#13 Mt. Madison, #14 Mt. Adams, #15 Mt. Jefferson, #16 Mt. Washington, #17 Mt. Monroe, #18 Mt. Eisenhower, and #19 Mt. Pierce, New Hampshire

What's the best way to celebrate a birthday?  Yes, agreed.  A Presidential traverse!  It actually fell a few days after my birthday, but I still considered it a birthday gift to myself.

On a Saturday night in late July I departed Burlington with two loyal hiking companions for the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  We dropped off one car at the end spot of the hike and spent an electricity-free night at an old farmhouse on Martin Meadow Pond in Lancaster, NH.  It which was wonderful.  We arose at 5:30am the next morning to hit the trail.

We ended up starting at 6:45am from Appalachia off of Route 2.  We headed up the trail toward Mt. Madison and when the trail split toward the Madison Hut, the most common way to get to the summit, we headed left on the Watson Path, one of the more challenging and exhilarating trails I've been on!  It was about 1.2 miles from the junction to the summit, with the last 1/2 mile or so out on an open ridge.

On top of Madison, the views were killer.  We snapped some photos, chatted with a few AT thru-hikers, and continued on our way.  Next was Mt. Adams, followed by Mt. Jefferson, a quick ascent of a "non-qualifying" peak called Mt. Clay before the assault on Mt. Washington.  To be honest, it was the least satisfying part of the hike.  The summit was swarmed with people who had taken the toll road or the cog railway to the top.  A few quick sips of water and we carried on our way.

We stopped for some snacks at the Lakes of the Clouds Hut before hitting Mt. Monroe, Mt. Franklin (another "non-qualifying" peak), Mt. Eisenhower, and finally Mt. Pierce.  We considered hitting Jackson and Webster as well, but as we had already hiked nearly 20 miles and we had all done Jackson and Webster before, we decided to head back down to the car.

All in all, we logged 21 miles, 9 peaks (7 official 4,000 footers), in 10.5 hours.  A delightful dinner at the now fully powered farmhouse and a relaxing evening was the perfect end to the perfect day.

Unfortunately we focused so much on pounding out the miles and soaking in the views that we took very few photos.  Here are a few.