"Day one of the Presidential Range Traverse. The climb up Madison is a real bear, but it is worth it for the stunning views. All of the cols are above treeline, and the climb up Adams and Jefferson was just as beautiful. Excellent views into the Great Gulf also. The trail is very rocky, and there are many scree fields on Adams, Jefferson, and Madison. The trail up and over Clay was well worth it for the awesome views of Mount Washington. Washington was very tough at the end of the day on the way down but the trail up is less rocky and is very nice. We spent the night at the Lakes of the Clouds Hut." — elimihuta • Jun 27, 2025

"Presidential Traverse, NH - Day 2 - Lake of the Clouds Hut to Madison Spring Hut. Woke up early. Caught breakfast at LotC Hut and then gunned it up to Washington. Bought some stickers, snickers and a Red Bull then continued the traverse around to Clay, Jefferson, Adams and then dropped into Madison Hut for the night." — wiweasel • Jul 5, 2024

"As far as weather in the Presidentials go, could not have asked for a better day. Clear skies with only minimal cloud cover later in the afternoon, mild temperatures, and even the forecasted 10mph winds dropped to a light breeze. Car spot with a friend parking at the Base Station and I drove the group to Caps Ridge Trailhead. We set off from the trailhead just after 8am. Starting off at 3000ft. meant we were already in a subalpine forest and quickly emerged at the first optional "cap" about a mile in. After briefly dipping back into the trees, we entered the alpine zone and began scrambling up the caps. They weren't as intimidating as I expected and I enjoyed the variety in terrain. Soon after the last cap is the intersection with The Cornice which marks the beginning of climbing over boulders until we reached the summit just before 11:15am for my 14th NH 4000 Footer. The summit area is a relatively flat boulder field with 2 larger piles. The western pile is the true summit, and both were swarming with giant moth-like insects. We didn't stay at the summit of Mt. Jefferson for too long on account of the giant insects, so we climbed down the boulders on the Mt. Jefferson Loop, linked..." — JCalautti • Jun 16, 2024

"A Monroe, Washington, Jefferson hike for my Grid and calendar day. Hiked up Ammonoosuc Ravine Tr. From Gem Pond, I used my microspikes on the ascent. I ascended into a cloud and had no views on Monroe and on Washington. On the way over to Jefferson, the cloud cover was breaking up. I dropped my snowshoes just past Jewell Tr. On Jefferson, I had views, but Washington was still in the clouds. I headed back to Jewell Tr and down that, making good time coming down. I was beat after today's hike. Saw a short tailed weasel below the summit of Jeff. " — newenglandwarrior • May 3, 2024

"Warm, wet, foggy, windy with low visibility on our climb up then as we approached, the final 0.3 miles, the clouds parted to let the blue sky greet us. Perfect timing for some photo ops while taking in the views. On our way down we got to see what we missed on the way up. Because of the conditions many folks turned around and missed a nice day. Once back to tree line the clouds came back. Trail conditions were less than favorable with soft mushy snow, some ice/crusty snow and way too many exposed rocks. No need for snowshoes only spikes which were useful half the time and a complete PIA the other half. Plunging into mini-ponds on our way back." — Nimblefoot • Mar 3, 2024

"A hike up Jefferson for my Grid. Headed up Caps Ridge Tr. Barebooted the whole way. Managed to work around the ice around the caps. About a half inch of snow at higher elevation. Barely any wind above treeline. Coming back down the caps, saw a black bear along the second cap. I finished my November Grid. 4.85 miles!!" — newenglandwarrior • Nov 1, 2023

"Our final peak in the NH48! In classic White Mountains style, the weather was bitterly cold and windy, cloudy, clear, hot and humid at various points in our climb. Lots of pseudo bouldering. A fun and varied terrain. I'll want to do it again." — gooner • Aug 16, 2023

"Got on the trail at 6:36 am. Beautiful morning, very clear skies. Started out with a slow elevation gain, then made it to the view point just about 1.5 miles in. Clouds started to roll in. We continued on up the "Caps", in which there were three of them. Intimidating looking yes, but so much easier than Cathedral on Katahdin for sure. We made it over the caps, and crossed the sing that said .4 miles to the summit. THAT was hard. visibility was maybe 1/8 mile with clouds. Made it to the top, then headed back down stopping at "Caps" #3 for lunch. As we got to "Caps' #1 skies opened up over the summit, and cleared for the rest of the way. Made it back to the car at 1:19 pm. 5 miles of pure joy! Some butt sliding was needed...." — Bucky • Aug 6, 2022

"We took Caps Ridge trail up, took Castle Trail down and then Link Trail back over to Caps Ridge trail to finish it. Castle Trail was supposed to be a more gradual decline but it ended up being a LOT of ascend/descend. Also still had some cliff face/ledge to find a way down on. Overall a very challenging mountain for those with short legs" — catiehall • Jun 25, 2022

"Molly needed Washington and Jefferson for winter. We reached the Ammo trailhead and were informed by other hikers that the Jewell Tr was barely broken out. So we headed up Ammo to at least get Monroe and Washington in January. We used snowshoes to go up Ammo. We dropped our packs at the Hut and darted up to tag Monroe. We then switched into spikes back at the Hut and made our way up Washington. We were feeling pretty decent, so we decided to make a go for Jefferson. The wind picked up on the northern side of Washington. We slowly made our way up Jefferson and tagged the summit. We then came back and used a shortcut to get further down the Jewell Tr. The trail was broken out at this point. We made our way down and eventually reached the car. Molly now has 1 peak remaining for her NH48w." — newenglandwarrior • Jan 22, 2022