.July 2, 2005
I had climbed Mount Washington twice before, but both times were from the west side of the mountain. This time I would be climbing it from the east side. Having climbed it twice before, it is already on my list of completed 4,000 footers. Two guys from work, Dwayne and Brent, have joined me for the hike. The 3 of us make up three fourths of the computer department at the hospital. Don, my boss, joked with me that since this was my idea he would hold me personally responsible if anybody didn't come back.
We will be taking the Tuckerman Ravine Trail to the top. This trail is considered the most common route to the top even over the A.T. This trail starts and stops on the A.T. but has no actual A.T. miles. It is sometimes used for A.T. hikers as an alternate bad weather route. It is one of the shortest routes to the top and therefore one of the steepest. Leaving Pinkham Notch Visitor Center, we began the hike. The trail from here to Hermit Lake Shelter is wide, not to steep, but very rocky. Dwayne takes the lead and starts with a swift pace. We laugh and make wise cracks as we hike. About half way to the shelter I noticed no one was making jokes and we were all breathing heavier. Brent noticed it too and spoke up, "I notice that there are no more jokes now that everyone is breathing hard."
When we reached the shelter we got a pretty good look into Tuckerman's Ravine. It was July 2nd and there was still snow. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Tuckerman's Ravine is well known for its skiing even as late as May. There are no lifts though. Everyone who skiis here has to carry in their own equipment and then climb the ravine.
Now for the fun part, the ravine required a 1/3 of a mile scramble to the top. I love steep climbs so I decided to take the lead for a while. I shortened my hiking poles as far as they would go and began the climb. Part way up, there was a 'tunnel' of snow. Brent and I stopped to investigate and briefly got off the trail. It was a section of snow that was completely hollowed out from melting. It looked like you could climb underneath it and climb through and out the other side. However, as quickly as the snow was melting, it looked like it could collapse at anytime. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ We got back on the trail and continued the steep climb to the top of the ravine. This was a very windy day but with the sidewalls of the ravine blocking the wind it was as calm as could be.
We reached the top of the ravine and had about 1 more mile to the summit. Typical Mount Washington weather had rolled in. We were completely in the fog and had trouble finding the cairns that marked the trail. This part of the hike seemed to drag on and on. Not being able to see very well, it seemed as though we were not making progress. We then heard the sound of a truck backing up. We had to be close now. A few moments later we reached the auto road. After successfully crossing the road in the fog without getting hit by passing cars, we went through the parking lot, up the stairs, and up to the summit at 6,288 feet. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Some do not like how commercialized Mount Washington has become. I sort of like it. Don't get me wrong, I love hiking to beautiful summits with no structures, but it is kind of nice to have one mountain that you can climb and have a restaurant, gift shop, and bathrooms waiting for you. There is even a small post office. We sat down to enjoy our lunch. Dwayne brought enough food for about 4 days. "I guess I over did it!" he said. I've done this myself. When the thought of being in the wilderness with no convenience stores enters your mind, you make sure to bring plenty of food.
The weather finally broke and we had some great views. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Wanting to stay above treeline as long as possible, we decided to take the Nelson Crag Trail down. With Brent in the lead, the trail brought us over two other peaks: Ball Crag at 6,066' and Nelson Crag at 5,635'. Despite their height, neither one classifies as an official 4,000 footer.
We ducked below treeline and continued to follow the Nelson Crag trail which by this time was quite narrow and steep. Then Brent slipped and fell. He uttered some words that shouldn't be repeated, and doesn't recall saying them. A person will yell out just about anything if he/she is in enough pain. Brent ended up with a nasty, nasty bruise but no serious injury.
We then got to Old-Jackson Road which was not a road at all, and I don't see how it ever could have been. It was narrow and rocky, but somewhat flat. It was also part of the A.T. and brought us the remaining 1.7 miles back to Pinkham Notch.
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