HummingBird
03-10-2010, 04:06 PM
Had an awesome time on Sunday. Finally had a chance to meet and hike with MarkL. After ice climbing near Lake Placid on Saturday, I got 3 hours of sleep and then headed over to NH. I wasn’t sure how long it was going to take to get there or exactly where I was going. This would be my first hike in NH, summer or winter.
I had gotten a text from Mark that the conditions were still looking good for Washington and that certainly was encouraging! If the forecast wasn’t looking so good, I might have bailed on this trip since it was a long drive and I had to work Monday morning too. But the promise of good weather and a summit of Washington kept me going. I happily got to the Marshfield Station parking lot around 5:30am and had time to take a nap! I wasn’t meeting Mark until 7:30.
About 7am there were quite a few people starting to show up to share this wonderful weather. Right about 7:30, Mark showed up and to my surprise, he wasn’t alone. A guy by the name of John (not sure of his last name) was with him and planned to go part way with us. He was planning to climb Washington, Monroe and a few others along the range that day. He had only a few left to finish hiking all 48 in one winter.
We decided to head up the “ammo” trail and after just a short while it became steadily steep. We made pretty good time heading up. Especially considering I had only about 4 hours sleep and was a little sore from ice climbing; John had been out hiking quite a bit and was somewhat tired and sore; and Mark told us that he seemed to slow down more than others when going up steep inclines. All the way up, I kept looking back and saying what a GREAT buttslide this was going to be coming down!
Mark and I made it up to the hut at about 10:30am. Shortly before we got there, the clouds started rolling in. John had said he’d stick with us to treeline but if he saw clouds coming in that he’d take off on his own since he had plans for 3 or 4 mountains. I swear that one minute he was just a little ahead of us and then he was just gone. Mark and I looked for him at the hut but we never saw him again that day. Hopefully he made it to all the mountains he wanted and back out okay.
We ate some snacks and then donned our face masks and goggle to head over to Washington. It was really cool to be above treeline for so long like that. The wind wasn’t too bad. The forecast said 30-55mph. It was enough to make your face cold if you didn’t have your face mask up but it was still warm enough that it was too warm with the facemask on. So I ended up pulling it up, then pushing it down for most of the rest of the day. The sky was pretty clear except for a few clouds that kept rolling across the summit of Washington.
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs434.snc3/25003_347618316105_577661105_4004183_6728636_n.jpg
At the summit we were in the clouds but it still felt great to be out on such a wonderful day. The views along the ridge were just gorgeous. And unlike anything I had experienced before. (And a pretty short walk compared to all these 18 mile hikes in the Adirondacks!) We took our pictures and then turned to head down. Then Mark says to me, “I don’t think I told you, but I have a terrible sense of direction.” I smiled and then cheerfully told him that he was in luck. I generally have a very good sense of direction and I also had the tracks turned on, on my gps so we could easily follow that back if we got disoriented. (And of course I had my compass with me too in case all else failed.)
For a little bit we were still in the clouds and followed what looked like our tracks, my instinct, and just a few quick gps checks to make sure we were good. Then we had descended far enough and could see the hut. It was still about a mile away but we could easily see where we were going. Back at the hut we got out of the wind and had some more snacks. I hadn’t really eaten or drank anything since we left the hut. I definitely needed to refuel.
Our plans had been to summit both Washington and Monroe with Washington being the priority. Mark asked if I still felt okay to do Monroe and what do you think my answer was? OF COURSE!
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs414.snc3/25003_347618471105_577661105_4004196_4386481_n.jpg
We easily found some tracks heading up Monroe and just followed those. Monroe was not in the clouds like Washington. And after the long trek to Washington, the climb up Monroe seemed super quick! It did seem like the wind was picking up a little, but it was still nice enough to sit on the summit for a while. While we were there, a lady came by and asked us if we knew which mountain Franklin was. It turned out she was arm’s girlfriend!
We talked for a bit and then parted ways. Back to the hut and then down the “ammo”. We started walking but then decided we should be able to buttslide before we made it back to treeline without fear of falling off the mountain. Mark had a buttslider that he made out of a 5 gallon oil jug. Cool! I went first and got in some good slides but then started having trouble where people had bare booted a lot. It roughed up the trail and kind of caused “speed bumps”! Mark then went ahead and smoothed them out for me. That was much better! We zipped all the way back to the level part of the trail in almost no time. What a great ride!:D We got back to the parking lot at 3:30pm without hurrying all day. It was kind of weird to be back with the sun still high in the sky. The temperature was great and there were a lot of people hanging out there enjoying it too.
What a super day! Totally worth the long drive and little sleep. So glad that Mark invited me to go along and the weather cooperated with us! Check out all the pictures here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=157695&id=577661105&l=6acd578590
I had gotten a text from Mark that the conditions were still looking good for Washington and that certainly was encouraging! If the forecast wasn’t looking so good, I might have bailed on this trip since it was a long drive and I had to work Monday morning too. But the promise of good weather and a summit of Washington kept me going. I happily got to the Marshfield Station parking lot around 5:30am and had time to take a nap! I wasn’t meeting Mark until 7:30.
About 7am there were quite a few people starting to show up to share this wonderful weather. Right about 7:30, Mark showed up and to my surprise, he wasn’t alone. A guy by the name of John (not sure of his last name) was with him and planned to go part way with us. He was planning to climb Washington, Monroe and a few others along the range that day. He had only a few left to finish hiking all 48 in one winter.
We decided to head up the “ammo” trail and after just a short while it became steadily steep. We made pretty good time heading up. Especially considering I had only about 4 hours sleep and was a little sore from ice climbing; John had been out hiking quite a bit and was somewhat tired and sore; and Mark told us that he seemed to slow down more than others when going up steep inclines. All the way up, I kept looking back and saying what a GREAT buttslide this was going to be coming down!
Mark and I made it up to the hut at about 10:30am. Shortly before we got there, the clouds started rolling in. John had said he’d stick with us to treeline but if he saw clouds coming in that he’d take off on his own since he had plans for 3 or 4 mountains. I swear that one minute he was just a little ahead of us and then he was just gone. Mark and I looked for him at the hut but we never saw him again that day. Hopefully he made it to all the mountains he wanted and back out okay.
We ate some snacks and then donned our face masks and goggle to head over to Washington. It was really cool to be above treeline for so long like that. The wind wasn’t too bad. The forecast said 30-55mph. It was enough to make your face cold if you didn’t have your face mask up but it was still warm enough that it was too warm with the facemask on. So I ended up pulling it up, then pushing it down for most of the rest of the day. The sky was pretty clear except for a few clouds that kept rolling across the summit of Washington.
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs434.snc3/25003_347618316105_577661105_4004183_6728636_n.jpg
At the summit we were in the clouds but it still felt great to be out on such a wonderful day. The views along the ridge were just gorgeous. And unlike anything I had experienced before. (And a pretty short walk compared to all these 18 mile hikes in the Adirondacks!) We took our pictures and then turned to head down. Then Mark says to me, “I don’t think I told you, but I have a terrible sense of direction.” I smiled and then cheerfully told him that he was in luck. I generally have a very good sense of direction and I also had the tracks turned on, on my gps so we could easily follow that back if we got disoriented. (And of course I had my compass with me too in case all else failed.)
For a little bit we were still in the clouds and followed what looked like our tracks, my instinct, and just a few quick gps checks to make sure we were good. Then we had descended far enough and could see the hut. It was still about a mile away but we could easily see where we were going. Back at the hut we got out of the wind and had some more snacks. I hadn’t really eaten or drank anything since we left the hut. I definitely needed to refuel.
Our plans had been to summit both Washington and Monroe with Washington being the priority. Mark asked if I still felt okay to do Monroe and what do you think my answer was? OF COURSE!
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs414.snc3/25003_347618471105_577661105_4004196_4386481_n.jpg
We easily found some tracks heading up Monroe and just followed those. Monroe was not in the clouds like Washington. And after the long trek to Washington, the climb up Monroe seemed super quick! It did seem like the wind was picking up a little, but it was still nice enough to sit on the summit for a while. While we were there, a lady came by and asked us if we knew which mountain Franklin was. It turned out she was arm’s girlfriend!
We talked for a bit and then parted ways. Back to the hut and then down the “ammo”. We started walking but then decided we should be able to buttslide before we made it back to treeline without fear of falling off the mountain. Mark had a buttslider that he made out of a 5 gallon oil jug. Cool! I went first and got in some good slides but then started having trouble where people had bare booted a lot. It roughed up the trail and kind of caused “speed bumps”! Mark then went ahead and smoothed them out for me. That was much better! We zipped all the way back to the level part of the trail in almost no time. What a great ride!:D We got back to the parking lot at 3:30pm without hurrying all day. It was kind of weird to be back with the sun still high in the sky. The temperature was great and there were a lot of people hanging out there enjoying it too.
What a super day! Totally worth the long drive and little sleep. So glad that Mark invited me to go along and the weather cooperated with us! Check out all the pictures here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=157695&id=577661105&l=6acd578590