Mount Washington has a fierce reputation as having the "worst weather in the world." It's a hiking magnet being the highest point east of the Smoky Mountains. For a relatively short peak it is a massive mountain which dominates Mt Washington Valley. The native Penacook tribe feared the mountain, naming it Agiochook. Unfortunately the mountain and it's surroundings have seen its share of accidents and deaths. Please be prepared BEFORE you enter this area!
⊕From the East the mountain appears daunting and the hiking routes from that side are challenging. They offer the most elevation gain and the roughest trails on the mountain.
♦THE TRAILS
♦Huntington Ravine is by far the steepest "hiking" trail in the Whites, trailhead parking is at Pinkham Notch AMC Lodge. You follow Tuckerman Ravine trail for just over a mile and the trail junction is on the right.
♦Tuckerman Ravine Trail is the most popular route from the east (Pinkham Notch) in the summer and in winter it's Tuckerman's to the ♦Lion Head Winter Route.
Less popular is ♦Davis Path which is just south of Pinkham Notch and ♦Boot Spur (from Tuckerman ravine trail)
♦The Great Gulf trail offers the most elevation gain (5,000' plus.) It's trailhead can be found on the left hand side of RT-16, North of Pinkham.
⊕From the West Mt Washington is also rugged, although it looks less intimidating. The trailheads are a little higher so the elevation gain is less. Most popular are the ♦Ammonusuc Ravine and ♦Jewell trail which leave from Base road off Rt-302 (see the big Cog Railway sign.)
♦Ammonusuc ravine is a spectacular area offering two nice waterfalls, Gem Pool and The Gorge and many ledges (slippery when wet!) climbing steeply to Lakes of the Clouds hut (3 miles from the road.) From there you take a left onto ♦Crawford Path and to the summit (1.4 miles.) ♦Jewell trail is beautiful also. The trailhead can be accessed directly across from the Ammo lot or at the Cog base station. This offers a long above treeline experience over a "very" rocky trail. It connects at the ♦ Gulfside trail , take a right for the summit. From where you exit the woods on Jewell to the Washington summit is a long distance, if the weather looks threatening, turn back. You can also take the ♦ Westside Trail which is a link from the North to the South side of the mountain. This connects Gulfside to Crawford Path.
The classic loop is to go up Ammo, across to Crawford to the summit. You would take Trinity Heights from the summit down to Gulfside and finally after climbing the shoulder of Clay, down Jewell.
♦Crawford Path is a long hike from Crawford Notch Rt-302 heading north to the summit. On it's way it passes three other NH 4K mountains, Mt Pierce, Mt Eisenhower and Mt Monroe. I've hiked it in summer and winter. It's called the Southern Pressie Traverse.
The Northern Presidentials connect to Mt Washington via the Gulfside trail. From Rt 2 you can take many trails, Lowes, Valley Way and Airline are most prominent to Gulfside. They pass the Northern Presidential Range including Mt Jefferson, Mt Adams and Mt Madison. This area is considered more rugged than the Southern Presidentials.
THE MOUNTAIN
One of the best places to view the entire Presidential range and Mt Washington is from Rt-115A just south of the town of Jefferson. With the sun setting this is a dramatic location.I believe the best place to see them from the East is from the summit of Mt Hight just north of Carter Dome on the Carter range. In summer you can climb to the summit with the aid of a car (from the east) or by locomotive (from the west.) One of my favorite times atop Mt Washington was in mid-April. I hiked the Ammonusuc ravine trail, never saw another person until the summit.
