Swan Song Loop (NH)

[robertrives]

Hi all White Mountain running/speed hiking enthusiasts! I have a tasty new loop for us to chew on...

ardentambulations.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-swan-song-loop.html

The idea here is simple: take an updated version of the little-known Swan's Traverse in the Presidential Range and add a return trip through Huntington Ravine and Madison Gulf (with the summit of Madison thrown in) to complete the hardest, most direct Randolph -> Pinkham Notch -> Randolph loop possible. Here is a breakdown of the route, trail by trail:

- Air Line, Short Line, King Ravine, Air Line to Adams summit
- Star Lake, Buttress, Six Husbands to Great Gulf Trail
- Great Gulf headwall to Washington summit
- Tuckerman Ravine trail to Hermit Lake
- Boott Spur Link to Boott Spur, then down to Pinkham
- Huntington Ravine Trail to Alpine Garden, take it to Auto Road
- Wamsutta Trail to Great Gulf, take it down to Madison Gulf Trail
- Madison Gulf Trail to hut
- Osgood Trail to Madison summit
- Watson Path down to Brookside, Brookside to Valley Way
- Valley Way back to start

I completed the Swan Song Loop on Saturday, July 26th in a very modest time of 13:30. I told myself not to run unless the running was easy, and that turned out to be a rare opportunity. I also had a couple of 20-minute socializing sessions at Pinkham and Madison Spring Hut while refueling. To say the least, this was the most gorgeous and humbling day I've had in the Whites. Five ravine headwalls; three Presidential summits; 31,000 feet of elevation change (15.5k up, 15.5k down); 30.1 miles. New "hardest day hike in the East"? Get out there and give us some more opinions!

[Mike Robinson Lincoln]

Looks interesting...I was also looking at the loop of Presidential Range with Moriah Carter..great job! Thanks for adding this!

[dangergirl]

My husband Ryan Welts and I completed the loop together in 13:25 yesterday and i believe we now have the fkt for the swan song loop. We got a late start and had to go up Madison gulf trail with headlamps. We stopped three times to chat with friends, stopped at Washington summit to buy and eat a ton of food, refilled our water at Washington, pinkham and Madison hut where we also bought some well deserved lemonades before heading up Madison in the dark. We both took some pretty good falls coming out on the Watson path in the dark. GPS track can be viewed here: connect.garmin.com/activity/541106859 and we have three people who can confirm they saw us going up Washington, coming down tuckermans and up boot spur link and that person saw us again coming up the tuckermans trail, the crew at Madison hut chatted with us for a bit and some of the guests there saw us in kings ravine that morning and friends who saw us climb up Madison. I also have several photos taken throughout the day.-Kristina folcik

[ryanwelts]

That is some route you created. Ouch

[robertrives]

Congrats you two! I'm extremely excited to see a repeat of this. Would be good Hardrock training, dontcha think?

[dangergirl]

It was so challenging that we were laughing the whole time! Beautiful route and it seems like it is probably harder than hard rock! Great loop!

[adamiata]

Aug 31, 2015 5:22:24 GMT -5 dangergirl said:

My husband Ryan Welts and I completed the loop together in 13:25 yesterday and i believe we now have the fkt for the swan song loop. We got a late start and had to go up Madison gulf trail with headlamps. We stopped three times to chat with friends, stopped at Washington summit to buy and eat a ton of food, refilled our water at Washington, pinkham and Madison hut where we also bought some well deserved lemonades before heading up Madison in the dark. We both took some pretty good falls coming out on the Watson path in the dark. GPS track can be viewed here: connect.garmin.com/activity/541106859 and we have three people who can confirm they saw us going up Washington, coming down tuckermans and up boot spur link and that person saw us again coming up the tuckermans trail, the crew at Madison hut chatted with us for a bit and some of the guests there saw us in kings ravine that morning and friends who saw us climb up Madison. I also have several photos taken throughout the day.-Kristina folcik

Uhh, your Garmin Connect link goes to a Great Range Traverse...

This might work better: connect.garmin.com/activity/883269066

[dangergirl]

Oops! Thanks Adam!

[adamiata]

I "ran" the Swan Song Loop in 12:01:01 on August 20, 2016. Between the sustained steepness and difficult footing there wasn't a whole lot of running going on.

Of note, I lost the trail on the Great Gulf Headwall and ended up topping out about a hundred yards too far left, and took a wrong turn in the fog at the top of Huntington Ravine, having to run an extra mile or so down the auto road to find the Weetamoo Trail.

www.strava.com/activities/683104698

Adam Wilcox

[bennephew]

I lowered the FKT to 11:35:51 on Sunday. Full report to follow after the PTSD wears off....

www.strava.com/activities/1132595829

[Mike Robinson Lincoln]

Still at it and crushing! Excellent Ben!