On July 27, 2012 began the Epic Hike II.
As you can see from the picture, we learned from "Thru Hikers"(Hikers traveling the whole Appalachian trail from Mt. Katahdin in Maine, all the way to the end of the trail in Georgia) you must come up with a trail name, which would be memorable for those we encountered along the way, so each of our trail names had a specific story behind them.
The adventure included summiting the Presidential range peaks in the white mountains of New Hampshire, along the Appalachian trail. The summits conquered included: Mt Washington, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Adams, Mt. Madison, Mt. Clay, Mt. Monroe, Mt. Franklin, Mt. Eisenhower, and Mt. Pierce. All tolled, it was a 20 mile trek over a 3 day period.
The trip started on Friday at the base of Mt. Madison, then a steady climb up to hut, dropped off our gear and summited Mt. Madison, and the trip culminated on Sunday at the Highland center at Crawford Notch. We stayed in two AMC Huts along the way - Madison Spring Hut & Lake of the Clouds Hut, Madison hut being newly updated was much nicer than the L of C Hut.
The second day of the trek was the most challenging. We traveled on the Gulfside trail and summited Adams, then on to Clay, Jefferson, and the final ascent of the day was Mt. Washington which is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States, measuring in at 6288 ft. Reaching the summit of Mt.Washington was somewhat of a surreal experience, you have worked so hard to get there and immediately upon arrival you are engulfed in a sea of tourists who have either taken the train "Cog Railway" or have driven their car up the auto road to the summit. We then proceed into the cafeteria where the food of choice is chili dogs, because really how much granola can one man take. The final end to this day was a 1 mile hike to Lake of the Clouds hut, where we made it to just in time before a storm hit, a storm that brought a thunderous bolt of lighting down right outside and struck the hut, setting off alarms and shocking a couple of crew members who happened to be touching the metal counters at the time (no one injured, just a little shaken).
The third and final day of our trip included summiting Mt. Monroe, Franklin, Eisenhower, and Pierce. The final decent down Crawford Path to the Highland center. Then of course the traditional stop at The Common Man restaurant in Lincoln for burgers and a beer, and talk about the whole experience.
It was an amazing experience...!!!
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