I recently came across a video of Sage Canaday running the Presidential Traverse in the White Mountains of New Hampshire (on Far North Endurance). He was up here for the Mt. Washington Road Race, where he finished third. If you’re not familiar with the Mt. Washington Road Race, it’s pretty intense – 7.6 miles and 4,500 feet of elevation gain to the summit of Mt. Washington. I have not done it yet myself, but someday I may try (it scares me!).
I wanted to share this mainly since it gives a bit of peak into the area where I live. The Whites are about an hour north of my hometown of Concord, NH, and there are tons of trails up there (my wife used to be the botanist for the White Mountain National Forest, so she’s explored many of them!). Despite being the capital of my state, Concord is a small town and is kind of the final gateway for those heading north to popular tourist destinations (the lakes region, Whites, etc.) – it’s a wonderful place to live!
One of my goals in the future is to make an effort to hit the Whites more often, which has been a challenge since I have three small kids (my oldest was born just after we moved to NH, and we’ve had at least one kid 3 or under almost continuously since then). My youngest is just about old enough that hiking is less of a challenge, looking forward to exploring more in the future!
About Peter Larson
He needs a map. I was struck by how much he seemed to get lost or not know which trail to take. The northern Presidentials (Monroe/Madison/Jefferson) are all rocky and that end you can lose the path since there isn’t usually a path, just picking points between cairns but he should know which peaks are presidentials and which are not in the souther end and which trail to take. Summer or not this strikes me as a little careless up in the Whites. (He would do well to read the Far North Running article about the route!)
Awesome country Pete!
Trails look very rough-really tech, but altitude is about where I like it. Looks like maybe a get- away- run- the- trails- day- with a buddy. Then date night with the wife. :) Really Pete, a Bud on those rocky trails would be a good Idea. I speak from exp, having ate it pretty good and limping back to car on less tech trails around my house in Prescott Az. Thanks for the upload, great video! Sage seems like a free spirit. I like maps too. :)