October 6, 2007
I know it has only been a month, but I'm hiking up Mount Washington again. I made a crucial mistake this morning. I set my alarm for 5:30 instead of 4:30. Somehow I managed to meet Ed and Jim at the Highland Center at 7:00. We left my car there, and we drove up to the cog railway.
All aboard!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
No, we didn't take the cog up. We had two choices: take the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail or the Jewell Trail. Although I had come down the Jewell Trail, I had never gone up it, so we decided to go that way.
We crossed the railway and then a small bridge.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The topic of discussion as we headed up the mountain was the Red Sox who are now ahead of the Angels 2-0 in the division series. Being a small group of just three, we moved right along and were above treeline in no time.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Ed has hiked the Whites so often, he knows where all the good sitting rocks are.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The cog pushing its' way up Jacob's Ladder.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Just 1.1 miles to the summit.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Looks like the cog is going to beat us to the top.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Northern Presidentials
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Closing in on the summit.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
If you had roller skates you could take the quick way down.
Of course, you'd have to be very bowlegged as well.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Almost there.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The summit was very crowded with visitors, most of them had come up the auto road or cog railroad.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I have had my picture taken several times at the top, so I didn't bother. We just tagged the top and got out of everyone's way. Next we went onto the observation deck, where we got another view of the northern Presidentials. You can see the cog railway and the auto road in the picture as well.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
We went inside the cafeteria where Ed and Jim each had a hot dog.
"The hard part is over," said Jim. "It's all downhill now, except for the uphills."
We all laughed. It sounded like Yogism referring to the smart remarks of the legendary Yankee Yogi Berra. He's the one who is famous for saying lines like "It's like deja vu all over again." and "It ain't over 'til it's over." Another one of his sayings I heard recently is "It gets late early here."
We congratulated each other on bagging Washington again. This was my 9th time on Washington. I thought that was pretty good, but Jim has bagged it twice as many times at 18. If you think that is a lot, Ed has reached the summit more than Jim and I combined and then doubled for a total of 60+ times!!!
Before leaving I took a picture of the very small, but fully operational U.S. Post Office.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
If you come up the mountain through Tuckerman's Ravine, you'll end up climbing these stairs.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
We began heading down Crawford Path which is also the Appalachian Trail. There is still about 700 miles of the AT that I need to complete. I've done this 1.5 mile section about 10 times. The view of Lakes of the Clouds, the hut, and Mount Monroe is awesome from here. Visibility was very good earlier, but it is becoming more hazy.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Lots of color in the valley as the foliage nears its' peak.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Nearing the hut
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Just .1 to go.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Looking back to 'George'.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The hut has been closed for the season for about 2-3 weeks, but it was still very crowded around the lakes and hut which is referred to as 'The Lakes of the Crowds' rather than 'The Lakes of the Clouds' at times like this. We stopped briefly before heading up to Mount Monroe.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Closing in on Monroe.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
After taking a short nap on the summit, we headed off to Little Monroe.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Although not on any lists, Little Monroe was a new peak for me. I had always skirted around it in the past. Jim and Ed coming down Little Monroe.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I saw some hikers with a Bernese Mountain Dog which immediately reminded me of my Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, Madison. The two breeds are cousins. The biggest difference being the Bernese are long haired and Swissies are short haired.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Looking back at Little Monroe (left), Monroe (right), and Washington behind. The AT doesn't go over Monroe or Little Monroe, but skirts around the summit. AT thru hikers deserve a little break now and then, don't you think?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Next we went over Mount Franklin which is just a slight bump in the trail. If you blink, you will miss it. Next up, Mount Eisenhower. I love this fairly flat section in the picture below. I'm surprised it doesn't have a name.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A cairn every few feet is a little excessive, don't you think?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Eisenhower has a very unique, round summit.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I had only been up Eisenhower from the south, so climbing the .4 miles from the north was new to me. The AT goes around this summit as well. That's three four thousand footers down and one to go. Here's Ed climbing down from Eisenhower.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Now it's on to Mount Pierce. We briefly had hopes of bagging Mount Jackson today as well. Those hopes were quickly fading. The weather channel was right on the money today. Our blue skies were now overcast.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
We went over only one small section of bog bridging today.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
We came to another trail junction. The Crawford Path continues to the right. To the left we have the Webster Cliff Trail which is also the AT.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
We stayed on this just for a couple hundred yards to bag Pierce.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I got my Ed Hawkins' handshake. I'm working on getting his handshake on all the 4's in the Whites. After getting a handshake on Washington, Monroe, Eisenhower, and Pierce that brings my total up to 14. Ed and Jim are both 4000 footer machines. Sometime next year Ed will reach his 3000th four thousand footer, and Jim will reach his 1000th. It would be great if it worked out that they both reach these milestones on the same hike. We retraced our steps for a few minutes until we got back to the Crawford Path. This three mile section of trail was new for me.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
This is always the sad part of a hike like this. After 7-8 miles above treeline, it was time to head down. We got some rain on the way down. This was unusual for me. For once the weather worked in my favor. It seems I usually get rain for the parts of the hike that have views and then it becomes sunny as I head down the mountain.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I took a 50 yard side trip to check out Gibbs Falls. We haven't had much rain lately, so I'm sure the falls are nicer after a lot of rain.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Near the bottom of the mountain I came across this plaque.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It's a little hard to read the plaque with the glare. It states that the Crawford Path is the oldest continuously used mountain trail in America. What a great day! Thanks Ed and Jim for having me along.
| 
