Mt Madison (7/18/24)

This was a difficult hiking year, and it was all Mt. Madison's fault! Well, actually, not this Mt. Madison hike. This hike was fine. However, this July hike was the second of my two Madison hikes this year. Back in February, I injured my left knee hiking Madison during the winter. It felt fine during the hike, but then afterwards it definitely did not feel fine. It took me two months to recuperate from that injury, just in time to hike an AT section with Parched. My knee held up fine during that hike, but then a couple of days later I tripped crossing the street at home and seriously injured my right knee. I knew that I had a hike of Mt. Katahdin coming up in late July (blog on that one coming soon!), so I figured I had better test the knee and see if it could hold up against big mountains, and what better way to do that than by testing it in the same place where all of this originally started, Mt. Madison?

Of course, I had other reasons, too. Back in June 2023, I did a hut to hut Presidential traverse in the White Mountains, which is where I hiked across the Presidential range by staying at Lakes of the Clouds Hut and Madison Spring Hut (that would also make a great blog post). During that hike, I was working on completing an AT section, but weather interfered and prevented me from finishing the section between Madison Spring Hut and Pinkham Notch, so this hike would also serve to clean that up.

It was going to be a doozy, too, with a ton of elevation gain over not a lot of mileage, which always means steep, steep, steep. All told, more than 4,000 feet of ascent in less than seven miles, with most of that ascent coming in the last two miles. If my knee could handle this, then I would know it was good for Katahdin.

I got some much needed assistance from my wonderful fiancee Dragonfly, who helped me do a car spot. I left my car at the Appalachia trailhead and then she shuttled me over to Pinkham Notch. I checked in at Pinkham Notch, and I have to say that the attitude of the staff there often frustrates me. AMC materials constantly tell you to make sure you check in at Pinkham before you hike, but every time I try to do it at the Visitors Center, the AMC staff look at me like I'm weird and act like I'm bothering them by giving them my hike information.

Anyway, I started up Old Jackson Road. I recently learned that a hike in this area is how Cam Bradford found Jeff Batzer and Hugh Herr during the 1982 rescue detailed in Ty Gagne's book The Lions of Winter, which I highly recommend. Not to brag, but Dragonfly got me a signed copy for Christmas this year!

Back on the AT!

Okay, back on track. I followed Old Jackson Road until it crossed the Mt. Washington Auto Road (where I made sure to look both ways), and then it became the Madison Gulf Trail. I followed the AT onto the Osgood cutoff. Once I hit the Osgood cutoff, the fun really began. And by fun, I mean no fun at all, because it was just very hard climbing from then on.

A big boulder picture, just for Dragonfly!

When I broke tree line, things totally changed. First of all, I love being above tree line in the summer, as it's just gorgeous. Second, it was really windy! It was sunny enough to require my sun hat, but I needed to strap it tightly to my chin so that it wouldn't blow away! I also had to put a jacket on, even though I had been burning up from the climb just a few minutes before.

Just because you break tree line, doesn't mean you're done gaining elevation.

I was having a grand ol' time, and I was pacing pretty well. I passed quite a few people during the hike, but then this AT south-bounder came up behind me. He was really booking it, and it seemed like the effort wasn't even fazing him. I kept up with him for a little while, but eventually fell back just before we reached the hut. I wasn't going to try to race down those rocks. There was too much chance of further injury, especially with my knee not being one hundred percent.

When we reached the hut, I overheard the AT hiker talking to some other hikers. He was saying how he felt the climb up Madison out of Pinkham was probably seven or eight hundred feet. They were like, "Dude, that was four thousand feet." Like I said, it's like it didn't even faze him. You rarely find those people who just don't feel elevation gain, but I guess he was one of them.

Anyway, after a quick snack break at the hit, I headed down Valley Way. I love the Valley Way trail. It's not an easy hike by any means, but it is pretty safe in that it provides shelter almost all the way to the doors of the hut. I sped down Valley Way without any issues, and finished the hike in pretty decent time.

Overall, this hike accomplished three things for me. First, it gave the opportunity to explore an area of the White Mountains that I hadn't spent time in before, which is the area around Old Jackson Road. Second, it checked off another AT section. Third, and maybe most importantly, it showed me that my knee was ready for Katahdin and all the challenges that mountain always brings. Still, I knew that I would never be able to take flight until I spread my wings!