2-26-13: Monroe and Washington Via Ammonoosuc Trail, Crawford Trail, ?

2-26-13: Monroe and Washington Via Ammonoosuc Trail, Crawford Trail, ?

Dehydrator and I met up with every intention of doing Owl's Head when the desire to tackle some presis took over.

Trail Conditions:
The lot was filling up fast by the Cog Railroad Station and the trail was nicely broken out by a combination of snowshoes and skis. There were only a few soft, loose powdery sections in the last mile of so of the Ammo after the pools. At this point in the day (8:15) the weather was perfect. No wind and warm temps.

We wore snowshoes from lot to summit of Monroe. The clouds then socked us in completely and it was very difficult to follow trail from the hut to Washington. We switched to crampons after a nice group of experienced hikers informed us of an ice field below the ridge. Our initial mistake was to follow the tracks of a couple of barebooters who ascended high on the ridge and followed any and all cairns they saw due to extremely limited visibility. We were quickly aware that these tracks had lead us around the summit to the Tuck Junction. Upon our return the clouds broke briefly enough that we could orientate our previous tracks to a more direct heading and followed the Crawford Path, which another hiker had reported was not broken out to Eisenhower.


Recommended Equipment:
Snowshoes were essential for the Ammo portion of the trail and many areas above treeline. Crampons (Hillsound Pros) saved the day as we crossed the very dicey and well-hidden icy section leading towards the hut.

Comments:

A big thank you to the folks who advised us to wear crampons for the traverse to Washington. I share equal gratitude to Dehydrator who kept spirits high on a difficult final ascent.

Z

I was in the group you mentioned above. In a effort to avoid that large ice flow on the return, I set a GPS waypoint for the cairn immediately uphill of the flow, and on the return we were above to stay high. Under better visibility conditions the cairns marking this section may have visibility. And of course - with an incoming storm, conditions could change quickly.

I followed those same posthole tracks up to the Davis Path junction, then up Davis to the Crawford Path again. On the way down was able to follow the good path Kevin's group had broken out. The ice field was an unpleasant surprise - I almost wished I had taken the longer route back. Quite a surreal landscape with the poor visibility and the blinding whiteness of it all. Great day to be out despite the lack of views, and some nice folks to say hello to on the way.

With Kevin's group. On the ice field we had poor visibility and so couldn't see the ravine looming off to our left on the ascent. Just as well! Easy to get disoriented in those conditions.

OTOH, the warmth of the day (25 F on summit) and lack of wind made the day pleasant in other respects. Awesome butt-sliding down Ammo!