Home States  Colorado  Connecticut  Maine  Massachusetts  New Hampshire  New York  Rhode Island  Utah  Vermont  View All Lists  NE 4,000 Footers  NE 100 Highest  NH 4,000 Footers  NH 100 Highest  NH 52 With A View  NH Belknap Range  NH Ossipee 10 Links Trail Conditions Trip Log  Sunrises  Sunsets About Mt. Adams, Mt. Quincy Adams, Mt. Madison Randolph, NH, Low and Burbank's Grant, NH, Thompson and Meserve's Purchase, NH Trailheads, measurements, times, distances, and maps are all approximate and relative to the hike(s) as shown below. Looking down the Air Line Trail Route: Air Line, (Mt. Adams), Air Line, rockwhack, (Mt. Quincy Adams), rockwhack, Gulfside Trail, Osgood Trail, (Mt. Madison), Osgood Trail, Valley Way, Fallsway With a tremendous weather forecast, I arranged to take the afternoon off and head up to the Northern Presidentials. Arriving at Appalachia, I loaded up my pack - snowshoes and all - and headed up the Air Line. Things dragged considerably for quite awhile, as I was feeling quite low on energy. While the first fraction of a mile was mostly snow free, the monorail started fairly soon - thus, Microspike time. The Micropsikes were adequate, though there were some significant blue ice bulges along the way that begged for crampons. Reaching the treeline, my lack of energy suddenly disappeared. The views were tremendous and the temperatures still fairly mild. Reaching the summit, things were a bit windy, but not too bad. After taking a few tea photos (Tea Party Day!), I put on my crampons and carefully worked my way back down the icy snowfield. Having never been to Mt. Quincy Adams before, I decided to leave the trail and head over to it. Though not particularly prominent, there were great views from the summit nonetheless. While I could have in theory done a bee line toward the hut, I decided to return to the Air Line-Gulfside junction and take the traditional route down. Once at the hut, I took off my crampons and barebooted to the summit of Madison. Once again, the views were spectacular - probably 100 miles or so. After doing another set of tea photos, I headed back to the hut, put on my Microspikes, and descended the Valley Way. Near the bottom, I took the Fallsway and checked out the multiple waterfalls it approaches - not a bad alternative to the somewhat monotonous Valley Way. Hike Ratings Getting To Trailhead: Easy Destination: Mt. Adams Length: Moderate Steepness: Very Difficult Navigation: Easy Views: Excellent Crowds: Minimal Destination: Mt. Quincy Adams Length: Moderate Steepness: Very Difficult Navigation: Easy Views: Excellent Crowds: Minimal Destination: Mt. Madison Length: Difficult Steepness: Very Difficult Navigation: Easy Views: Excellent Crowds: Minimal Hike Stats Date Hiked: Wednesday, April 15, 2009 Hike Commenced: 12:36 PM Parking Elevation: 1,311' Destination: Mt. Adams Ascent Commenced: 12:36 PM Summit Reached: 3:26 PM Time Elapsed: 02:50 Trailhead Elevation: 1,311' Summit Elevation: 5,774' Distance: 4.3 miles Vertical Gain: 4,513' Destination: Mt. Quincy Adams Ascent Commenced: 3:38 PM Summit Reached: 3:57 PM Time Elapsed: 00:19 Trailhead Elevation: 5,774' Summit Elevation: 5,410' Vertical Gain: 90' Destination: Mt. Madison Ascent Commenced: 4:00 PM Summit Reached: 4:43 PM Time Elapsed: 00:43 Trailhead Elevation: 5,410' Summit Elevation: 5,367' Vertical Gain: 577' Hike Ended: 7:14 PM Hike Time Elapsed: 06:38 Hike Vertical Gain: 5,315' The Air Line Trail trailhead at Appalachia Mt. Washington as seen from the summit of Mt. Adams Looking across the snowfield on the way to Mt. Quincy Adams The Carters and Wildcats as seen from Mt. Quincy Adams Looking down the Gulfside Trail Mt. Washington and Mt. Adams as seen from Mt. Madison One of the falls along the Fallsway Trail Directions to trailhead: Take US 2 West from Gorham to the Appalachia trailhead/parking lot. Back to Mt. Adams Profile Back to Mt. Quincy Adams Profile Back to Mt. Madison Profile Copyright 2002-2021, All Rights Reserved. www.FranklinSites.com