# Presidentials in late March



## Snocone (Jan 25, 2004)

A buddy and I were thinking of hiking the Presidentials in late March.  Both of us have hiked before (he has more experience than I do), but never before in the White Mountains.  The question I have is what the conditions are like on the Presidentials' trails in late March.  Of course we're going to dress warmly, pack extra food and emergency supplies etc, but I'm mainly wondering how necessary the winter hiking implements (crampons, snow boots, ice ax, etc.) I've read other people take along for winter hikes in the area will be.


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## pedxing (Jan 25, 2004)

Other people who know better than I will answer.  One key question will be: which Presidentials and which trails?  If you are sticking to well traveled trails, snowshoes may be unnecessary - but crampons will probably be important.  I'd definitely have snowshoes in the trunk of my car, and consider going without them - depending on conditions on the route you are traveling on (and the forecast).


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## Snocone (Jan 25, 2004)

Good point, I should have thought of that for the original post.  We're still in the planning stages of our trip, so we're still considering which mountains and trails we're going to do.  Currently, we're hoping to do at least Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison (in no particular order).  Not sure about which trails yet, but since neither of us has experience with the area and we haven't done a lot of winter hiking, we'd like to stick to less difficult trails.  We've ordered the AMC guides but they haven't arrived just yet.  Basically, we want to get to some summits, but not kill ourselves (both literally and figuratively speaking) in the process.  I guess that some trail recommendations in addition to required equipment would be helpful.


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## pedxing (Jan 26, 2004)

I haven't done a winter traverse myself, but these are sites I've used in my own planning and considerations for a future attempt:

http://www.chauvinguides.com/PresiTraverse/presiguide.htm
these people do a guided winter presidential traverse, but the information is very useful to anyone considering traversing all or part of the presidentials.

www.cs.dartmouth.edu/whites/ has some great links on winter hiking in the whites, but the site is down right now - so I can't link to the precise page.  The whole site is great, although it is not devoted exclusively to winter hiking.

http://home.earthlink.net/~ellozy/mt-washington-winter.html is a trip report of a winter traverse.  The site is well worth exploring for other info and trip reports.


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## Stephen (Jan 26, 2004)

pedxing said:
			
		

> http://home.earthlink.net/~ellozy/mt-washington-winter.html is a trip report of a winter travers.  The site is well worth exploring for other info and trip reports.



Direct link to his Presi page:

http://home.earthlink.net/~ellozy/presidential-traverse.html

-T


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## pedxing (Jan 26, 2004)

It just occured to me.  There is something I was assuming but not stating: if you are preparing for a late March trip to Presidential summits, prepare for winter conditions - even if you are leaving after the official start of Spring.


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## Mike P. (Jan 26, 2004)

Until probably 4/15 at least consider it winter.  You'll need crampons, while you may not need snowshoes on the trails (depending if we get a big Nor'easter a few days before your trip or not - these are usually Feb - April storms), if you are forced by wind & temps to get off the ridge ASAP   You will need snowshoes.

In case you must get off the ridge ASAP without a trail or down Cap's Ridge which will not be broken out since Jeff. Notch Road is closed (not plowed in winter & the trail not used usually until around 5/1. you may find your self in several feet of snow.  I've been on trails in early May where the trail markers were still under the snow.  

Any trip in March in the Presidentials is winter, temps can be single digits, wind-chill can be -50 wind can be 100 MPH & visibility zero, or it may be nice - 20's & wind under 40 MPH.  Check out the Darthmouth site someone else listed.  Dave metsky should have some April & May trips in the Presidentials from prior years.  (skiing in Tuckerman's is April & May.

If you have an axe, it's a good thing to bring on Washington


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## Greg (Jan 26, 2004)

pedxing said:
			
		

> www.cs.dartmouth.edu/whites/ has some great links on winter hiking in the whites, but the site is down right now - so I can't link to the precise page.  The whole site is great, although it is not devoted exclusively to winter hiking.


Here's the link Ped and Mike are referring to:

http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/whites/winter.html


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## pedxing (Jan 26, 2004)

Dats the page!  Thanks Greg.  Glad to see the site is up.  There are links to a bunch of winter trip reports at the bottom.

Dave Metsky and Mohamed Ellozy are heroes to many of us who research our hikes on the web.  Mike and Greg are great sources of info and encouragement as well.


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## Greg (Jan 26, 2004)

pedxing said:
			
		

> Dave Metsky and Mohamed Ellozy are heroes to many of us who research our hikes on the web.


Dave Metsky's site was my initial inspiration for AlpineZone.com...

 :beer:


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