loanshark
Active member
It's been a while since I posted a trip report. I guess when you climb enough mountains, it all starst to roll into one big long adventure. Unless you get some great undercast or something unusual happens it doesn't seem worthy of a full trip report. Well yesterday I had a real special day with my son Rob and our Lab Dooley. Rob just finished getting his degree in Geophysics. He is lucky in that he allready has a job lined up. Unfortunately for me and Liz his new job is in Denver. Next week we will be loading up his truck and I will drive out with him and fly home.
Rob and I have shared many great outdoor adventures, but Rob never got to hike Mt Washington. It seemed like something always got in the way. Yesterday's weather looked like a Presi day and we were off. We decided to take Dooley along. Dooley doesn't know it but he is hiking a list. He only needs about a dozen more peaks to complete the 48 any season. We parked in the winter hiker lot at Marshfield and started at the old trailhead. The first part of the Ammo Trail was a mixed bag of bare ground and patches of snow. Gem pool lived up to it's name. Dooley would have been happy if this was our final destination as he took a good long swim.
After Gem pool the rail started. It was generaly supportive and M-spikes did the trick all the way to the hut. Hiking with a geologist makes for a long day. Each time we saw a differant rock formation or gully he stopped to lecture me on how it was formed. I guess I got my money's worth for his college tuition. The footing and steepness combined for some slow going but we made it to the hut in a couple of hrs. We took the time at the hut to have a snack and reflect on some of the things we did together and then set off for Monroe.
We left our packs at the hut and that made the trip much easier. Just as we topped off we met our first hiker of the day. He had come up from the Crawford path over Pierce and Eike. Back at the hut we set our sites on Washington. About a half mile beyond the hut we encountered a sizable snow field. It was a pretty steep side hill, but the snow was soft enough to bareboot. With the usual effort that the sumitt cone requires we were soon having lunch by the summit sign in shirt sleeves. I'm guessing the temps were in the 50's and no wind. All the peaks were in the clear all day. It was perfect. At this point I had to listen to Rob tease me about being over prepared with a bulging pack. Then I reminded him of our January trek up Madison at -20 degrees. Enough said. We took the usual pics and were off for the Gulfside Trail and a long stop to admire the Great Gulf.
What a view. Rob couldn't help himself with more geology lessons and I just let him go. The hike past Clay and onto the Jewel Trail went quickly. Then we hit the m-rail. Thanks to some inside info from friend Pepper and Me we left the snowshoes at home. The snow was soft and was a pain but not for a long enough stretch to justify carrying the shoes all day. There were quite a few blowdowns on this stretch but nothing that slowed us down. Back at the car, Rob thanked me for taking the time out of work to do this together. Are you kidding me. Work or climb Washington and Monroe on one of the best presi days ever with your two best buds! Easy choice. This will probably be our last adventure for a while, but just maybe some 14 thousand footers will be in our not to distant future. Here are some pics.
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/580190883fkOTJw?vhost=outdoors
Rob and I have shared many great outdoor adventures, but Rob never got to hike Mt Washington. It seemed like something always got in the way. Yesterday's weather looked like a Presi day and we were off. We decided to take Dooley along. Dooley doesn't know it but he is hiking a list. He only needs about a dozen more peaks to complete the 48 any season. We parked in the winter hiker lot at Marshfield and started at the old trailhead. The first part of the Ammo Trail was a mixed bag of bare ground and patches of snow. Gem pool lived up to it's name. Dooley would have been happy if this was our final destination as he took a good long swim.
After Gem pool the rail started. It was generaly supportive and M-spikes did the trick all the way to the hut. Hiking with a geologist makes for a long day. Each time we saw a differant rock formation or gully he stopped to lecture me on how it was formed. I guess I got my money's worth for his college tuition. The footing and steepness combined for some slow going but we made it to the hut in a couple of hrs. We took the time at the hut to have a snack and reflect on some of the things we did together and then set off for Monroe.
We left our packs at the hut and that made the trip much easier. Just as we topped off we met our first hiker of the day. He had come up from the Crawford path over Pierce and Eike. Back at the hut we set our sites on Washington. About a half mile beyond the hut we encountered a sizable snow field. It was a pretty steep side hill, but the snow was soft enough to bareboot. With the usual effort that the sumitt cone requires we were soon having lunch by the summit sign in shirt sleeves. I'm guessing the temps were in the 50's and no wind. All the peaks were in the clear all day. It was perfect. At this point I had to listen to Rob tease me about being over prepared with a bulging pack. Then I reminded him of our January trek up Madison at -20 degrees. Enough said. We took the usual pics and were off for the Gulfside Trail and a long stop to admire the Great Gulf.
What a view. Rob couldn't help himself with more geology lessons and I just let him go. The hike past Clay and onto the Jewel Trail went quickly. Then we hit the m-rail. Thanks to some inside info from friend Pepper and Me we left the snowshoes at home. The snow was soft and was a pain but not for a long enough stretch to justify carrying the shoes all day. There were quite a few blowdowns on this stretch but nothing that slowed us down. Back at the car, Rob thanked me for taking the time out of work to do this together. Are you kidding me. Work or climb Washington and Monroe on one of the best presi days ever with your two best buds! Easy choice. This will probably be our last adventure for a while, but just maybe some 14 thousand footers will be in our not to distant future. Here are some pics.
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/580190883fkOTJw?vhost=outdoors
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