John in NH
Member
One of the many things I always appreciated about this site before becoming a member was when folks would post trip reports on the unusual. (Also a great resource for planning and hiking knowledge in general of course)
While not totally unheard of, the thick rime ice (6 to 24 inches thick) covering the upper 300-400 vertical feet of Mount Washington last weekend (June 4, 2011) in almost summer struck me as unusual enough to share here.
Look closely for the top white part of Washington's dome.
Hikers for scale
The day was cool up top, in the thirties, the slight breeze kept the bugs at bay until it totally died when I got to the awesome bloom of alpine flowers around Mt. Clay. (the Monroe loop was also spectacular) There were so many you can actually see the denseness of the bloom by looking at the white, pink, and fusion dots in the photo below
I have done these peaks several times before, and still need 2 more peaks for my 4k list, but today as on many days, the only motivation I followed was not lists but the desire to be a place bigger than I was and needlessly beautiful. So I just wandered around up there. You have to take what mother nature gives you--a perfect Presi day doesn't come along all too often, especially on a weekend!
Peaks: Mt. Monroe, Mt. Washington, Mt. Clay Stats 12.1 miles, 4900' gain
