poison ivy
Well-known member
I took advantage of the awesome weather on Sunday to continue with my AT section hiking and summit Mt. Monroe, which was the only straggler I had left in the southern Presidentials. Pictures are located here
I started the trip at 9 a.m., heading back up the Edmands Path in order to get back onto the AT (or Crawford Path.) Once I got to treeline, I had fantastic views of Franklin, Washington & Jefferson, as well as the Cog, spewing its white and black smears of smoke & creating the only clouds in the sky. It took me two hours to reach the spur trail to Eisenhower’s summit.
I decided to skip summitting Eisenhower and headed down the Crawford Path, which climbs up the side of Mt. Franklin. I can only say the views were stupendous and without any clouds obscuring the peaks, I could actually recognize a lot of the mountains I’ve climbed in the Whites. My only complaint is I had to keep stopping to turn around to catch these amazing views. I decided to first follow the AT around Monroe and then summit from the north end. It was a fairly quick trip around the mountain and I was soon climbing up the .3 mile to Monroe’s summit, using a rocky staircase on the way up.
I had planned a lunch break on Monroe’s summit, but it was very buggy (with flies) up there, so I decided to head back down to Lakes of the Clouds hut and eat my lunch there. Mt. Monroe, at 5,385 feet, was my 38th mountain on the NH 4K list and the only new 4K for me on the trip.
The Crawford Path, as it climbs up Mt. Washington isn’t particularly difficult. You do have to step carefully over the boulders and around the other hikers, but the elevation gain was not so tough.. Looking up the sides of Mt. Washington, the trail looked like a beaded necklace -- it was just a string of yellow, blue and white t-shirts wherever you looked. It took me a half-hour to go the first .9 miles -- and for some reason, another half-hour to finish the remaining .4 to the top!
The summit was absolutely mobbed -- I went in the summit building and wolfed down an egg salad sandwich, coke and a slice of pizza in 10 minutes and hightailed it out of there to the Trinity Heights Connector, which the AT follows to the Gulfside trail.
Heading down the mountain, I was treated to a wonderful change of scenery. I could now see the northern Presidentials for the first time, with Mts. Clay, Jefferson, Adams and Madison rising up before me.
My original plan had been to follow the AT to Edmands Col, summit Jefferson and then head down Caps Ridge. However, I really wanted to make sure I had daylight at least for the rock scrambles on Caps Ridge so I shortened the trip a little bit. I reached Monticello Lawn at about 5 p.m., and headed back to the Cornice Trail so I wouldn’t have to climb over Jefferson to reach Caps Ridge. I don’t think it really saved me any time since the trail climbs over a big pile of rocks and it was slow going. But it did save the exertion of summitting the mountain. So my 6.4 AT miles end at Monticello Lawn and I’ll have to pick up there next time.
Heading down the Cornice was slow and easy and I rejoined the Caps Ridge Trail, which is one of my all-time favorite trails in the Whites. I had a grand time picking my way down the scrambles (and managed to rip my oldest pair of hiking shorts on one of the jagged rock butt slides.) I’ll admit I was happy to reach Whirlpool Ledge, because it meant I only had a mile to go before my trip was done and I was getting tired. I wound up back at my car at 6:30 p.m after 12.8 miles of hiking.
- Ivy
I started the trip at 9 a.m., heading back up the Edmands Path in order to get back onto the AT (or Crawford Path.) Once I got to treeline, I had fantastic views of Franklin, Washington & Jefferson, as well as the Cog, spewing its white and black smears of smoke & creating the only clouds in the sky. It took me two hours to reach the spur trail to Eisenhower’s summit.
I decided to skip summitting Eisenhower and headed down the Crawford Path, which climbs up the side of Mt. Franklin. I can only say the views were stupendous and without any clouds obscuring the peaks, I could actually recognize a lot of the mountains I’ve climbed in the Whites. My only complaint is I had to keep stopping to turn around to catch these amazing views. I decided to first follow the AT around Monroe and then summit from the north end. It was a fairly quick trip around the mountain and I was soon climbing up the .3 mile to Monroe’s summit, using a rocky staircase on the way up.
I had planned a lunch break on Monroe’s summit, but it was very buggy (with flies) up there, so I decided to head back down to Lakes of the Clouds hut and eat my lunch there. Mt. Monroe, at 5,385 feet, was my 38th mountain on the NH 4K list and the only new 4K for me on the trip.
The Crawford Path, as it climbs up Mt. Washington isn’t particularly difficult. You do have to step carefully over the boulders and around the other hikers, but the elevation gain was not so tough.. Looking up the sides of Mt. Washington, the trail looked like a beaded necklace -- it was just a string of yellow, blue and white t-shirts wherever you looked. It took me a half-hour to go the first .9 miles -- and for some reason, another half-hour to finish the remaining .4 to the top!
The summit was absolutely mobbed -- I went in the summit building and wolfed down an egg salad sandwich, coke and a slice of pizza in 10 minutes and hightailed it out of there to the Trinity Heights Connector, which the AT follows to the Gulfside trail.
Heading down the mountain, I was treated to a wonderful change of scenery. I could now see the northern Presidentials for the first time, with Mts. Clay, Jefferson, Adams and Madison rising up before me.
My original plan had been to follow the AT to Edmands Col, summit Jefferson and then head down Caps Ridge. However, I really wanted to make sure I had daylight at least for the rock scrambles on Caps Ridge so I shortened the trip a little bit. I reached Monticello Lawn at about 5 p.m., and headed back to the Cornice Trail so I wouldn’t have to climb over Jefferson to reach Caps Ridge. I don’t think it really saved me any time since the trail climbs over a big pile of rocks and it was slow going. But it did save the exertion of summitting the mountain. So my 6.4 AT miles end at Monticello Lawn and I’ll have to pick up there next time.
Heading down the Cornice was slow and easy and I rejoined the Caps Ridge Trail, which is one of my all-time favorite trails in the Whites. I had a grand time picking my way down the scrambles (and managed to rip my oldest pair of hiking shorts on one of the jagged rock butt slides.) I’ll admit I was happy to reach Whirlpool Ledge, because it meant I only had a mile to go before my trip was done and I was getting tired. I wound up back at my car at 6:30 p.m after 12.8 miles of hiking.
- Ivy
