Snowy Mt. Washington 1/14/2017

Carl and friend on Mt. WA summit
Carl and friend on Mt. WA summit

The plan was to meet Carl, Ken and Mark on the Mt. Washington trail.  I am a slower hiker than these super-fit gents so I got an early start and met them on the trail. I stopped at “the pond” and waited only a few minutes and there they were.

I almost kept in touch with them the rest of the way but then we got to a section where the snow was so deep that the normal trail was obliterated so hikers/snow shoers before us just went straight up the mountain.  In the Google Earth image below, the red is the actual trail, from an older track, and blue is the route we took yesterday.

Red = trail Blue = our route
Red = trail Blue = our route

Looks benign on the 2-dimensional image, but I can tell you it was straight up.  When we were descending we didn’t fool around, we just slid straight down:

Sliding down on our butts
Sliding down on our butts

I love this hike.  It is not known as particularly scenic but it does have its moments, particularly on the summit.

Mt Washington summit/Rainier
Mt Washington summit/Rainier
NE view from the trail
NE view from the trail
North view from trail
North view from trail

Plus, there is a rocky wall with enormous icicles:

Icicles on steroids
Icicles on steroids

As for the trail, the snow was consolidated enough that we made it easily with only traction on the boots.

Miles and miles of this
Miles and miles of this

A great hike on a gorgeous winter day.

Visualization:

http://adventures.garmin.com/en-US/by/djhiker/mount-washington-1-14-2017/#.WHt5Mk2V85s

 

 

 

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