Grandaddy
New member
The day started early at Pinkham Notch. It was about 70F at 6:00am and very humid. After breakfast, we headed up the Tuckerman Ravine Trail to Hermit Lake. This is a pretty boring stretch, as there is not much scenery. As we near Hermit Lake, I see the snow patched mountain towering above. We arrive at the Hermit Lake shelter, and I'm overtaken by the beauty of Tuckerman's Ravine!
We proceeded up the Lion's Head Trail after a very short descent down the Tuckerman's Ravine Trail. The trail starts off flat but steepens quickly. There are a couple of tricky ledges to pass. They are wet and slippery, requiring close attention. After a couple of switchbacks, there is a wonderful view of Hermit Lake. Shortly we emerge from the trees. The clouds quickly move in, obscuring the view of our surroundings. We would be socked in for much of the ascent. The trail is of moderate difficulty until we approach Lion's Head, where the trail gets more difficult. Once we pass Lion's Head, we get a break. Shortly after, we passed through a large patch of hard-packed snow, about 3-4 feet deep. The trail gets a bit harder until we meet the Tuckerman's Ravine Trail. We take a right turn to go towards the summit. The last 1/2 mile is a killer! We finally make to the top of the trail which leads onto the Auto Road. What a transition: from hiking up a mostly peaceful trail to having 3 Harley's roar past me when I get to the top. We fight through the fanny-pack mob to reach the rockpile which is the summit.
We quickly ate our lunch and headed back down, after hearing that thunderstorms would hit by mid-afternoon. 20 minutes after leaving the summit, it started to sprinkle, which quickly turned to rain, rain with a clap of thunder, and then torrential rain. We were in the middle of a thunderstorm at 5500'! We quickly found a large boulder to hide under.
the storm took about 20 minutes to pass. We got soaked. Rivers cascaded down the upper parts of the Lion's Head Trail. The lower parts proved trickly due to the slippery ledges.
The remainder of the trip was pretty uneventful: the skies cleared and we stopped at Hermit Lake and chowed down a Snickers bar. We then speedhiked down to Pinkham Notch. This was my first time doing this...we made it back down to Pinkham Notch in about 50 minutes. What a blast!
All in all, a pretty good trip.
We proceeded up the Lion's Head Trail after a very short descent down the Tuckerman's Ravine Trail. The trail starts off flat but steepens quickly. There are a couple of tricky ledges to pass. They are wet and slippery, requiring close attention. After a couple of switchbacks, there is a wonderful view of Hermit Lake. Shortly we emerge from the trees. The clouds quickly move in, obscuring the view of our surroundings. We would be socked in for much of the ascent. The trail is of moderate difficulty until we approach Lion's Head, where the trail gets more difficult. Once we pass Lion's Head, we get a break. Shortly after, we passed through a large patch of hard-packed snow, about 3-4 feet deep. The trail gets a bit harder until we meet the Tuckerman's Ravine Trail. We take a right turn to go towards the summit. The last 1/2 mile is a killer! We finally make to the top of the trail which leads onto the Auto Road. What a transition: from hiking up a mostly peaceful trail to having 3 Harley's roar past me when I get to the top. We fight through the fanny-pack mob to reach the rockpile which is the summit.
We quickly ate our lunch and headed back down, after hearing that thunderstorms would hit by mid-afternoon. 20 minutes after leaving the summit, it started to sprinkle, which quickly turned to rain, rain with a clap of thunder, and then torrential rain. We were in the middle of a thunderstorm at 5500'! We quickly found a large boulder to hide under.
the storm took about 20 minutes to pass. We got soaked. Rivers cascaded down the upper parts of the Lion's Head Trail. The lower parts proved trickly due to the slippery ledges.
The remainder of the trip was pretty uneventful: the skies cleared and we stopped at Hermit Lake and chowed down a Snickers bar. We then speedhiked down to Pinkham Notch. This was my first time doing this...we made it back down to Pinkham Notch in about 50 minutes. What a blast!
All in all, a pretty good trip.
