Our party of eight (including 2 leaders) started out from the Great Gulf Wilderness parking area off Route 16 (Great Gulf Trail) at about 8am.  The cool temperatures and overcast skies made it easy to keep a steady hiking pace.  Most of the trails were wet or damp, and any exposed roots made for tricky footing.  We made excellent progress, taking the Osgood Trail past the tent platforms where our pace slowed to handle the steepening terrain.  As we hiked above treeline, the cloud cover started to disperse - pushed by fairly cool breezes that chilled the group.  There are numerous false summits along the ridge, but we managed to step on the summit just past noon.  We hiked down to the Madison Hut to have lunch out of the wind.  Since the cloud cover was still obscuring Mount Adams, the generally feeling was to skip Mount Adams and return via the Parapet Trail (around the summit of Madison).  At the trail junction, the group agreed to descend via the Madison Gulf Trail instead - which was much steeper but a new route for most in the group.  This trail is very steep - parts of it are a stream bed (with slick rocks) - other parts of the trail are fairly exposed and could be tricky for the less experienced.  Our progress was very slow down this trail, but everyone made it to the bottom with no problems.  The bottom half of the trail is an easy grade and progress is quick.  Our hike finished at about 5:30 pm.