Running the Presidential Traverse, New Hampshire
(Revised July 2023)
We had originally planned to run the Presidential Traverse across the White Mountains as we made our way back South. However, the weather was going to be rainy from Hurricane Elsa, so we decided to head over on Monday, July 5th to attempt the run.
The Presidential Traverse is a 20-mile point-to-point trail that is usually hiked in sections over a couple of days. You will cross over 8 peaks, including Mount Washington, which is the highest peak in the northeast at 6,288 feet and the most prominent mountain East of the Mississippi River. The mountain is well known to have the highest winds, hitting a record at 231 miles per hour!
Running the entire trail is extremely difficult due to weather, and terrain. Many people have the option to take a cog up the railway or even drive up the auto road to the peak of Mt. Washington (which are both VERY touristic and overpriced in our opinion.)
I picked Sarah up from work at 3 am and we headed straight to Gorham, NH (which is about a 3 hr drive). Sarah dropped me off at the Appalachia Trailhead located at the Northern end of the traverse. She headed South to the Webster - Jackson Trailhead. Just about a 27-minute drive. She began running North as I was heading South. The plan was to meet up and then head back to the car in the direction Sarah and come from.
Heading up to Mt. Madison, which would be my first peak of the day, was definitely a good taste of what would come. To me, this was the hardest climb of the day. Expect a good leg burn by the time you reach the top.
After Madison, you head back the way you came for just a bit and make your way over to Madison Spring Hut. This is a great spot to eat, refill water, and leg the legs rest before heading up to Mt. Adams.
You’ll be hopping along over rocks for the vast majority of this part. Some spots are more runnable than others.
Mt Jefferson is the next major obstacle you will come to. More rock, and you’ll start to see more hikers as well. I stopped and talked to some rangers that were checking on people that seemed to still be in their tents (The temperature can be extremely cold at night).
From Jefferson you begin the climb to the high point, Mt. Washington!
Finally, after staring at it all morning, I began my way up.
looking at Mount Washington from the North.
Eventually you’ll have the cog railway passing you on your right as you make your way up to the summit.
Mt. Washington is not like the rest of the mountain range. Here you’ll find screaming kids, loads of tourist, and lots of traffic. It is a good spot to refuel.
I did not hang around very long and ran into Sarah as I was coming down the South side.
We decided that she should just wait at the summit until I get the car to come get her.
The Southern section from Mt. Washington was a lot more runnable. This made it go by way faster!
Crossing over Mt. Monroe, and then to Franklin, these were some of my favorite parts of the entire run! With few technical parts it made for a very enjoyable section.
Eventually I made it to Mt. Eisonhower. This is where you begin the decent down to Webster- Jackson Trailhead where the car was parked.
All in all, it was about 18 miles with 9,000ft of climbing. Definitely a bucket list run for East Coasters!