Okay, so just when I thought all of my questions had been answered, I have one more. I hope someone can provide some sound advice.
My buddy and I are being shuttled (AMC shuttle) to Appalachia. We were going to hike up Valley Way to the ridge and then hit the summits of Madison and Adams. After that I figured it would be late enough in the day (we probably will not be able to hit the Valley Way Trail until roughly 10:00 am) that we would need to call it a day and head down to The Perch or Gray Knob or Crag Camp.
Just yesterday, Sintax77 posted a new video ( Hammock Camping the Six Husbands Trail
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp4ZHxRPjv8&t=3440s ). He began at Pinkham Notch, hiked north on the Madison Gulf Trail, west on Great Gulf, crossed the Peabody River at the Wamsutta Trail and went north a ways toward the Six Husband's Trail where he found two unofficial but legal camp areas (they had tent symbols on a post). Anyway, he mentioned that he has used similar unofficial but legal camp areas at the intersection of the Sphinx and Great Gulf trails.
My buddy suggested we hike up the Valley Way and hit Madison, Adams, as originally planned but then continue on to Jefferson. Then we would make our way south to the Sphinx Trail, descend to where it meets the Great Gulf Trail and then attempt to find one of those legal camp areas. He said the next morning we could simply take the Great Gulf Trail up to Mt. Washington and continue south from there.
Initially I posted about trying to make it to the Jewell Trail on our first day and then descending to find the very limited off-trail camping area. But, someone said that would be a very ambitious goal (meaning, probably not a good idea) to make it that far on the first day, especially since we were getting such a late start at Appalachia.
So, here are my questions. Looking at my trail map, it appears that the route from Appalachia to the intersection of Sphinx and Great Gulf is roughly 10 miles. Considering the terrain and our 10:00 am start at Appalachia, is that just as "ambitious" as trying to make it to the Jewell Trail (it appears to be roughly the same distance as Jewell)? I have read that descending the Sphinx is quite rough, the rocks can be wet and slippery and the trail is easy to lose in certain areas. Has anyone used one of those camp areas near the Great Gulf Trail? What is it like hiking up to Washington on the Great Gulf Trail? Should we attempt this way or stick to the original plan of spending the night at Perch, Crag or Gray Knob?
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