Completing the Whole Width of the AT

Madison Springs AMC Hut

September 20-21, 2018

0 miles (I crossed the trail to get to the hut!)

This was my first attempt to get a few more miles of the AT under my feet. My intention was to hike from Pinkham Notch Visitor Center on Rt 16 to Madison Spring Hut, stay there for the night, then hike on to Mt Washington and down into Tuckerman Ravine and back to the car.

Very few of my plans for the weekend survived the reality. Winds on the approach trail to Mt Madison were expected to be near hurricane force, and the southeastern valley was full of rain. The helpful folks at the Joe Dodge Lodge (where I stayed the night before) in Pinkham Notch recommended staying off of the AT, and instead take the Valley Way trail, which was below tree line to just below the shelter, up to Madison Spring Hut. So as not to lose the non-refundable payment for the reservation, I followed their advice.

Nearing tree-line and looking back down towards Rt 2 and the Appalachia trailhead parking

The trail from the Appalachia parking lot to the hut climbs from route 2 in the northern valley to the saddle between Madison and Adams, from 1313 ft to 4796 ft (roughly 3500 vertical ft) over 3 and half miles. It quickly becomes steep and rocky, and I crawled up, with other hikers passing me fairly easily. The ridge protected me from the worst of the wind and rain to the south, and as I inched up (at the steepest part of the trail I was literally stopping to rest every 10-20 feet, covering the 3.5 miles in something like 4 hours), I started getting views back into the valley behind me. I knew I had all the time in the world, and I also knew I needed all that time.

I was completely done in by the time I got the hut, and did not try to do more than pick out a bunk, rest up and eat something, and then explore the immediate environs. It was surreal up there with the clouds curling up and over out of the Great Gulf and whipping around the summit cones of Madison and Adams. After the fact, one always kicks oneself that he didn’t push to get to the tops of both summits, especially sans pack, but I was right to judge that I’d done everything I could.

Dinner at the huts is sort of a family-style affair, and the food is homey and generous. I ended up sitting next to three Quebecois women, who were most comfortable speaking with each other in French. So meals were a quiet affair for me.

The winds at the hut overnight were very likely hurricane force. A high gust on Mt Washington registered at 105 mph. In the morning the temperatures plummeted, and again there were high winds and now ice, so I decided not to try to walk the ridge to Mt Washington. I also found I had very little of the strength and stamina of a year ago. I had pushed so hard the day before that during the climb down, I actually got to place where my quads started shaking and would no longer hold me, forcing me to sit for longish rest periods as I neared the parking lot. That has not happened to me before or since, at least not yet! So it was probably a good choice to return the way I had come, and drive home for a long soak in the hot tub.