grouseking
Well-known member
Brian (binterpidhiker) and I wanted to get out there and do a fun hike before the weather deteriorated into the crap we have today, so we decided to hike Eisenhower. It was my 16th 4k, and a repeat for Brian.
We saw a couple turkeys on the way up, but as usual I was looking around for the spring moose. We didn't see anything comin up, but that was about to change. We were off by 9am on what looked like a low elevation trail in early May...all we need are trilliums and it will look like spring. A few trees were budding and there was no mud whatsoever. After crossing Abenaki Brook, we rounded the corner, and started to slowly climb. Here we came across, moose tracks, and many dingleberries
. Suddenly, I heard a crash in the trees about 30 feet from me. My camera was on ready to snap a pic...I look up at Brian and there he is jumping for joy...he saw his first moose! Unfortunately for me he tore his way down the hill away from the trail and I missed him. Oh well.
The trail started to climb a bit more but never got steep throughout its entire length. I'd say about 3200 ft we encountered the first patches of snow in the woods and soon thereafter the snow covered the trail. It was a rotting snow, but added up quickly as we climbed. It was still early and quite cool, so the snow was hard and it made for slick conditions heading up. At 4,000 feet we stopped and decided to throw on the crampons because I'm not sure footed. There was one section of ice that I tried to climb and it broke, causing me to slip down it. I thought that was quite interesting considering the 35 degree temperature, but I found a way around the ice and I was off and rolling. Soon views of Washington were opening up. The toughest part of the trail before treeline was the snow sloping down. It looks like the trail walks along a contour line normally, but the snow sloped and was melting away, so it was tough to keep a firm footing, but we just trucked along till the warning sign.
Just after the sign the snow disappeared and we put on our wind gear. Then all of a sudden a gust of at least 45 mph hit us. It wasn't too stong, but there was no gradual buildup to it...it was like a ton of bricks. When I got home I saw that Washington's winds were only 30 mph, which I find hard to believe as I had a very hard time standing. I will estimate sustained winds of 35 with gusts to 50, especially on Eisenhower.
As we made it to the Eisenhower loop I kept snappin away the pics, and then climbed up to the summit, where we were really getting nailed by the winds. When we saw the big cairn on the summit, it was very climatic and we sat down on the south side of it. It was surprisingly effective in blocking the wind. At first I thought I was going to just hang out for a min, snap some photos and then leave. But the cairn was sufficient enough where we hung out for awhile and played for a good 20+ minutes. Views were astounding, reaching over 100 miles. After pics, and some fun movies, it was time to head down. It was a little bit tougher headin down, with the wind more in our face. I was never knocked over by the wind, but every once in awhile I was battered around. This is why I estimate gusts to be 50 mph, despite Washingtons lighter winds.
We were back at the trail junction in no time and decided to eat lunch. We found a nice windless area and chowed down. After food, I explored a little bit on the beaten paths nearby and got into the winds again. After that it was time to go. We headed back to treeline and threw on the crampons, just in case. The trip down wasn't uneventful, but it was kinda sad to be leaving such a magnificient place. Soon we were below 4,000 ft, and then below the snow/ice line, which meant no more crampons. Here was the transition zone with some crappy mud....but actually not too bad considering the time of year. Soon we were down on flat terrain and I started snappin photos like wild. There were at least 20-30 vernal pools which I thought was really neat. Also, the cascades on Abenaki Brook were really nice. I also moved a couple of blowdowns that were managable...mainly because I tripped over them somehow .
Back at the bottom at 3pm...6 hrs later...including putting and taking crampons off, 20+ min at the top and over 30 min for lunch. It was number 16 for me...1/3 done! I never thought I'd start counting, but what the heck? Here are my pics...there are a couple as usual !
Mt Eisenhower
grouseking
We saw a couple turkeys on the way up, but as usual I was looking around for the spring moose. We didn't see anything comin up, but that was about to change. We were off by 9am on what looked like a low elevation trail in early May...all we need are trilliums and it will look like spring. A few trees were budding and there was no mud whatsoever. After crossing Abenaki Brook, we rounded the corner, and started to slowly climb. Here we came across, moose tracks, and many dingleberries
. Suddenly, I heard a crash in the trees about 30 feet from me. My camera was on ready to snap a pic...I look up at Brian and there he is jumping for joy...he saw his first moose! Unfortunately for me he tore his way down the hill away from the trail and I missed him. Oh well.The trail started to climb a bit more but never got steep throughout its entire length. I'd say about 3200 ft we encountered the first patches of snow in the woods and soon thereafter the snow covered the trail. It was a rotting snow, but added up quickly as we climbed. It was still early and quite cool, so the snow was hard and it made for slick conditions heading up. At 4,000 feet we stopped and decided to throw on the crampons because I'm not sure footed. There was one section of ice that I tried to climb and it broke, causing me to slip down it. I thought that was quite interesting considering the 35 degree temperature, but I found a way around the ice and I was off and rolling. Soon views of Washington were opening up. The toughest part of the trail before treeline was the snow sloping down. It looks like the trail walks along a contour line normally, but the snow sloped and was melting away, so it was tough to keep a firm footing, but we just trucked along till the warning sign.
Just after the sign the snow disappeared and we put on our wind gear. Then all of a sudden a gust of at least 45 mph hit us. It wasn't too stong, but there was no gradual buildup to it...it was like a ton of bricks. When I got home I saw that Washington's winds were only 30 mph, which I find hard to believe as I had a very hard time standing. I will estimate sustained winds of 35 with gusts to 50, especially on Eisenhower.
As we made it to the Eisenhower loop I kept snappin away the pics, and then climbed up to the summit, where we were really getting nailed by the winds. When we saw the big cairn on the summit, it was very climatic and we sat down on the south side of it. It was surprisingly effective in blocking the wind. At first I thought I was going to just hang out for a min, snap some photos and then leave. But the cairn was sufficient enough where we hung out for awhile and played for a good 20+ minutes. Views were astounding, reaching over 100 miles. After pics, and some fun movies, it was time to head down. It was a little bit tougher headin down, with the wind more in our face. I was never knocked over by the wind, but every once in awhile I was battered around. This is why I estimate gusts to be 50 mph, despite Washingtons lighter winds.
We were back at the trail junction in no time and decided to eat lunch. We found a nice windless area and chowed down. After food, I explored a little bit on the beaten paths nearby and got into the winds again. After that it was time to go. We headed back to treeline and threw on the crampons, just in case. The trip down wasn't uneventful, but it was kinda sad to be leaving such a magnificient place. Soon we were below 4,000 ft, and then below the snow/ice line, which meant no more crampons. Here was the transition zone with some crappy mud....but actually not too bad considering the time of year. Soon we were down on flat terrain and I started snappin photos like wild. There were at least 20-30 vernal pools which I thought was really neat. Also, the cascades on Abenaki Brook were really nice. I also moved a couple of blowdowns that were managable...mainly because I tripped over them somehow
. Back at the bottom at 3pm...6 hrs later...including putting and taking crampons off, 20+ min at the top and over 30 min for lunch. It was number 16 for me...1/3 done! I never thought I'd start counting, but what the heck? Here are my pics...there are a couple as usual
!Mt Eisenhower
grouseking
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