Swan Song Trip Report

by Andrew Drumond

I’m not sure why the Swan Song took so long to gain my attention. It always seemed like a contrived route that very few people talked about. This summer that all changed and something clicked: this is a special route, not only because of the history but I’ve grown to love all of these trails over time (even the Buttress!). And while the map might not be aesthetically pleasing, completing this route certainly is. Here’s a run through of what I experienced during my first but not last Swan Song:

The goal was to give this route a steady effort, don’t break myself, just keep my foot on the gas and see how my summit splits compared to Ben Nephew who ran this in 11:35 back in 2017. While this wasn’t the FKT (Greg Wagner 10:51 in 2018), the splits seemed more reasonable for my effort. Also, CHERRY PICK your day for this route - make sure the trail is bone dry, temps are moderate, and winds are low. You don’t need to make an already challenging route more difficult.

King Ravine Ascent

Air Line, Short Line, King Ravine, Air Line to Adams summit

The temps were cool and comfortable for mid August and my pack was light with just the essentials. A good thing about this route is there’s no shortage of water so you rarely need to bring more than a flask of water. I started from Appalachia TH just after 5am, it was still dark and slowed my pace as I jog / hiked the easy sections of Air Line and Short Line. Things quickly change on the King Ravine trail which turns into boulder hopping and scrambling. The trail is beautiful and pops you out above treeline rather fast. It’s a fun climb up to the junction with Air Line and the route finding is straightforward with only one move I messed up, part of learning the King Ravine trails. The remaining climb was easy and I was only a few minutes behind Ben’s time at the summit, even with my slow start, which excited me as I knew I could move well on the descent into the Great Gulf wilderness.

First Light in King Ravine.

View of Mount Washington from Mt Adams - Great Gulf Ascent (red) Wamsutta Descent (yellow).

Adams Descent

Star Lake, Buttress, Six Husbands to Great Gulf Trail

For those unfamiliar with the Star Lake trail, it’s chunky but similar to other ravine trails. You traverse back towards Star Lake (basically bone dry during this drought) then traverse back south as you wrap around the eastern flank of Mount Adams on the Buttress. If there’s anything I want to relay about the trails on this route, the Buttress trail will be incredibly slow so be patient as it gets better. A good description would be boulder hopping through a spruce carwash, losing sight of your feet blindly rock-hopping. If this rock is wet, there is no outsole rubber that will save your ass, you will slip and likely fall a few times before descending into better trail. Things improve remarkably once you get below treeline. The trail crosses a boulder field with spectacular views of the entire wilderness area (see photo below). Soon I was down on the Six Husbands trail refilling water and happy to have that descent in the rearview.

View of the Buttress Trail descent.

View of the Great Gulf Wilderness.

Washington Ascent (Great Gulf headwall)

The Great Gulf climb is my favorite ascent of Mount Washington - it feels like something out of Colorado. A quick shout out to the trail crew as all the significant blowdowns had been cleaned up. You climb up along waterfalls and swimming holes before topping out at Spaulding Pond which offers views of the entire Great Gulf cirque. You continue up a mossy waterfall littered with alpine flowers and views to your back of Mount Jefferson, Adams, and Madison. There’s 1,600’+ packed into a mile as you pick your way up the headwall. Fortunately the water was still flowing so I was able to fill up several times. This area usually runs dry later in the summer. I split Mount Washington in 3:52, ten minutes up on Ben’s time. 

Washington Descent

Tuckerman Ravine, Boott Spur Link, & Boott Spur

I was now in my home court and really enjoyed the descent down the Tuckerman Ravine Trail. Again, if the summit cone is wet, the section of trail from the Lion Head junction to the headwall is very slick so use caution. Knowing this trail allowed me to zone out a bit and quickly get down to Hermit Lake. I refilled water crossing the Cutler at the Sherb and began the 600’ climb up the Boott Spur Link. The morning started to catch up with me as my knees were aching on the Boott Spur descent. For better or worse, I love this descent and kept the pace up all the way to Pinkham Notch, somehow 50 minutes up on Ben’s time.

View of Boott Spur from the top of the Tuckerman Ravine Trail.

Huntington Ravine Ascent

Since I split Pinkham so much faster than expected and now on FKT pace, I had to keep pressing and what started as a fun run became a race. As much as I didn’t want to run back up the TRT, I found myself shuffling most of the way to the Huntington Ravine trail. Nothing notable on this section, just made sure to take in electrolytes and keep on the nutrition. Just two more climbs left and this one was going to be relatively short as it only tops out of the ravine before the next descent. I had just climbed Huntington two days ago so route finding was easy, topping out in 1:18 from Pinkham. I quickly traversed to the Wamsutta TH and I was staring at Madison in the distance, my last climb of the day.

Wamsutta & Great Gulf Descent

To my surprise someone had worked on the Wamsutta trail. This was the last trail I expected to be in good condition and gave me another boost of confidence. I love this trail but like most Great Gulf trails, it climbs better than it descends. I passed a couple hikers on this section but overall it was smooth with no issues. Once down off the ridge, I took a minute to clean my shoes of debris and get some nutrition. The trail down to the Madison Gulf junction is super choppy and I’m pretty sure it runs the same pace up or down. For what it’s worth I used the bridge that is closed on the AT, you could also rock hop the river.

Madison Ascent

Madison Gulf & Osgood Trail

One climb left, and it’s a big one. Madison Gulf is a lovely trail that was also in good condition. It’s punchy in sections but has a forgiving grade to start and the steep bits are engaging. At this point you also know that this is it and the climb from the hut will be short and sweet. I topped out, enjoyed the view and wrapped around to the Madison Hut to grab a little water before the final summit push.

Madison Descent via Watson Path

The Watson Path was a burner. It’s technical descending off the summit cone and drops fast down into Snyder Brook. I had only climbed this trail once and remembered how bad it was with blowdowns. Fortunately the descent was clear but I knew what lay ahead, the Brookside trail doesn’t give it up easy and there’s plenty of roots and rocks to navigate before getting to the flowy benched out trail. With a couple miles left I relaxed a little knowing that I could enjoy some actual running. I arrived back at Appalachia in 9:14:59, so much faster than expected and earning an FKT in the process.

View of Mount Madison & Star Lake.

Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed this route and it was reminiscent of the 2023 MMD which proved to be one of the more challenging routes I’ve done in the White Mountains. After gaining experience on all of these trails, the Swan Song didn’t seem as daunting, rather a fun link-up of some of my favorite trails in the Presidentials. As far as the FKT goes, I think this time could go under eight hours, just not going to be me! Conditions mean everything and I picked a great day to give the Swan Song an honest effort. 

Links:

• Swan Song Route: (Strava Segment / Strava Route / GPX)
• Far & Fast Appalachia Journal (Dec 1958) Highlighting the Swan's Traverse
• Rob Rive’s Blog Post with some route history
• Ben Nephew's Report
• Swan Song on the FKT website