Following my traverse of the Southern Presidentials, I was feeling the urge to get into something that was a proper rock scramble and less of a long hike. I felt confident bouldering at the gym and also on the chunky moderate rock I had encountered so far.

Reading about the steeper, more remote peaks of the Northern Presidentials, I came across a description of the Madison Gulf as “One of the hardest established trails in New England”. Now it was on!

The forecast was cool and dry so I geared up in pants, mountain boots, long sleeves; with a hardshell and down vest in my 15L ultra run pack.

Mt. Madison via the Gulf – 9 hr, 10.5 mi, 4200 ft ascent, 3rd class

My plan was to follow the Great Gulf trail into the Wilderness then take the Madison Gulf trail to the base of the scramble. I would take a break at the Madison Hut and fill water bottles before finally climbing the talus slopes to the peak and following the moderate Osgood Trail down the ridge.

As I made my way into the Great Gulf I could feel the remoteness, the trail was faint and the forest thick. I had to backtrack and do some careful navigation to find the correct line along Parapet Brook. The summer of 2023 had come with historic levels of rainfall and this trail junction was essentially one big wash out.

Challenging micro navigation in the Great Gulf

I kept chugging along up the Madison Gulf trail. Honestly, I was feeling a bit let down by the description, but just then I started seeing good signs. The angle quickly kicked up to 30 – 40° and the terrain started to get rocky. A mix of cracked slabs and sections of small boulders. The holds were big and the moves felt well within my ability. Lots of big mantles. In some sections, taking a slip, trip, or fall could have serious consequences.

Upper section of the Madison Gulf Scramble

About half of the way up, I came across someone who seemed to be descending! We had a quick chat and they explained that they were trying to bail from the AT which runs along the col above. I advised that it would not be easy and gave them some tips on down climbing. We went our ways and after another hour or so of scrambling I reached the col between Madison and Adams.

Beautiful alpine area surrounding the Madison Hut

As I followed the narrow path towards the hut, the scene filled me with awe. Star Lake and the alpine vegetation were beautiful. I put a light jacket on at the hut and sat on the porch for a few moments alongside a couple AT section hikers while munching on some gel blocks.

Summit of Mt. Madison

The last task was the upper talus slope and finally descent of the ridge. The view was immense and I couldn’t help but feel great moving through this environment. Starting the descent, I could feel the days effort in my legs and focused on carefully picking my way down the ridge and back to the trailhead.