2 day presi Traverse

[bluerex]

I am looking into doing a 2 day presidential traverse and have gotten a lot of good information off of these boards, but was hoping to get suggestions on locations to camp and stuff like that. I have found a lot of people usually do the traverse in either 1 day or 3, so I figured I would post and see what everyone thinks of a 2 day trip.

We plan on doing the normal loop in which we would summit Madison, Adams, Jefferson, clay, washington, monroe, franklin, eisenhower and pierce. We would like to start north and do a lot the first day, leaving an easy hike out. Only problem is I am not sure where to spend the night. I don't want to stay in a hut, esp this time of year when they are packed. I would like to avoid any of the main tent sites, just cause I think they will be packed.

I was also thinking of going south to north and staying somewhere in the great gulf. but that would make a more difficult second day.

Sorry for the long post and any suggestions are welcome.

[chrisdurand]

sorry to latch onto your post but i will be doing something similar at the end of august, starting on the glen boulder trail make way over to mt. pierce, eisenhower, franklin, monroe, ending on washington then back down.......i am thinking 2 days will be fine.......but a little unsure.....:)

[KD Talbot]

No one else is speaking up here. You should know there is no legal camping above treeline anywhere in the White Mountains. You will either have to drop down a trail below treeline or camp at a designated spot, which are few and far between.

There is Naumann Campsite on Mount Pierce, there is Hermit Lake Shelters in Tuckerman Ravine and there are some on Mount Adams as well as some in the Great Gulf.

I suggest you get a map and weigh your options or you risk being fined. You may not get caught by a ranger, but most of the hikers I know would report you. If you don't have a map to figure out where the legal camping areas are then I would surmise you are unprepared to make this trip. Asking questions here is a good thing, but you need to do more research into this endeavor.

KDT

[rockin rex]

Kevin is right on. Above tree is very fragile and the rules are in place for a reason.

[claaky23]

If I were you I'd plan around going into the Great Gulf if this is your first traverse. You'd give up over 2500 feet of elevation gain(going north to south) to get to the primitive campsites in the Gulf. Also no fires there, not sure what the rules are elsewhere but I would think Hermit Shelter South to North might break up the trip well.

[bluerex]

Just as an update to anyone looking to do a good two day trip, we started south at Cutler Notch, we camped in the great gulf via the sphinx trail, the camp sites are very well marked and hard to miss. Then hiked back to Dolly Copp where we had set up camp the day before. Did the trip last weekend 8/22/09 and worked out very well.