Friday morning. Wow, what a great day to climb some mountains! Mostly sunny with enough fluffy cumulous clouds to provide occasional shade without threatening rain. The air is dry. Can you imagine, the air is dry. My plan is to get on trail by one and do a mini presidential traverse this afternoon. I think I'll take Howker's, because it leads directly up Madison, should be dry, has great views from the Howks, and crosses over a waterfall. It's a pain in the ass to climb down, but it's a quick climb up. I'll stop by Madison hut for lunch, then summit Adams via Star Lake, and return by Lowe's path, maybe cutting over on Randolph pass. I'm figuring six hours. It's probably between 10 and 12 miles total with elevation gains of over a mile. Lemme check. About 11.5. Hmm. Maybe I should go down air line. I'll just have to improvise, and see how I feel. Regardless, I've been up over 4800 feet too many times not to actually start bagging peaks. Maybe I'll grab Jefferson too, as long as I'm up there, right? If I bust my ass, I could reach Madison in about 2:10, Adams in 3:10, Jefferson in 4:10, back by 7 hours. I think I'll pass on Jeff.
Even I think this is crazy.
Started on trail at two sharp, reached Madison summit (5367') at five sharp, hung out about 5 minutes, then made it Madison hut by 5:25, where I rested for 10-15 minutes, slugging water and eating a couple slices of leftover bread. Howker's is much longer than Valley Way/Watson. Took air line down, running some lower sections. Time down from the hut about 1:35 for a total time on trail of 5:15 (2:00-7:15) a total distance of about 9 ½ miles and a total climb of about 4100 feet.
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