Great Pumpkin
Member
Dead Calm on Dead President's Day: Washington via Ammo Trail & Crawford Path 2/16/09
Trail Conditions:Ammonoosuc Trail was well-consolidated and easily barebootable to Gem Pool, where everyone went to crampons in anticipation of the steep segment to Lakes Hut, and the Crawford Path beyond. As noted in a previous posting, the Ammo is easily followed through the woods, but somewhat more difficult to follow in the final .2mi or so to the Hut; it certainly helps if you've been there before, especially if the hut were not visible. The Crawford Path was terrific cramponing for the most part - consistently hard "styrofoam", with ice and rock mixed in, of course. After passing the Lakes of the Clouds, there is an open snowfield area for several hundred yards which required care and caution, especially on the descent, but we all felt safe enough w/o using an ice axe. Good thing, because we sluggards had left 'em behind.
Required Equipment:Crampons & poles for sure. Sunglasses and sunscreen (oops, forgot that). Beach chairs and beverages for lounging at the summit. We carried snowshoes, but they never came off the packs.
Comments: When I checked the Observatory current summit conditions prior to departure, I was stunned to see a wind speed reading of 2.1 mph!! We knew the forecast had been for greatly diminished winds, but non-existent wind? Hit the refresh button a couple of times, and confirmed that the window of opportunity we had hoped for was indeed open.
Met Creaky Knees, Spaderman, Mad Dog Murray, and Roy T. at Macy's at 5:00 a.m., and headed for the hills. There were already several cars in the Marshfield Base Station lot as we prepped for the start, with overcast skies. Met one gentleman with a "100 highest hat" who was headed up Jewell; it appears that he was followed by a number of others during the course of the day. We hit the Ammo Trail at 7:30 a.m., with bare boots and high hopes.
Ammo Trail was beautifully pounded out; many thanks to any and all previous trekkers. We were passed by one fellow from the group in the parking lot, who was headed for Monroe, and we reached Gem Pool at 8:30 a.m., after several brief stops to adjust layers, and to catch some early views up into the Ravine. That overcast was lifting.
Began the steep portion of the ascent, and began to catch some sun and blue sky up in the area of the ledges/water crossings, which were well frozen over and easily crossed. By the time we were in the scrubeenie area, The Rockpile had magnificiently appeared, in sharp white contrast to the cerulean sky above. Beyond words.
We reached Lakes Hut at just about 10:00 a.m., and stopped to eat, drink and be merry before tackling the final 1.4 mi. up the summit cone. The merriment included Creaky Knees texting a picture of his shirtless self to friends and family (bragging rights for sure). We saw another party on Monroe, who had dropped bags at the Hut, then it was time to saddle up and head for the top of New England.
The Crawford Path was good, hard "styrofoam" for the most part, with some exposed rock and ice, and the aforementioned snowfield area, where you would not want to play slip and slide into the rocks below. Up we went, past the triple intersection with Tuckerman Crossover & Camel Trail, then the Davis Path, and the final .6 mi. to the top. Met a trio of guys who were doing the full one-day traverse from Appalachia; they had left at 2:00 a.m. - outstanding! As we went up the summit cone, some cloud cover engulfed Monroe and the hut behind us, but there was no wind, and the summit structures loomed before us.
Creaky Knees and Mad Dog hit the top at just about 11:30, and all five of us whooped it up on the true summit hump, in bright sunshine and with an anemometer on top of the Obs that was not moving! Perfectly still, an extraordinary feeling. There was quite a bit of human activity on top, with folks coming up from the Tuckerman side, and what appeared to be a group from the Observatory engaged in weather-related data gathering. Two members of the Obs staff (Mike and Allie) were kind enough to take several shots of our motley crew on the deck, with the Northern Presis for a backdrop; Mike even clambered up on a small structure to get a better shot; many thanks for your help! Took my only tumble of the day when I hooked a crampon on my gaiter, which Roy was delighted to get a picture of, then it was time for some lunch in the sun, just drinking it all in. Everyone agreed that this had to be the finest winter hiking day we had ever experienced.
We spent a full hour on top, and by 12:30 we began picking our way back down Crawford Path. Met one fellow who was just coming in on the Crawford Path; smiles said it all. Met another trio (from Bartlett, Essex MA, and Portsmouth) a little further down, and stopped to chat a bit, then continued slowly downward, taking some extra care in the area of the snowfield. The cloud cover was now obscuring any view of the Hut, or the Monroe summit, which Spaderman and Roy Boy had gone ahead to tag; they both needed it for their winter list. Stopped for a few minutes at Lakes, reestablished contact with Spaderman & Roy, then began the descent on Ammo a little before 2:00 p.m.
After the ledge areas, it was time for some sitz-luging (butt slides), and Mad Dog could easily qualify for the East German team (if it still existed). Great fun. We got back down to Gem Pool a little before 3:00 p.m., and emerged at Marshfield at 3:30 p.m.; and eight hour round trip, which yielded Winter No. 46 for me, an encore performance for Creaky Knees, Winter Nos. 32 & 33 for Spaderman, and Mad Dog's No. 9 in Winter (I think?), and his first ever ascent of Washington. Well done amigo! Burgers and brew at Fabyan Station followed.
The Winter of Redemption Tour may resume next weekend on Owls Head; we shall see. My thanks to four good friends for fine company and effort on a memorable day.
Trail Conditions:Ammonoosuc Trail was well-consolidated and easily barebootable to Gem Pool, where everyone went to crampons in anticipation of the steep segment to Lakes Hut, and the Crawford Path beyond. As noted in a previous posting, the Ammo is easily followed through the woods, but somewhat more difficult to follow in the final .2mi or so to the Hut; it certainly helps if you've been there before, especially if the hut were not visible. The Crawford Path was terrific cramponing for the most part - consistently hard "styrofoam", with ice and rock mixed in, of course. After passing the Lakes of the Clouds, there is an open snowfield area for several hundred yards which required care and caution, especially on the descent, but we all felt safe enough w/o using an ice axe. Good thing, because we sluggards had left 'em behind.
Required Equipment:Crampons & poles for sure. Sunglasses and sunscreen (oops, forgot that). Beach chairs and beverages for lounging at the summit.
We carried snowshoes, but they never came off the packs.Comments: When I checked the Observatory current summit conditions prior to departure, I was stunned to see a wind speed reading of 2.1 mph!! We knew the forecast had been for greatly diminished winds, but non-existent wind? Hit the refresh button a couple of times, and confirmed that the window of opportunity we had hoped for was indeed open.
Met Creaky Knees, Spaderman, Mad Dog Murray, and Roy T. at Macy's at 5:00 a.m., and headed for the hills. There were already several cars in the Marshfield Base Station lot as we prepped for the start, with overcast skies. Met one gentleman with a "100 highest hat" who was headed up Jewell; it appears that he was followed by a number of others during the course of the day. We hit the Ammo Trail at 7:30 a.m., with bare boots and high hopes.
Ammo Trail was beautifully pounded out; many thanks to any and all previous trekkers. We were passed by one fellow from the group in the parking lot, who was headed for Monroe, and we reached Gem Pool at 8:30 a.m., after several brief stops to adjust layers, and to catch some early views up into the Ravine. That overcast was lifting.
Began the steep portion of the ascent, and began to catch some sun and blue sky up in the area of the ledges/water crossings, which were well frozen over and easily crossed. By the time we were in the scrubeenie area, The Rockpile had magnificiently appeared, in sharp white contrast to the cerulean sky above. Beyond words.
We reached Lakes Hut at just about 10:00 a.m., and stopped to eat, drink and be merry before tackling the final 1.4 mi. up the summit cone. The merriment included Creaky Knees texting a picture of his shirtless self to friends and family (bragging rights for sure). We saw another party on Monroe, who had dropped bags at the Hut, then it was time to saddle up and head for the top of New England.
The Crawford Path was good, hard "styrofoam" for the most part, with some exposed rock and ice, and the aforementioned snowfield area, where you would not want to play slip and slide into the rocks below. Up we went, past the triple intersection with Tuckerman Crossover & Camel Trail, then the Davis Path, and the final .6 mi. to the top. Met a trio of guys who were doing the full one-day traverse from Appalachia; they had left at 2:00 a.m. - outstanding! As we went up the summit cone, some cloud cover engulfed Monroe and the hut behind us, but there was no wind, and the summit structures loomed before us.
Creaky Knees and Mad Dog hit the top at just about 11:30, and all five of us whooped it up on the true summit hump, in bright sunshine and with an anemometer on top of the Obs that was not moving! Perfectly still, an extraordinary feeling. There was quite a bit of human activity on top, with folks coming up from the Tuckerman side, and what appeared to be a group from the Observatory engaged in weather-related data gathering. Two members of the Obs staff (Mike and Allie) were kind enough to take several shots of our motley crew on the deck, with the Northern Presis for a backdrop; Mike even clambered up on a small structure to get a better shot; many thanks for your help! Took my only tumble of the day when I hooked a crampon on my gaiter, which Roy was delighted to get a picture of, then it was time for some lunch in the sun, just drinking it all in. Everyone agreed that this had to be the finest winter hiking day we had ever experienced.
We spent a full hour on top, and by 12:30 we began picking our way back down Crawford Path. Met one fellow who was just coming in on the Crawford Path; smiles said it all. Met another trio (from Bartlett, Essex MA, and Portsmouth) a little further down, and stopped to chat a bit, then continued slowly downward, taking some extra care in the area of the snowfield. The cloud cover was now obscuring any view of the Hut, or the Monroe summit, which Spaderman and Roy Boy had gone ahead to tag; they both needed it for their winter list. Stopped for a few minutes at Lakes, reestablished contact with Spaderman & Roy, then began the descent on Ammo a little before 2:00 p.m.
After the ledge areas, it was time for some sitz-luging (butt slides), and Mad Dog could easily qualify for the East German team (if it still existed). Great fun. We got back down to Gem Pool a little before 3:00 p.m., and emerged at Marshfield at 3:30 p.m.; and eight hour round trip, which yielded Winter No. 46 for me, an encore performance for Creaky Knees, Winter Nos. 32 & 33 for Spaderman, and Mad Dog's No. 9 in Winter (I think?), and his first ever ascent of Washington. Well done amigo! Burgers and brew at Fabyan Station followed.
The Winter of Redemption Tour may resume next weekend on Owls Head; we shall see. My thanks to four good friends for fine company and effort on a memorable day.
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