Last February (2004) I hiked the Western slopes of Mt Washington to try and bag the peak from a different route than most take. This year I was determined to make an Eastern bid at the wild and windy summit on the roof of New England and the Northeast. My hiking club had a gathering at nearby Barnes field and several of the attendees proposed a hike up Mt Washington. I signed on immediately and hoped for better weather than last year.
We met at the pack room in Pinkham notch lodge which is located between two great mountain masses……the Presidential ridge and Carter-Wildcat ridge. By 8am we were headed off, temps around 10 degrees….not that bad. I quickly heated up walking uphill with this group. I’d met Bushwhacker, BlueZ, Frodo, SueBiscuit, Blue, Mt-top NH-Mt-Hiker at the beginning and they’re fast hikers. Spencer (peak_bgr) led the way, the hike had been his idea. I believe there were 14 of us as somebody tacked onto our group.
Passing the cascades about ˝ mile above the trailhead I noticed the cottony woods of winter above a rushing brook. In fact water was running alongside the trail due to the pouring rain of the day before. Pouring rain and Tuckerman ravine trail in January hardly ever are words you would hear up here. Our footing was good; nobody wore crampons for the fine uphill march.
We really didn’t pause much, once to drop a layer and then once to take some pictures at a bridge above another full rushing brook. I hiked some with BlueZ who is from China and is a very excited and fast hiker. He was pleasant company. I also talked with SueB, Bushwhacker and the legendary “Frodo.” I’d seen him once or twice before on the trails. We talked about his adventure on Denali and mine on Kilimanjaro in 2004.
Frodo along with Stinky feet have also set the winter 48 4K record (Winter 2003-04) for completing the 48 the fastest of anybody. He’s probably been up on old Washington a dozen times in winter or more. We reached the Lions head winter route after taking a right onto the fire road off Tuckerman ravine trail. I put my crampons at this junction because I know they need adjusting. So I take about 50 steps and sure enough, bend over and tighten. This process is repeated until I catch up with everybody else.
I’d been on Lions’ Head back in 2001 when Jon and his friend Beth joined me for a half hearted hike to the bowl. We decided (since it was early) to climb up the LH trail for a bit to see what it was like. STEEEEEEEEP, yes this is "pretty steep." Today with the rain from the night before it was a vertical skating rink in a couple of places. With crampons adjusted and ice axe in hand I had little trouble navigating the two bad parts.
We did have to stand in line in two spots as nervous climbers slowly picked their way up. This was a Saturday, the weather was good and we expected to see lots of people. I stayed in back of Frodo, BlueZ (Jun) was behind me as were others in the group including Spencer. Beyond the steeps was just an uphill grunt through packed snow and amongst rocks. We popped out of the trees and began a long slow gradual climb to the head itself.
I was feeling OK, winds were still not bad, I was bundled up and was drinking water pretty regularly. Others had already reached the head and were sitting in the lee of the big rock. Frodo decided to stay behind to pick up stragglers. Some in the group were going pretty slowly...I was somewhere in the middle
Beyond LH it was a different world. As you came around the maze of giant rocks a northerly wind hit you full in the face. I walked on and was hit by a gust which staggered me. At this point I noticed several people heading back, I recognized Blue and Mt-Top. For 10 minutes we got hit pretty hard by the wind and it was near white-out conditions at times.
I even had thoughts of turning back myself…..would’ve if I’d seen anybody else heading down. I was alongside the Alpine garden hiking mostly now with the cop from Fairhaven (TJH.) I’d gotten tangled with another larger group just before that…I just couldn’t tell people apart as everyone was covered from head to foot in gear frosted with rime ice. Winds now seemed to drop off. I looked up and couldn’t see the summit but I saw where the trail climbed more steeply above the snowfields between LH and AG.
Willing myself to move onward I watched and waved as Frodo passed by. He said that 5 people had turned back at LH. “I will push on” I said to myself. My energy wasn’t great; I popped a bite sized butterfinger which helped a little bit. My water was now frozen and the other bottle was packed away. I drained the last bit of ice chunks and liquid and trudged onward.
On the summit cone itself I was plagued with doubts….do I go on…I’m tired and I know I have a long way down. One gray ice rimmed rock looked like another; I got off the trail for a little while which I hoped would speed up my ascent. I couldn’t bear to think of others on the summit waiting for me...why was I going so slow?! I am NOT a slow hiker!!!! At 12:30 I looked up and saw the summit antennae and knew that I would make it. Amazingly the winds were very light here; I climbed on, going past boulder after boulder. At 12:45 I saw the stairs and realized I was on the lower parking lot! Several other groups were passing, coming and going. I recognized BlueZ from his broad smile and waved. SueBiscuit said “You made it!”
I walked up to the little pile of rocks that make up the true summit, took some pictures from a couple of groups and then headed to the shelter of the building. Frodo was waiting there. I thanked him for waiting…he showed some good leadership waiting for slow-poke me.
TJH who had passed me on the cone was there also. He had also been determined to make the summit. I pulled the digital from the warm confines of my jacket and snapped a few pictures…..Frodo took a picture of me and I took one of him. TJH was eating a frozen sandwich, I popped a few cookies. The thermometer on the building read just below zero……..I was on Washington in winter, something I had attempted to do two other times.
Why is it the holy grail of New England winter peaks? Probably because of the weather and the combination of a strenuous climb factored with wind and temperature plus visibility. If you ever want to feel lost, do some hiking in a whiteout….it does something to your mind. I’ve hiked to further NH peaks in winter but none so far have compared. Even Adams and Madison don’t compare. I hope to find out how hard Jefferson is either this year or next.
We headed down at 1pm and had to scramble over some big rocks again, this time going downhill with crampons. There’s nothing quite as lovely as the sound of steel screeching on the surface of bare rock. So coming off the rocky cone was nasty, but the steep stuff was still ahead. Going across the alpine garden was fun…..I would like to practice some glissading there someday……..too icy today…oh and the rocks.
This had been a strange winter to be sure and the mix of rock and ice is bizarre for mid-January. We rested some in the big jumble of boulders called Lions head and peered down into the bowl. I saw a skier and then looking up saw three climbers heading down the lip………ugh, not much fun! They were moving very slowly and in my mind were in a perfect place to start an avalanche.
We didn’t hang around too long, it was cold and the afternoon was passing by. We again had to stand in line as climbers now picked their way down the LH trail. I noticed the foot placements and had no trouble except on one spot. On the fire road we slipped out of crampons and bare-booted it down the wide Tuckerman trail. By 4pm we all arrived safely back at Pinkham.
After a brief meeting in the pack-room, signing out etc I headed home. It had been a great day……..I was so proud of myself that I’d pushed myself to the limits to get to the top.