6/13/21
I had headed up north to the White Mountains the previous day and hiked Mt Moosilauke. My intention was to camp overnight and then hike the Carters on Sunday. While driving from Moosilauke to Gorham, I went through Pinkham Notch. On the right through the notch were the Wildcats and the Carters. On the left were the northern Presidentials. I got through the notch to the Mt Washington Auto Road where I saw what is below.
Looking over at this started the gears turning. Mountain-Forecast was calling for the early sun to give way to full clouds by 9 am on Sunday. I wanted my time on the Presidentials to be as clear as possible. The weather seemed to direct me to the Carters. I made it to the Gorham Walmart parking lot, picked up a few supplies, and set up ‘camp’ for the night.
Slept amazingly well Saturday night in the car. I tend to go through sleep cycles and lately it’s been a bad cycle averaging about 5 hours per night. Far from optimal. As I was messing around with my gear for the day I noticed how crisp and clear the morning was. Hardly seemed like it was going to get cloudy. I was still entertaining the possibility of Madison and Adams rather than the Carters but assumed to forecast was right and I would see Clouds at any moment. Driving south toward the notch I saw this. Carters on the left, Madison and Adams on the right. I made the call and turned west, toward the Appalachia parking lot and Madison and Adams.
I ate my oatmeal as I drove to the trailhead. I was excited. Appalachia is the trailhead for several popular routes up Madison and Adams. Valley Way and the Airline Trail are among the most popular. Since I had done a couple of trails from the Terrifying 25 list and knew the Airline was on said list, I chose Valley way. Less potential drama.
Valley way starts pretty flat for the first mile or so. There is a side trail that pretty much parallels it and runs along the river, closer to the falls. I stayed on Valley Way and hit the falls on the way back down. The trail started to go up a bit at about the 1-mile mark and my mile 2 was pretty steep. The steeps were sustained until just before the Madison Spring Hut where it levels out a bit in the col between Madison and Adams.
I think I arrived at the hut about 8:15. I have ventured past a couple huts so far in the Whites but neither Mizpah or Lakes of the Clouds were open. It was really cool to see people around, going in and out. There is a real sense of comradery and commonality with others up there. I did take a little break and get my phone on charge for minute, checked my maps and arranged my pack for the hike up Madison.
I wrapped my way around the hut to the trail that leads to the summit of Madison. It was very steep and required lots of scrambling. The trail was marked with blazes and large cairns. Thankfully the boulders were very dry and the grip was really good. I made my way up in about 30 minutes I think. The view was amazing. The wind was light, the sky blue with puffy clouds.
Madison initial ascent 
Looking down at the hut from Madison 
The Summit of Madison 
Looking over at Adams 
Staged Selfie!
I returned to the hut from Madison and cruised by down to the Airline Cut-off trail. The plan was to take the cut-off to Airline Trail which would take me to the top of Adams. Getting to the base of Adams was much more a hike than it looked like from the hut. it was much longer and more challenging than I anticipated. About 90% of the mile-long hike is boulder hopping. Once I realized that what I was looking at was not the summit of Adams but John Quincy Adams, a minor summit not an official 4k, things were put into perspective that this was not going to be a cakewalk. Adams turned out to be VERY difficult. Such a steep ascent. I like to call it Karma Mountain. I felt like I was paying for considering the previous day’s hike of Mt Moosilauke easy.
I left the summit of Adams after eating a sandwich and a couple of oranges. The descent was tough and kind of slow. It’s a very technical descent given all the boulder hoping. I was able to cruise a bit after getting within a couple of miles of the trailhead where I started. I stop and soak my feet and take a little side trail to Tama Falls. This side trail parallels Valley Way and I highly recommend it!
I would have to say this was my favorite, most rewarding hike to date and I cant wait to return!
| Miles | Elev Gain | Time |
| 11 | 5000′ | 6.5 Hours |
Mountain Mike 