Today's tradition of breaking trail was not over, for the Daniel Webster trail was also not broken out. This turned out to be a bit of a challenge navigationally, as the blue-blazed Daniel Webster trail is not especially well-marked, and there were a few non-obvious decision points along the upper part of the route. Slowly but steadily we made progress, eventually reaching the more gentle slopes and less deep powder on the lower flanks of the mountain.
After a somewhat longer descent time than we anticipated, we arrived at the end (or start, depending upon how you look at it) of the Daniel Webster Scout Trail at the Dolly Copp Campground. From here we had another mile or so of relatively flat walking to get back to the car.
Finishing the Scout Trail
The walk up the Great Gulf Link was quite fast, compared to our slow trailbreaking earlier in the day. We arrived back at the suspension bridge, then the car, just as night was falling.
Suspension bridge over Peabody
All in all, a physically tougher day than we had anticipated, but still full of reward and great scenery. I'd love to try this one sometime with a nice undercast. The views up the Great Gulf would be fantastic!
Interactive Trackmap with photo-points - click to expand
Hike Data - Mount Madison
Start Time:
6:26a.m.
End Time:
4:43p.m.
Duration:
10h16m
Distance:
16.1 km
(10.01 mi)
Average Speed:
1.6 km/hr
(1.0 mph)
Start Elevation:
1454ft
(443m)
*
Max Elevation:
5465ft
(1666m)
*
Min Elevation:
1232ft
(376m)
*
End Elevation:
1374ft
(419m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Total Elevation Gain:
4112ft
(1253m)
*
Total Elevation Loss:
4192ft
(1278m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Elevation Graph
