My cousin Jon called to invite me on this hike, he said that his friend Beth and others would all meet at Lowes Store on RT2 in Randolph. It would be my first Adams winter attempt, I was still pretty new at this winter stuff.
They were a fast group, I kept up with them huffing and puffing up the slanted hillside. You quickly leave all civlization behind and the quiet of the snow clad forest drowns out all sounds from RT-2. Jon, Beth and I had hiked up to the bowl at Tuckermans a few weeks prior, we even had some fun on the Lions Head Winter route but no attempt at Washington's summit.
That February I'd also had a frustrating hike to Mt Osceola from Waterville valley. We ended up getting turned around, took the wrong road and everything. We missed the summit after reaching our turn around time of 1:30pm. Oh well, I'd be back later to bag it.
It was a beautiful day with bright blue skies and high thin clouds drifting overhead. Jon in crampons led for awhile on the hard frozen sidewalk that was Lowes Path. Either side of the trail lay deep unbroken snow....who knows, maybe 3 feet or more?
We took our first real break at the RMC Log cabin, it looked like the trail was going to get steep from here on out. But I'd worn my snowshoes all the way from the road so I kept them on. We sat for a little while, I snacked on some Stella Dora breadsticks and some of my usual chocolate. The salt and sweet tasted good washed down with water. The day was getting warmer and still I didn't hear the usual tell-tale sign of winds blasting the ridges overhead. Back in November I'd attempted a November Durant ridge traverse up Airline and we only made it to the Upper Bruin trail due to whiteout conditions, cold and high winds. We continued up and up and up and up.......
Lowes got steeper and the trail showed recent signs of glissading so some form of traction on the feet was required. About an hour or so later we arrived at Grey Knob camp just below treeline. We went inside for a lunch-break, sat on a bench and soaked in the sunshine streaming in through the windows. I looked at a map pegged on the wall. It was a warm and inviting place......yes 55 degrees feels warm in the winter, plus the solar heat we were getting. I easily could've slumbered
Back outside about a half hour later we all strapped on the crampons, packed up and headed up. The trail which had been wood-lined to this point pretty quickly climbed up into some scrub and then the trees were gone. The snow and ice underfoot made a pleasant crunching sound as the points bit in. It was tiring but most of our elevation gain was behind us. To my right I could see Mt Jefferson which looked like a reverse volcano as the thin clouds scudded over the top.
The sky above was still a nice blue though and the winds here were minimal. The views were stunning. We trudged upward, the grades were pretty gentle. We climbed up and over Adams Four which is a minor summit, on the other side we could finally see the summit of Mt Adams. One of Beth's friends was laggng behind a little at this point but we waited for her at Thunderstorm junction just below the rumble of white frosted rocks that make up the summit.
The final part of the summit push was no big problem, we'd had to climb well over 4,000 feet to get to this point and though a little tired we were pumped up. The weather was unbelievable, still no winds to speak of and the sun kept us warm. We reached the summit in the early afternoon and let out a whoop of triumph. Views from the top were excellent all around, Madison Hut could be seen far below, Mt Washington to the South stood clear and high. We took the usual pictures, soaked it all in and then headed down.
As I descended I thought about how lucky we were to be here on this great mountain on this beautiful day. I've heard of others who have been turned back time after time due to weather in the winter. We didn't pause too long back at the hut, all too soon we were back in the cottony tunnel of conifers. We took one look back at the open terrain and headed in.
The following mile or so was just a blast as I sat on my butt and slid down and down and down. Feet that had been gained by muscle were lost quickly. I love glissading, it was a blast. Back at the Log cabin we just had a nice trek out to the road and our vehicles. We bid farewell.....one of Beths friends looked at the clouds and said.."uh-oh......the next day was March 5th and the great blizzard called the March Lion struck and buried New Hampshire. Some days you're the windshield, and some days you're the bug! Great Hike with great company, it will never be forgotten. Beth later said that we had burned about 5,000 calories that day!