Saturday, June 21. The first day of summer, and a great day to climb Mt. Washington. I got to the trailhead around 9:45, and left a few minutes later. I went up the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail, passing everybody. I like the feeling of passing people who are sweating and breathing hard on the ups, its a great self-esteem booster. I took a break at Lakes of the Clouds hut and had lunch. I also put on pants and a rain coat. Above tree line it was windy and cold.
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| One of the Lakes of the Clouds |
After a quick mile I got to the Tuckerman Ravine Trail, and the crows of people. More people huffing and puffing, and commenting on how cold it was. I turned left onto the Alpine Garden Trail and the fun began. This trail walks through the alpine garden on Mt. Washington, and the flowers were still in bloom.
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| Tuckerman Ravine, with the Wildcats/Carters in the background. |
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| Alpine Flowers. |
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| Different Alpine Flowers. |
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| I'm sorry I don't know what plant they all are. |
This part of the hike was great. The sun came out, the wind was blocked by the peak, there were excellent views, and I was feeling great. I highly recommend the Alpine Garden Trail to anyone, even if the flowers aren't blooming.
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| Lions Head, Carter Dome is the highest peak in the background. |
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| Looking north-east towards the Mahoosuc Range in NH/ME. |
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| Looking back (South) towards Boott Spur. |
The North end of the Alpine Garden Trail is the Nelson Crag. I took this trail to the summit. The ridge this trail runs up was also blocking much of the wind, and this leg was a lot windier and colder than the previous one. I could see the auto road, and a view of the summit buildings that I hadn't seen before. When I got to the top there were a lot of people. I've never seen such a long line to take a photo at the summit. I didn't feel a need to wait in it. At the top there was a woman on the lee side of the building with her SOTA setup. I chatted for a moment, then headed on.
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| Summit from the Nelson Crag Trail. |
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| The northern presidentials, Jefferson, Adams, Madison (L-R) |
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| The line was nearly as long as the Tip-Top House. |
After warming up a bit inside I headed down. I was on the AT for about a mile. Its hard to describe the feelings of comfort and security I now get on white-blazed trails. I then turned onto the Jewell Trail and hiked back to the car.
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| Standing on the tracks. |
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| Cog on its way up. |
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| Bonus points for each mountain you can identify. Hint: looking West. |
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| Looking down into the Great Gulf. Its very steep. |
