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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"
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<title>Great Gulf Trail up Mount Washington (NH)</title>
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<h1>Hiking Mount Washington by the Great Gulf Trail</h1>
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There are many ways to climb Mount Washington!
<a href="washington.html">Elsewhere</a> on this site I describe the
most common ways, approaching it from either from the east (Pinkham
Notch) or from the west (Cog Railway Base Station). These two
approaches are relatively short, climbing straight up. Longer
approaches are possible from the south, either through the Rocky
Branch or Dry River valleys, or along the Montalban Ridge. Finally
it may be approached from the north, through the Great Gulf, the
greatest of the glacial cirques associated with the Presidential
Range. The major attraction of that route is the impressive
headwall, which rises 1,600 feet over 0.8 miles!
<p>At the April 2002 Trip Planning Meeting of the Boston Chapter of
the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) I decided to lead an trip up
Mount Washington by the Great Gulf, returning to Pinkham by a route
to be determined at the summit. On paper the statistics for that
route are not very impressive, 12.1 miles with 5,000 feet of
elevation gain. Having often looked at the headwall across the
Great Gulf from Mount Madison I knew better. We would select
participants rigorously!</p>
<p>A superficial look at
<a href="http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=44.2985&lon=-71.262&size=l&s=100&layer=drg100">
the map</a> suggests that the ascent falls into two distinct parts:
an easy walk up the valley to Spaulding Lake followed by a steep
climb up the headwall. Though this map does not show it clearly,
Spaulding Lake is at an elevation of 4,228 feet, so it is in fact a
4000 footer! Since the trailhead is at 1,350 feet, the hike to the
lake involves an elevation gain of 2,878 feet, almost as much as
climbing Mount Garfield!</p>
<p>Since I was in Colorado hiking <a href="elbert.html">Mount
Elbert</a> in the two weeks before our trip my co-leader, Duncan,
did all the screening. The number of participants was fluctuating,
due to additions and cancellations, but on the Friday before the
hike (scheduled for Saturday July 20<sup>th</sup> 2002) we had four
participants, plus the two of us. Duncan drove over to my home in
Thornton, NH (just south of Lincoln and Woodstock) on Friday
evening. On Saturday morning I received an email from one of the
participants; he had partied too much the previous days and did not
feel up to a strenuous hike. Good judgment!</p>
<p>We left home before 7:00 AM, and reached Pinkham Notch Visitor
Center at exactly 8:00, the planned meeting time. Shortly
thereafter Kathy, one of the participants, arrived. When 8:30
rolled around and neither of the other two had shown up we left
Kathy's car at Pinkham and drove in Duncan's car to the Great Gulf
trailhead. We started hiking around 9:00 AM, later than planned but
no problem in July with its long days.</p>
<p>At first we cruised. It was still early, the temperature was
comfortable, and the first three miles or so of trail was easy
(good footing and moderate inclines). After roughly an hour we
reached the opening known as "the Bluff", with a primitive
tentsite. We crossed Parapet Brook (easy crossing that day) flowing
down from Madison Gulf, and climbed a little hogback to reach the
second tentsite. We then descended and crossed the West Branch of
the Peabody on a suspension bridge. Shortly after we reached the
large rock known as the Clamshell, I suppose it does look vaguely
like one.</p>
<p>Beyond the Clamshell the trail got rougher, narrower, rockier
and wetter. Our boots started to sink in the mud. We slowed down
appreciably. We met a Forest Service ranger at the four way
intersection with the Wamsutta and Six Husbands trails and had a
brief chat with him. He told us that only one of the two tentsites
on the Wamsutta Trail was closed, and that all the other tentsites
in the Great Gulf were open.</p>
<p>Beyond that junction the trail became even rougher, and in a few
sections followed the West Branch closely, climbing up over wet and
slippery rocks. We crossed the West Branch, the stream was neither
deep nor fast flowing, but the stepping stones were few and far
between. My two companions crossed with dry feet, I decided to wade
across it. We passed Weetamoo Falls and recrossed the stream. After
a final rocky climb we reached Spaulding Lake in time for
lunch.</p>
<p>The trail up to Spaulding Lake is in the trees, with a few
places where views can be had through openings. Earlier in the day
there were many clouds, hiding the mountains. Later we got a couple
of good views of Jefferson's Knees, and wondered how a trail (Six
Husbands) had been put up on one of them!</p>
<p>By the time we reached the lake the clouds had lifted, and we
had a complete view of the Great Gulf, from Mount Madison to the
vicinity of Mount Washington (the summit itself is hidden until you
almost reach the Gulfside Trail). The view was spectacular, and I
can heartily recommend a trip to the lake for those who do not feel
up to climbing the headwall. The headwall rises almost vertically
to Mount Clay, fortunately the grade the trail follows is somewhat
less steep. It was clear that we had a lot of work ahead of us!</p>
<p>The trail up the headwall was very steep, but easy to follow and
with reasonably easy scrambling. Hands were only occasionally
needed, the hard work was done by the legs and the lungs! We often
stopped, to breathe and to enjoy the views. We met two parties
going down, and were glad that we would go down by an easier
route.</p>
<p>It took us almost two hours to climb up to the rim of the Gulf,
where we suddenly found ourselves surrounded by other hikers. The
solitude was over. We climbed wearily up to the summit (an
additional 400 vertical feet) and happily sat in the cafeteria. We
had all had a good lunch at the lake so none of us had any real
food, though I did indulge in an ice cream.</p>
<p>After roughly half an hour we started down Tuckerman's Ravine
Trail. My recollection was that the Lion's Head Trail was somewhat
rougher and we wanted to go down the easiest way possible. We were
tired, and the trip down to the floor of the ravine was slow. We
stopped again for a good rest at the ranger's cabin near Hermit
Lakes. From there the trail was good and the grades easy, we went
down quite fast, thinking of the hot shower that awaited us at
Pinkham!</p>
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