Admin’s Trip Reports

First time hiking Mt. Washington - did the loop with Jon (Johnnybegoo) and Tom (Tocra). The ascent was exactly what we expected - brutal and long, but it was more enjoyable than anticipated as the creek crossings, waterfalls, and views on the way up made for nice stops. Scrambling along the Ammonoosuc Trail began at the wooden ladder and ended just before Lakes of the Clouds hut. We ate an early lunch at the Lakes of the Clouds, backtracked to the hut and hit the restrooms, grabbed a coffee, coffeecake, an AMC trail map, and some patches, then we hiked to the summit of Mt. Monroe. When we got to the top of Monroe, we had the summit to ourselves. Regarding foot traffic, by the time we'd reached the AMC hut (Lakes of the Clouds hut), we'd only seen ~10 other hikers! This trek was "quiet" after Memorial Day Weekend. After visiting Mt. Monroe we started the journey up Mt. Washington which took just over 1-hour to hike the ~1.5-miles and 1,200+ more feet of vertical elevation gain to reach the summit. Along the way, we got awesome views of the Lakes of the Clouds hut and Mt. Monroe as we ascended Mt. Washington via Crawford Path. Once on the summit, we had our photos taken by the sign, then meandered around the top to get views. The wind was whipping. Took a small break, grabbed a bite to eat, and sent out 2 postcards from the summit post office, then we started the descent. Hiked the Trinity Heights Connector Trail down to the Crawford Path / AT to reach the Gulfside Trail which sits within the Great Gulf Wilderness. We were able to catch several Cog Rail trains making their way up Mt. Washington from this part of the mountain before we reached the Jewell Trail to make our way out. The Jewell Trail was beautiful and gave the last views of Mt. Washington, the Presidential Range, and the mountain ravines and valleys below. We watched a small rainstorm roll in and prepared for a light sun-shower here. One small waterfall before the parking lot. ~11-hours of hiking.