washington above it. The clearing mist made an incredible atmosphere and there were glowing pink clouds in the sky above. Amazing!

I then ran back up to the winding path pointing right to Mount Monroe and was treated to this incredible scene.

I was transfixed as the mist flowed over the terrain in front of me.

This trip was redeeming itself, photographically, in a very big way, very quickly.

I stayed out as the mist cleared and photographed the last light of day.

It was heavenly.

I got to bed around 9:30, and set my alarm for 3:30 AM the next morning, giving myself time to get to the spot I wanted to be before the 5 AM sunrise.

As it happened, I woke at 2:30 AM and was too excited to go back to sleep. I grabbed my pack, and started my hike with a headlamp in the dark. Some stars were still out, and the milky way arched overhead, and as far as I could see, the skies were clear. It was looking good.

It was very peaceful to be out in the alpine alone in the dark. I wasn’t tired, or overexcited. I kept feeling like I was made for this purpose and that I was right where I was supposed to be.

As I skirted around the side of Mount Washington, my destination, and the dawn’s early light, came in sight. It was much better than I could have hoped for.

Clouds filled the valleys around all of the major peaks, an inversion, or undercast. Absolute dream conditions for me.

While still very dark, the scene I had come to photograph, inspired by folks like Jim Salge and Harry Lichtman, began to unfold below me.

This is known as the Great Gulf Overlook, where the Appalachian Trail follows a ridge line that drops off precipitously into the namesake gulf, with views of the major peaks of the Northern Presidential Range fanning out from left to right: Clay, Jefferson, Adams, and Madison.

The sun rising above a sea of fog, with mountain tops looking like islands, was unexpected and completely gorgeous.

The triangular peak in the background is Sugarloaf Mountain, over in Maine!

My goal had been to photograph Great Gulf with spring wildflowers, and while I liked the little sprinkling of white flowers to the bottom right of the previous photos, I remembered a much larger patch on the trail above me.

I sat down on a rock here and just watched as the light grew more and more amazing.

It really did look like this, and here’s an unedited video to prove it.

Then I returned to another spot, this one with a few pink flowers, and a bigger view deep into the Great Gulf.

It was so dreamy!

I was very happy.

High on life and this amazing start to the day, I decided to walk up to the summit, not far away, and take in more views from there.

I crossed the cog railway on the way up.

And then got some great views of the observatory at the summit.

This one below, of the shoulder of Boott Spur with the peaks of Central New Hampshire among the foggy valleys, is probably my favorite, and one I can’t wait to see as a large paper print!

From here, I walked back down towards Lake of the Clouds, and got a call from Scott asking how my morning was. I sent him the video and some cell phone photos of the sunrise, and his response was simply, “omg”. I made it down just in time for breakfast.

The scene at breakfast was great. I used my cell phone for this capture. Glowing, hungry faces, steaming food and drinks, along with the dynamic gestures of everyone, made it very memorable.

The rest of the day was a speedy hike out to the AMC Highland Center, hoping to avoid thunderstorms that were forecast later in the day. The puffy cumulus clouds that hovered around the summits made for some beautiful views on our way out. This was our last look at Lake of the Clouds, the base for all of the magic that happened over the previous 12 hours.

Then it was over Monroe to Eisenhower, and finally Mount Pierce, the final peak in the traverse.

We returned to the car, sweaty, but very happy, ready for more adventures!

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Thanks for following along on our adventure. If you’d like to order prints of any of these images, I have them available HERE.

I say this as a reminder to myself, first of all, but also, I guess, a piece of advice for everyone, because I really think it’s important. Even if you aren’t going to go on a big hike, remember that physical activity and sunshine are some of the best medicines around. They are absolutely vital, in fact. So, get away from the screens, turn off the news, get out there for a walk, go for a bike ride, a swim, even putter around in your garden. We need this stuff. Big Time. I know I sure do.