FKT: Rich Gambale - Presidential Traverse (NH) - 2016-06-27

Athletes
Route variation
triple traverse
Gender category
Male
Style
Self-supported
Finish date
Total time
1d 15h 30m 0s
Report

Triple trans presi done in 40 hours, 58 miles and 27k vertical climbed. Its quite possible that this is the first time that 3 trans presis were hiked back to back. I started at Appalachia at 3 am on Saturday morning. I reached the hut at 5 which was quick.. I met a hiked named Jeff List on Madison he was doing a double trans presi. I told him I was doing a double. As usual I was in slow mode till mile 10 which was Washington. It usually takes 10 -15 miles till I get in cruise mode. I have yet to find a solution to that challenge. While at Washington I and snapped a photo, without a line and I bought three Sprites. I stored two in the rocks for the other two passes. Now that I was in cruise mode I dodged tourists and made it to the lakes of the clouds hut in 40 minutes. I ate yummy baked goods and I was off for a hot hike down hill to Clinton. I cook in the sun and that's part of the reason that I love night hiking. I made it to Clinton at 1pm then Crawford at 2:20. The first lap was done at 11.5 hours. I felt good, I ate Ben and Jerry's ice cream and potato salad. As I was heading up to Clinton I met Jeff again. He had done the double presi traverse in 16 hours. I thought that is a super fast time, later he posted on Facebook that he was now the record holder for the double trans presi. Real nice work Jeff!!! Now I was going through my water very quickly and thankfully I found two springs to ease the thirst. At lakes of the clouds I met a thru hiker and we were instant friends. As I was leaving he said" this guy is hiking till 2 :30 am and he is in Beast Mode". That made me hike faster with an inner glow. At Washington it was at now quite at 8pm. I love it when it's a ghost town there. I arrived at Madison hut at midnight. One of my secrets is to carry two v8's , a smoothie and NUUN hydration tablets. The v8 is an instant energizer and stops the shakes when negotiating rocks at night. On this hike I carried rain pants, two black diamond head lamps, rain jacket, gloves, a hat and a light weight jacket. I see runners who carry just water. I hike about the same speed as if I had a back pack. So I don't mind caring the cold rain gear. Madison and Adams were tough to navigate this time since I was tired and wanting to sleep. I arrived at Appalachia at 2:30 am . It was a struggle to find a site to nap for a few hours. I was tired and just wanted to crash so I picked a poor campsite near a calming stream. I set the alarm for 8am but my body was ready to get this job done starting at 5. I thought really body, 5 am??? I got up and packed my bag. I met Nate Weeks as I was hiking up Jefferson. He was hiking a crazy route and I was happy to finally meet him. I was about a hour slower than the first loop as I went by crazy busy Washington. I pulled out the last Sprite from the rocks and sat down on the observatory cement. I thought I am really tired. Now I could say I had completed the hard part and I have it nearly done. At Lakes I randomly met a friend, named Caitlin she gave me a high 5. I crushed the rest of the hike and made it to Crawford in 4.5 hours, 39.5 hours since I started Saturday morning at 3am. To keep my dad and my wife Arlette Laan up to date on my progress I use an Inreach made by delorum. It can send text messages anywhere in the world with a clear view of the sky. Arlette picked me up at Crawford and we went out for pizza to celebrate where we met Caitlin. . During the hike I was slightly nauseous the whole time. Now due to lack of sleep I was barely able to make out how to screw the cap on a bottle, my brain wasn't working quite right. I needed was sleep. I learned that doubles are easiest by starting at Crawford so that I'm not negotiating Adams and Madison rocky summits at midnight while being tired.? A big thank u goes out in order or importance to Disturbed, Godsmack, ACDC and Rush to urge me climbing up over the summits.