SteveHiker
New member
Instead of going solo this Saturday, I had the company of one of my coworkers. And he offered to drive, what a deal. The plan was to hike to Mt Isolation via Rocky Branch trail. But as we turned into the trailhead, we realized that he didn't have a parking permit. Instead of just a one day, he wanted the yearly one. Since Pinkham Notch is just a few minutes up 16, we headed there. As he was buying the sticker, I asked him if he'd ever been up Washington. Only in a car, he said. Since it was such a clear day, we scrapped the plans for Isolation. The only condition I set for going to Washington was that I wanted to go to Monroe too, since it is one of the nine 4000'ers I hadn't climbed yet. We also found out from the clerk that Tuckerman's Ravine was closed above the lunch rocks.
Since I've gone that way a couple times before already, it gave me an excuse to try a new way out. So we turned onto the Boott Spur trail. The lower part was much nicer than climbing in and out of all those drainage ditches and was much less rocky. There was hardly any wind until we emerged from the trees.
A brief aside here, as we turned off onto one of the overlooks just above the treeline, we encountered a pair of older gentlemen. After exchanging pleasantries they asked where we were headed. We told them and then, well I appreciate their concern, but I'm rather sick of people telling me how cold it is at the summit and giving me that look. Yes, I'm wearing a shortsleeve shirt and shorts, and they're all bundled up. But, just because you're cold doesn't mean I am. Even when the temperature is in the 40s and its windy, if I'm going uphill, I sweat more than a Richard Simmons video. And I do carry extra clothes, just in case. So if you happen to see some average looking average sized white guy wearing shorts when no one else is, it's probably me, so keep your meteorology to yourself.
But I digress. Climbing over Boot Spur was a little more work than I expected but was well worth it. The views were spectacular and even though the wind increased the higher we got, it wasn't the usual chilly wind. The lawn on top was a welcome break from the climbing and the decent to the Lakes of the Clouds was pretty uneventful. We took a short break at the hut, then did and up and back on Monroe, took another break at the hut, and headed up the Crawford Path. About halfway to the summit, we met a family of four from somewhere out West. Mother, father with 10 month old on his back, and a little 5 year old girl. They had come up the Ammo trail. And the little girl made it all the way to the top under her own power. And she was really enjoying it, not complaining like the teenage girls a little further up that had ridden the train up and went down to the hut. After getting ripped off on a slice of pizza and a drink at the summit, and taking some lame pictures of each other posing by the sign, we headed down. We decended via Lion Head. Just below Lion Head sitting in the shade and getting a drink of water, I looked over at Boott Spur. Holy crap, that looks intimidating from here. I didn't notice while I was climbing it. Back to the car in a total of 9 hours including breaks. I added up the mileage this morning on my map and it comes to less than 11 miles. It sure seemed further. I'm not sure how to figure the total elevation gain on this trip but it has to be the most I've done, at least it has to rank right up there.
Route taken:
Start - Pinkham Notch
Tuckerman's Ravine Trail
Boott Spur Trail
Davis Path
Camel Trail
Mt Monroe loop
Crawford Path
Summit
Tuckerman's Ravine Trail
Lion's Head Trail
Tuckerman's Ravine Trail
End - Pinkham Notch
Since I've gone that way a couple times before already, it gave me an excuse to try a new way out. So we turned onto the Boott Spur trail. The lower part was much nicer than climbing in and out of all those drainage ditches and was much less rocky. There was hardly any wind until we emerged from the trees.
A brief aside here, as we turned off onto one of the overlooks just above the treeline, we encountered a pair of older gentlemen. After exchanging pleasantries they asked where we were headed. We told them and then, well I appreciate their concern, but I'm rather sick of people telling me how cold it is at the summit and giving me that look. Yes, I'm wearing a shortsleeve shirt and shorts, and they're all bundled up. But, just because you're cold doesn't mean I am. Even when the temperature is in the 40s and its windy, if I'm going uphill, I sweat more than a Richard Simmons video. And I do carry extra clothes, just in case. So if you happen to see some average looking average sized white guy wearing shorts when no one else is, it's probably me, so keep your meteorology to yourself.
But I digress. Climbing over Boot Spur was a little more work than I expected but was well worth it. The views were spectacular and even though the wind increased the higher we got, it wasn't the usual chilly wind. The lawn on top was a welcome break from the climbing and the decent to the Lakes of the Clouds was pretty uneventful. We took a short break at the hut, then did and up and back on Monroe, took another break at the hut, and headed up the Crawford Path. About halfway to the summit, we met a family of four from somewhere out West. Mother, father with 10 month old on his back, and a little 5 year old girl. They had come up the Ammo trail. And the little girl made it all the way to the top under her own power. And she was really enjoying it, not complaining like the teenage girls a little further up that had ridden the train up and went down to the hut. After getting ripped off on a slice of pizza and a drink at the summit, and taking some lame pictures of each other posing by the sign, we headed down. We decended via Lion Head. Just below Lion Head sitting in the shade and getting a drink of water, I looked over at Boott Spur. Holy crap, that looks intimidating from here. I didn't notice while I was climbing it. Back to the car in a total of 9 hours including breaks. I added up the mileage this morning on my map and it comes to less than 11 miles. It sure seemed further. I'm not sure how to figure the total elevation gain on this trip but it has to be the most I've done, at least it has to rank right up there.
Route taken:
Start - Pinkham Notch
Tuckerman's Ravine Trail
Boott Spur Trail
Davis Path
Camel Trail
Mt Monroe loop
Crawford Path
Summit
Tuckerman's Ravine Trail
Lion's Head Trail
Tuckerman's Ravine Trail
End - Pinkham Notch
