11 August 2006 Southern Presidentials, New Hampshire
Since Kevin has resigned himself to the fact that he is, indeed, working on the New Hampshire 4000-footers and his sister, Laurie, wanted to hike Mt. Washington, we chose this Friday to attempt a climb. We hoped to ascend via the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail to the Hut, then take the Crawford Path to the summit, and descend via the Gulfside and Jewell Trails. The forecast was excellent: cool, mostly clear, under high pressure and getting better throughout the day and weekend. The reality was somewhat otherwise.
Ammonoosuc cascade
We arrived at the trailhead at about 8:45 and set out wearing fleece sweaters. It was overcast and fairly blustery. The first 2.1miles climbs gradually through the woods with few views aside from a glimpse up to the ravine headwall up which our path would take us. We were getting pretty warm hiking and we all looked forward to arriving at Gem Pool where we could take a snack and shed our sweaters. When we got to the pool after an hour's walk, though, we found it to be well chilled by the cool water and we kept our sweaters on while we snacked. We cooled off enough that we decided to keep our sweaters on while we began the steep climb up the headwall. In fact, the temperature dropped and the wind increased enough as we gained elevation that we never removed our sweaters. Nobody minded this because less than two weeks prior we had triple-digit temps and ghastly humidity. After a steep quarter mile we came to a spur path leading to a view of a lovely, tall cascade where two brooks fall about 600 feet through a gorge to meet in a pool just below this viewpoint. The entire gorge isn't visible from this view but the top-to-bottom drop of the final falls is still quite impressive and well worth the slight extra hike from the main trail.
View up to the ridge
Once back at the main trail we continued to climb steeply for about another quarter mile until we emerged onto ledges above the gorge where we would cross the brook. Here there were good views, another small cascade, and snacking opportunities and we took full advantage. After resting and eating we followed the trail as it climbed more moderately along the brook which tumbled over many few-meter-high ledges. We came across one particular cascade that landed in a small pool that we dubbed "mini-gem-pool" for its resemblance to its larger, lower cousin. As we climbed away from the brook the cloud deck seemed to lift somewhat allowing us to view the rim of the ravine. The summit of Washington was still socked in although it looked like a pleasant, partly sunny day in the valley.
We arrived at the hut about three hours after beginning our hike and were happy to take a break from the wind which had become much stronger. Inside we checked on the weather conditions and saw that they were not as favourable as yesterday's forecast had predicted. At the hut it was about 43F and blowing a pretty steady 25mph. The summit was colder and gusting to 70 mph and there was a chance of thunderstorms. We pondered this while we ate...again... I knew we could move fast along the south ridge if we needed to, and knew that the footing on the cone of Mt. Washington would require us with our cranky knees to move fairly slowly, especially on the descent. We had left Laurie's car at the Edmand's Path trailhead in the morning in case we needed a bail-out route and we decided to use it.
Monroe Flats from the climb of Mt. Monroe
Leaving the hut we headed south along the Crawford Path. Kevin and I had taken this route three years ago on a windier day and had bypassed Mt. Monroe to the east to avoid the worst of the gusts. Today we would be able to take the loop over the summit which neither he nor Laurie had visited before. We passed by Monroe Flats where the rare Dwarf Cinquefoil (Potentilla robbinsiana) grows and looked back to see that the summit had cleared off. Soon we were well above the hut and lakes and enjoying the alpine zone. The wind picked up as we approached the summit of Monroe but even on top it wasn't too bad. I enjoyed an interesting view down to the Crawford Path and a small tarn before leaving the summit. The footing heading south from Monroe's summit was similar to Mt. Washington with its loose and rolly rocks but it didn't last long. The grade and the footing eased up as we headed toward the south summit of Monroe. While climbing down a small ledge just before regaining the Crawford Path I spotted a clump of Diapensia (Diapensia lapponica) growing in a near-vertical bit of soil and, further along, a tiny Dwarf Birch (Betula glandulosa) taking advantage of the shelter of some rocks. Many of the alpine zone plants flowered much earlier in the summer but in August have colourful pods or berries like the Alpine Azalea (Loiseleuria procumbens).
Mountain Avens
Some plants, like the sunny, yellow Mountain Avens (Geum peckii) which is locally abundant but occurs almost nowhere else in the world, and the Low Rattlesnakeroot (Prenanthes trifoliata) do flower in the late summer and we enjoyed finding them growing together along our path. We also saw the rarer Boott's Rattlesnakeroot (Prenanthes bootii) in flower.
Panorama north over Mt. Monroe and Mt. Washington
We shortly came to an unmaintained but very clear path heading up to the summit of Mt. Franklin. It is not an "official" 4000-footer but I had bypassed it when we came through three years ago and wanted to visit it. The summit lies just to the east and only slightly above the Crawford Path and provides a nice view in all directions, but I particularly liked looking north over the trail we'd just traveled. A couple minute's walk brought us back to the Crawford Path just south of Franklin where we strolled along the broad ridge toward the col between Franklin and Eisenhower. As we progressed I noticed a rain shower over the valley to the west. I watched it for some time before deciding it was not headed towards us. As we approached Mt. Eisenhower a number of side trails linked in to the Crawford Path. The weather was still holding and Laurie and I hoped to visit the summit before heading down to the car. Kevin wasn't feeling great and had already summited on our previous trip so he found a sheltered spot in the scrub to wait for us while we climbed. As we topped out we were pelted by a few raindrops and could see that heavier rain was not far off; we didn't linger. We met back up with Kevin and set out down the Edmand's Path.
A rain shower falls over the Crawford Path
This was new territory for all of us. It started out contouring through scrub around the west side of Eisenhower for some distance before dropping slightly where we saw what is perhaps one of the most photographed signs in the Whites. Kevin and Laurie were glad their parents hadn't seen "The Sign" before our hike. From an opening in the trees we could see that another shower was passing by, this time over the ridge we'd just walked. So far we'd only been sprinkled on a little bit and were missing the majority of the rain. As we dropped into the woods we encountered lusher vegetation. Mossy, ferny banks held Clasping-leaved Twisted Stalk (Streptopus amplexifolius) with its pretty orange berries. The sun started to come out in the valley again but we were well into the woods now and mostly enjoyed views that were closer at hand. We passed by a small but lush cascade and took note of some cute little mushrooms growing at the edge of the trail. With about a mile of walking to go the trail leveled out in a very green, sunny woods. Even though we were nearly to the car there was plenty of time for the weather to change. It clouded over and began to rain quite steadily. If not for the dense canopy of leaves over our heads we would have been soaked. Just in time, we came to the parking lot and piled into Laurie's car. As she started the engine the rain became strangely loud. That's because it was hail. Even with the wipers on full-blast the frozen grains were piling up on the blades. Then, almost as quickly as it had started, it ended. We arrived at my car at the sunny and perfectly dry Ammo trailhead, about 3 miles and 10 minutes later.
