Bombadil
Active member
6.17.11
Long story short on Thursday afternoon, still nicely tired out from the Bruins victory the night before, we decided to take advantage of the (nearly) full moon for a hybrid moonlight/sunlight presi traverse. A moonlight traverse was a hike Sean and I have been meaning to try out. We met up for the carspot and were heading up Valley Way a little after 11 pm with the full moon poking out through the trees every now and then. We made good time heading up to Madison Hut and when we came out above treeline the full moon out to the south (between Madison and Adams over the Great Gulf) was a sight that stopped us both in our tracks to appropriately take in. I experimented with some camera settings on my antiquated camera but unfortunately most of my time spent taking photos during the moonlit portion of the hike was spent in vain but I did manage a few mediocre shots:
Shot of the moon as we ascend Madison. The Washington summit lights are center.
I’d say what struck me the most about the hike was the unique mix of calm, quiet air mixed with stunning scenery. All we could hear was the occasional gentle breeze and the crickets. Seeing the bright full moon above Washington, lighting up the range, beckoned us to slow down and observe all there was to see—definitely not a PR type of hike. Knowing the sparse cairns and blazes on the upper Airline would be tough to follow under headlamp we nonetheless elected to take the direct approach up Adams. It was a little comical how the full moon was just over the summit of Adams as we headed up, the bright light in your eyes making it a wasted effort to look for cairns and blazes which even if illuminated by headlamp would still seem dark in comparison. However once we got off the north slopes as we headed to Jefferson (moon was to the south), the landscape was nicely lit up so that we could put the headlamps away. The sun rose as we were ascending Jefferson and we spent some time taking photos in all directions. I wish the pictures of the first light hitting the cliffs of Clay and the Great Gulf side of Washington did it some justice—surely something to see.
Monticello Lawn
Sphinx Col
Sean working his way up Washington
We made good time heading up Washington as we enjoyed the cool morning air and I must say one of the best things about getting up to Washington so early in the morning is we had the whole summit to ourselves since I presume the auto road wasn’t open yet.
Hmm where's the line of people waiting to get their picture taken at the summit??
Heading down towards lakes of the clouds some black flies were out since the air was so calm but they weren’t too bad…yet. Shortly after going over Monroe we passed a girl in a sports bra with blood dripping down from her shoulders, chest, and stomach. Apparently the black flies ahead were fairly hungry. Unfortunately with such a calm, warm morning on a relatively sheltered hike there was zero moving air to keep them at bay but they were out in such force that there were always swarms about you even if you never stopped. They were marginally better by the time we hit Eisenhower and Pierce but the damage was done.
Having trouble smiling on Pierce with black flies having me for breakfast.
The black flies apparently like Sean...A LOT.
The flies were more than an annoyance but it comes with doing above treeline hikes this time of year, especially on the good calm, sunny days. We both agreed we’d definitely be game to do a moonlit traverse again, perhaps only changing the start time so we could enjoy more of the full moon and possibly catch both sunset and sunrise. All in all it was great hike to finish off my Spring 48 and it was awesome to have the whole range to ourselves, seeing it all in a different light (pun intended)!
Pat
pcushing21 at yahoo dot com
Long story short on Thursday afternoon, still nicely tired out from the Bruins victory the night before, we decided to take advantage of the (nearly) full moon for a hybrid moonlight/sunlight presi traverse. A moonlight traverse was a hike Sean and I have been meaning to try out. We met up for the carspot and were heading up Valley Way a little after 11 pm with the full moon poking out through the trees every now and then. We made good time heading up to Madison Hut and when we came out above treeline the full moon out to the south (between Madison and Adams over the Great Gulf) was a sight that stopped us both in our tracks to appropriately take in. I experimented with some camera settings on my antiquated camera but unfortunately most of my time spent taking photos during the moonlit portion of the hike was spent in vain but I did manage a few mediocre shots:
Shot of the moon as we ascend Madison. The Washington summit lights are center.
I’d say what struck me the most about the hike was the unique mix of calm, quiet air mixed with stunning scenery. All we could hear was the occasional gentle breeze and the crickets. Seeing the bright full moon above Washington, lighting up the range, beckoned us to slow down and observe all there was to see—definitely not a PR type of hike. Knowing the sparse cairns and blazes on the upper Airline would be tough to follow under headlamp we nonetheless elected to take the direct approach up Adams. It was a little comical how the full moon was just over the summit of Adams as we headed up, the bright light in your eyes making it a wasted effort to look for cairns and blazes which even if illuminated by headlamp would still seem dark in comparison. However once we got off the north slopes as we headed to Jefferson (moon was to the south), the landscape was nicely lit up so that we could put the headlamps away. The sun rose as we were ascending Jefferson and we spent some time taking photos in all directions. I wish the pictures of the first light hitting the cliffs of Clay and the Great Gulf side of Washington did it some justice—surely something to see.
Monticello Lawn
Sphinx Col
Sean working his way up Washington
We made good time heading up Washington as we enjoyed the cool morning air and I must say one of the best things about getting up to Washington so early in the morning is we had the whole summit to ourselves since I presume the auto road wasn’t open yet.
Hmm where's the line of people waiting to get their picture taken at the summit??
Heading down towards lakes of the clouds some black flies were out since the air was so calm but they weren’t too bad…yet. Shortly after going over Monroe we passed a girl in a sports bra with blood dripping down from her shoulders, chest, and stomach. Apparently the black flies ahead were fairly hungry. Unfortunately with such a calm, warm morning on a relatively sheltered hike there was zero moving air to keep them at bay but they were out in such force that there were always swarms about you even if you never stopped. They were marginally better by the time we hit Eisenhower and Pierce but the damage was done.
Having trouble smiling on Pierce with black flies having me for breakfast.
The black flies apparently like Sean...A LOT.
The flies were more than an annoyance but it comes with doing above treeline hikes this time of year, especially on the good calm, sunny days. We both agreed we’d definitely be game to do a moonlit traverse again, perhaps only changing the start time so we could enjoy more of the full moon and possibly catch both sunset and sunrise. All in all it was great hike to finish off my Spring 48 and it was awesome to have the whole range to ourselves, seeing it all in a different light (pun intended)!
Pat
pcushing21 at yahoo dot com
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