The standard ascents of Mount Washington at the 2005 Konvention will take place on Saturday, as is the norm. However, Thom Davis is organizing a Presidential Traverse on Friday, as it would be difficult to complete that strenuous trip on Saturday and still return in time for the banquet.
The Presidential Traverse is a twenty mile trip with 8,500 feet of elevation gain. Standard hikes up Mount Washington are roughly eight to ten miles (round trip) with 3,800 feet of elevation gain from the west side, 4,300 feet from the east side. I would like to organize a trip intermediate in difficulty between the traverse and the standard routes, going up the very scenic Great Gulf Trail.
The loop I am thinking of involves a 9 mile ascent with almost 5,000 feet of elevation gain, including a very steep climb up the headwall (1,750 vertical feet in one mile). The descent route will be somewhere between four and five miles long, depending on which trail we take.
Planned Itinerary
My current plan is to do a loop, starting and ending at Pinkham Notch Visitor Center. This is slightly different from the route I described in a previous trip report.
We will take the Old Jackson Road (a trail in spite of its name!) to the Auto Road, cross it, and then take the Madison Gulf Trail to its junction with the Great Gulf Trail. We will then follow the Great Gulf Trail to the top of the Great Gulf, probably having lunch at Spaulding Lake. Once out of the Gulf we will follow the Gulfside Trail to the summit. Descent will probably be by the Boott Spur Trail; it is slightly longer than either Tuckerman's Ravine or Lion's Head trails (5.4 vs 4.2 miles), and consequently less steep and so easier on the knees.
The following table shows the distances and elevation gains of the various segments of the ascent. Please remember that we will still have to go down!
| Segment | Distance (miles) | Elevation Gain (feet) | Cumulative Distance | Cumulative Gain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old Jackson Road | 1.9 | 700 | 1.9 | 700 |
| Madison Gulf | 2.1 | 200 | 4.0 | 900 |
| Great Gulf to Wamsutta | 1.7 | 800 | 5.7 | 1,700 |
| Great Gulf to Lake | 2.0 | 1,150 | 7.7 | 2,850 |
| Lake to Gulfside | 1.0 | 1,750 | 8.7 | 4,600 |
| Gulfside to summit | 0.4 | 350 | 9.1 | 4,950 |
The first two segments are as easy as the numbers imply. The first mile or so on the Great Gulf Trail is also easy, but the last couple of miles are very rough, and so require more effort than the gentle grade would imply. The climb up the Great Gulf headwall is very scenic, but extremely steep. My recollection from my previous trip is that the footing is good; I intend to check it out and update this page some time in mid-August.
Please note that this is a very strenuous trip. It climbs about 1,000 more vertical feet than the standard route, and is about five miles longer. In spite of the extra length the steep section is substantially steeper than any of the standard routes. Plan on an early start and a long day!
Logistics
The Great Gulf Trail goes through the federally designated Great Gulf Wilderness, so the group size is limited to a maximum of ten. If you are interested please email me, including the words "Great Gulf" in either the subject line or the body of the email.