October 29, 2009
Today would be a big day for my dog Madison. She would complete the White Mountains 4000 footers. I arrived at Appalachia later than I wanted due to the desire to sleep in a little. Madison and I hit the trail at 8:15. We took the long way up to Mount Jefferson by way of The Link which was a new trail for me. We went over a small Memorial Bridge which I had never been on.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Link is a long trail. I passed the junction for Lowe's Path, Israel Ridge Path, and Castle Ravine Trail. I finally reached the junction with the Castle Trail. This left 1.6 miles of The Link for another day. We took the Castle Trail up and over "The Castles". There were 3 or 4 places of scrambling where Madison needed some help, and I had to pick her up. I was disappointed in the cloudy weather for a day that was supposed to be mostly sunny, but then we headed up and through the clouds.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Overlooking the clouds from one of 'the castles'.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Madison and I took a break after 'the castles'.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Looking over to Mount Adams
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The clouds below began to break up.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Madison and I tagged Jefferson which was #46 for her. The Whites have had a couple small snowstorms, but the snow has currently melted. It won't be long and it will be back. In the interest of red-lining (hiking all the trails) I decided to take a slightly different route. I began my way down Six Husbands Trail before taking the Edmands Col Cutoff. We then headed up to Mount Adams, #47 for Madison.
View from Adams
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Time to make our way over to Mount Madison.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Down to Madison Hut we headed. Then this was it! We had .4 miles to the top of Madison's last 4000 footer. Here she is on the summit.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
But she hadn't quite touched the highest spot. I encouraged her to hop on the highest rock for #48.
Madison on Madison
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I didn't have the heart to tell her that the mountain was NOT named after her and that in actuality, Lynn and I named her after the mountain.
Time for a break
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Looking over to Mount Washington
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It was such a nice day, sunny with just a very light breeze. I was surprised that I did not see a single person all day. Madison and I then had the long descent. I definitely need to start my hikes earlier. It gets dark so early now. I had to put on my headlamp for the last 30 minutes. We finished at 6:45.
| 
