| Summary | None |
| Owner | David Migl |
| Creation Date | 2016-06-05 19:30:14 UTC-0400 |
| Description | David M, Adam, Birkan, Sree, and Rahul set out for an overnight backpacking trip in the Great Gulf wilderness 6/4-5. Our plan was to summit Washington, and traverse as far north along the Presidential range as we could while leaving time to descend the ridge and set up camp by sunset. After staying in the yurt at Intervale Friday night, we stopped at Bagels plus for breakfast and hit the trail at 9am.
The first few miles were easy, though the trail gradually became more rocky and tree-enclosed. We stopped to take in the views from the many waterfalls along the Peabody river. Once we reached Spaulding lake at 12:30, we started climbing the Great Gulf headwall. The prior two miles had been slow due to stream crossings, rocks, and roots, but the headwall presented another set of challenges of loose, steep rock. We reached the top in 2h at 2:30pm and reached the summit of Washington at 3. After spending an hour at the summit, we continued over Clay and Jefferson, reaching the summit at 6pm. We took in the magnificent views for a bit before descending by the Sphinx trail. This trail followed a stream and was steep, enclosed, and slippery, and we all agreed best not done again. After some difficult route finding in the dark, we set up camp at 9pm a couple miles east of the junction with the Great gulf trail. We had originally planned to do Adams and Madison the next day, but due to rain in the forecast, we hiked out at 8am as soon as we had breakfast. The steady, soaking rain that began falling as soon as we reached the parking lot assured us we had made the right choice. Overall our route was about 18 miles and 6,000 ft elevation gain, and excellent training hike for some of the higher peaks we're planning to do later in the summer. |