 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
|
January 27, 2008 |
|
Our first hike of 2008! We were so looking forward to getting back out on the trails. Due to work trips, a vacation, and watching the New England Patriots march towards a perfect season this was our first hike since October.
We met Darlene at the Highland Center with blustery winds, temperature of 20 degrees, and a steady snow fall. Geri suggested that maybe we should just hike Pierce and Eisenhower, but we had planned on Monroe so off to the Cog parking lot we went. There were two other cars in the lot and one more arriving as we started out at 8:30 AM. As we started up the Ammonusic Ravine Trail we were bare booting on 2 inches of fresh snow. By the time we reached the Gem pool it had grown to 4 - 6 inches. This would turn to a good foot of new snow by the time we reached the Lakes in the Clouds hut. At one rest stop we met Bob and Irene who had summited Monroe the previous day. They were hoping to bag Washington today. As we later learned, Bob was just shy of 65 with Irene close behind. What an energetic pair. We leaped frogged a bit until we were near the top of the ravine where we led a straight line up the river to the hut. Once at the hut we all entered the dungeon to get out of the what wind there was. A snack, some conversation, and a discussion of who was doing what. Mt Washington was still in the clouds, but with light winds, temps somewhere around 10 degrees, we decided that it would be good conditions to tackle Washington. Darlene needed both Washington and Monroe for her Winter list - so off we set. Maybe 30 minutes after we left the hut the clouds lifted, leaving Mt Washington bathed in bright sunshine under an almost cloudless sky. With the bright sunshine relecting off the snow it was warm hiking - soon we were delarering and stopping for frequent water breaks. The closer we got to the summit the harder it was to not want to run the rest of the way to the peak. We were so excited that we were going to get to be on the summit of Mt Washington in January with near perfect conditions. At 1 PM we approached the summit with the tempature at 10 degrees with a 10 mph wind, which was mostly blocked my the generator building. We had to wait in line for a turn to take photos along with 2 dozen other people - some of whom had hiked up from Pinkham Notch, others were in a Weather Observatory EDU trip. Darlene had brought a t-shirt along with here from her recent trip to Peru and wanted to pose on the summit in it - no problem today - it was so warm in the sunshine. We hung on the summit for a good 30 minutes before making the decission it was time to start down. One last look around and off we went. The view towards the hut was wonderful, but the entire trip down we kept stopping to look back at Washington. It ended up staying in the clear the rest of the day. Back at the hut we said our good byes to Bob and Irene. Geri decide to hang at the hut while Bob and Darlene headed up Monroe. A quick 30 minutes later we were at the summit - one more peak for Darlene! A quick trip down, another snack and we began our descent. The trip down went fast with the only excitement being the finding of a set of crampons that somebody had lost. Thanks again Darlene for the great hike - we look forward to being there (THIS YEAR) when you finsh your quest for the Winter 48! And hi to Bob and Irene - great to meet the two of you. |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
||
and our