May 16, 2009
Ed Hawkins and Becca Munroe had their annual birthday hike planned for today. This year they picked Mount Isolation. I wanted to join them, but I've been wanting to combine Isolation with Washington and Monroe, so I told Ed that I would try to meet him on the summit of Isolation. This would mean I would need a fairly early start. When Larisa Dannis found out what I was up to, she was quite enthusiastic to join me on my quest. After spotting three moose on the drive over, I met Larisa at the Rocky Branch Trailhead where we spotted her big red Toyota Tacoma. We then got into my small green Toyota Tacoma and headed up to Pinkham Notch. We were on the trail about five minutes after six.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Within a few minutes we reached Crystal Cascade.
For a short video clip click here.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
At about 3200 feet, we started seeing snow. Light traction such as microspikes may have been helpful, but we just kept on going until we reached the junction with the Lion Head Trail.
I was looking forward to taking this trail. I had been up Tuckerman's Ravine twice, so I was looking forward to taking a new trail. This was Larisa's first time up this side of the mountain from any trail.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Larisa on the ladder.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Shortly after this we reached a very, very steep snow field that we had to cut across. Crampons were essential. One slip without crampons and you would be going sledding without a sled.
For a video clip click here.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
That was it for our crampons. After all the trouble of putting them on, we took them off about two minutes later, but putting safety first is essential. We continued up the steep trail until Lions Head came into view.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
We had a great view into Tuckermans Ravine. It was early in the morning, but we did manage to spot one skier on the bottom section of the ravine.
For a 360° view from Lions Head click here
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
On to Washington
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
After crossing the junction for the Alpine Garden Trail, the trail ahead got steep again. We went up a steep snowfield. In retrospect, we probably should have put our crampons back on or at least our microspikes, but we made it up fine. Up we went. We reached the parking lot where we were surprised to find a few cars. Turns out, this was the first day the auto road was open. Larisa headed up the steps to the summit. The gal has summit fever now.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I was surprised to find a new sign on the summit. Larisa said it was there last month when she was there.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
We talked briefly with a couple who had come up the auto road. They took a picture of us on the 6,288' summit. This was my 12th climb of Washington.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
We didn't linger long on the summit. We still had a lot of ground to cover. We went inside for a minute to use the restrooms and headed down the Crawford Path. Looking north to Mounts Jefferson and Adams.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Last month I finished the Appalachian Trail. Of the 2175 miles of the Appalachian, I've hiked the section between the summit of Washington and the Lakes of the Clouds Hut the most. There's Mount Monroe. Let's go get it!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The hut opens in 2-3 weeks. Hope they can get in the door.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
We ditched our packs and headed up to the 5372' summit of Monroe.
Looking over to Boott Spur, our next target.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Looking south to Little Monroe, Franklin, and Eisenhower
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Larisa on the summit of Monroe
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Heading back down to the hut
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
View of Monroe from the Camel Trail
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Junction with the Davis Path
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Mount Washington
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Davis Path
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I never have been able to figure out the significance of this large cairn.
It doesn't appear to be in a significant spot.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The 5500' summit of Boott Spur isn't an official 4000 footer, but we tagged it anyway. Larisa had been here before but had never rock hopped over to the true summit so this was a new summit for her. Congrats Larisa!!!
Our time above treeline was about to end as we continued down the Davis Path.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
As Larisa and I worked on today's combo of Washington, Monroe, and Isolation, I thought, "This was a combo that Cath Goodwin would come up." (Actually, this was more like an easy Cath Goodwin combo compared to some of the hikes she comes up with.)
Now the most challenging part of the day. Once we dropped below treeline we had to put our snowshoes on (and off and on again). There is still several feet of snow on this section of trail and snowshoes will remain essential here for at least a couple of weeks. We had been making decent time today, but this stretch put us behind schedule. I was beginning to think we would miss the group on the summit of Isolation. This section of trail was overgrown, had several blowdowns, few blazes, and was tough to follow. We briefly lost the trail once or twice, but managed to find our way. We finally got to the junction with the Isolation Trail. The snowshoe tracks were going up not down. This meant that Ed and company were still up there. The next .9 miles of the Davis path was significantly easier than the last mile or so. We reached the spur trail and headed up where the group was still on the summit. The timing was perfect. It was luck mostly since we were about an hour behind my projected time. We arrived here at 2:00 and I had been hoping for 1:00.
The group was a good size. More than 10 people had signed up so they had split into two groups to stay within the wilderness guideline of 10 per group. Ed and Becca headed up a group while Karen Thurston and Jim Towle headed up a second group. It was great to see everyone. I hadn't seen most of my hiking buddies since my Appalachian Trail finish so I received many kudos from my friends. There were a few new faces but I also got to see John and June, Steve Moore, Bruce Pfendler, Ed Watson, Ken, Bill Marcotte, Gary Tompkins and Kwi-Hui. I'm sure I'm forgetting someone, but after it being just Larisa and I all day, it was a bit overwhelming to now be in a large group.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I had just enough time to enjoy a piece of birthday cheesecake that someone had brought to the summit when the groups were on the move. Larisa and I joined Karen's group.
Looking back to three of the peaks we climbed earlier in the day.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Now for the long slog out. After being in a small, mobile team of just two, Larisa and I adjusted to the slower pace of a large group. We didn't mind. It was great to be with everyone. A while after Jim led us the Engine Hill bushwhack, we spotted these antlers that someone had left on the wilderness sign.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Turns out Larisa knew the person who left them. She had a friend who climbed Engine Hill today. He had found 4 antlers. Unable to carry out all 4, he left two of them behind which someone in our group carried out. We reached the parking lot about 7:00 where we had a tailgate party. Thanks everyone for letting us join you for the trip out and special thanks to Larisa for joining me for this long 13 hour hike. What a great day!!
| 
