dom15931
New member
This is the first hike I have ever went on that I expected would be a failed attempt. I ended up being wrong...
Sunday was a very windy day with temperatures in mid forties in much of the northeast. I got up early that mornng and checked the forcast. When I seen 101 mph sustained winds and freezing rain on Mt. Washington I considered not hiking at all. I have gone out in the winter before, but never in a cold, high wind driven rain. None the less I decided I would hike up to the hut on Layfayette and decide from there whether or not to make an assault on the windy summit.
I calculated that the temp would likely be around 35 and the winds probably 50-75 mph with possibly higher gusts. This definately frightened me a bit so I wore rain rain gear and several layers of clothing. I put my winter boots on as well.
The first thing I noticed after starting up the Old bridle path was how high the streams were. 100% whitewater. (PICTURE 1) Not a surprise with over a week of heavy rain. The winds were not too bad. There were some down trees. On the way to the hut I saw several other hikers, but I was the only one going up. There were some down trees here and there which was not surprising considering. I reached the hut after about 2 hours. It was about 2:15
At this elevation there was a little bit of sleet mixing in, but the wind still was not a significant factor that would limit someone. It had become a bit gustier and the temperature had fallen about 5-8 degrees. I was surprised that the hike thus far had been so easy and since I was relativily dry (no rain gear from the knees down, but boots were good) and uncomfortably warm from 4 layers of clothes I headed for the summit.
Things began getting tougher. I expected it to get substantially worse at the timberline, as it is established for a reason
. The winds at the start were perpendicular to my accent, making them relativily easy to deal with. I had been up this route in the summer and I knew that the course shifted somewhat near the summit. At about 4800 feet the weather went to hell in a handbag. Snow and ice were falling and there was about an inch on the rocks. (Picture 2) The winds were very strong, now directly on my back. They literally made it easy to climb upward with their 'push'. I scurried to the summit to find myself the only one there and the summit sign covered in an inch of ice/frozen snow. I could barely snap my a pic of myself and the summit with the stong wind gusts. (Picture 3) It is a hilarious looking self portrait and I think it shows what I was enduring. The temp was likely about 32-34 degrees or so here as i noticed a patches of ice on the rocks that were from frozen water and not simply snow accumulation. I didn't stay long as the winds were quite powerful. I would say the highest gusts were around 70 or maybe a bit higher, but this is based on never experiencing winds over 60 or so prior to this.
Heading down into the wind was horrible. Straight into it. You literally could not fall forward. I am sure glad I had brough my face shield. I was sure releaved when I got down below the timberline again. On the way down I noticed that the winds had become gustier. There were some incredible gusts coming down off the ridgeline that I did not like being exposed to in a forest. I could'nt belive I saw someone setting up a tent in it. The winds were to high to camp in the vacinity of large trees in my opinion. The hike down was slow from me and I was very happy when I arrived at my car. Round trip time was 5 hrs 20 minuts. I took me the same amount of time to go down as it did up, because of the amount of water and need for caution during decent as well as feeling drained by the foul weather. This is definately not a hike I will soon forget.
Sunday was a very windy day with temperatures in mid forties in much of the northeast. I got up early that mornng and checked the forcast. When I seen 101 mph sustained winds and freezing rain on Mt. Washington I considered not hiking at all. I have gone out in the winter before, but never in a cold, high wind driven rain. None the less I decided I would hike up to the hut on Layfayette and decide from there whether or not to make an assault on the windy summit.
I calculated that the temp would likely be around 35 and the winds probably 50-75 mph with possibly higher gusts. This definately frightened me a bit so I wore rain rain gear and several layers of clothing. I put my winter boots on as well.
The first thing I noticed after starting up the Old bridle path was how high the streams were. 100% whitewater. (PICTURE 1) Not a surprise with over a week of heavy rain. The winds were not too bad. There were some down trees. On the way to the hut I saw several other hikers, but I was the only one going up. There were some down trees here and there which was not surprising considering. I reached the hut after about 2 hours. It was about 2:15
At this elevation there was a little bit of sleet mixing in, but the wind still was not a significant factor that would limit someone. It had become a bit gustier and the temperature had fallen about 5-8 degrees. I was surprised that the hike thus far had been so easy and since I was relativily dry (no rain gear from the knees down, but boots were good) and uncomfortably warm from 4 layers of clothes I headed for the summit.
Things began getting tougher. I expected it to get substantially worse at the timberline, as it is established for a reason
. The winds at the start were perpendicular to my accent, making them relativily easy to deal with. I had been up this route in the summer and I knew that the course shifted somewhat near the summit. At about 4800 feet the weather went to hell in a handbag. Snow and ice were falling and there was about an inch on the rocks. (Picture 2) The winds were very strong, now directly on my back. They literally made it easy to climb upward with their 'push'. I scurried to the summit to find myself the only one there and the summit sign covered in an inch of ice/frozen snow. I could barely snap my a pic of myself and the summit with the stong wind gusts. (Picture 3) It is a hilarious looking self portrait and I think it shows what I was enduring. The temp was likely about 32-34 degrees or so here as i noticed a patches of ice on the rocks that were from frozen water and not simply snow accumulation. I didn't stay long as the winds were quite powerful. I would say the highest gusts were around 70 or maybe a bit higher, but this is based on never experiencing winds over 60 or so prior to this. Heading down into the wind was horrible. Straight into it. You literally could not fall forward. I am sure glad I had brough my face shield. I was sure releaved when I got down below the timberline again. On the way down I noticed that the winds had become gustier. There were some incredible gusts coming down off the ridgeline that I did not like being exposed to in a forest. I could'nt belive I saw someone setting up a tent in it. The winds were to high to camp in the vacinity of large trees in my opinion. The hike down was slow from me and I was very happy when I arrived at my car. Round trip time was 5 hrs 20 minuts. I took me the same amount of time to go down as it did up, because of the amount of water and need for caution during decent as well as feeling drained by the foul weather. This is definately not a hike I will soon forget.
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