Silverfox
New member
The plan was to traverse from Starr King Trail down to the fish hatchery..A good days work no doubt..picking up a couple of NE100 on the way..sounds like a good trail though recent reports speak of some mud on York Pond Trail.. The plans were in place ..meet grumpy gran at the FH around 830 then double back to Starr King trailhead..Heading north on 93 was pretty fine this morning..there was fog all along the river but lots of clear sky..I wished that we had decided on something else today..maybe go a bit higher..you know the days when you look off at the Prezis and wish you were there..Too late to change plans..cell phone service not that good up past the Notch and some don't even keep it on..go figure!! Low and behold, Grumpygram passes me just into the Notch..(she does everything fast)..and I wondered if maybe plans could be changed..The other side of the coin, her trusty dog Finn who has struggled a bit on longer hikes lately and above treeline not the right place for him..So I make the decision to pull over in Twin Mt..see if Finn is in the car..if he is we do the original plan..otherwize..options are forming..Sure enough..Finn not in the car and Mary agrees that it is too good a day to be in the trees..a change of plans is in order..we decide On Jefferson/Washington and probably Munroe..another OTHH group also doing Washington today..maybe we would see them on the way..After dropping a car at the Ammo trail head we head up to Jefferson Notch and are soon on our way.. still some clouds on Washington at this point and Jefferson in and out but the day and forecast look good..
The trail starts off a bit muddy with a steady grade..we reach the lookout rock in no time it seems..The knee feels good..i am concerned about the Caps abit but feeling strong after the last several weeks of hiking and will to turn around if it doesn't work out..I took my time on the ledgey scrambles..a spot or 2 a bit dicey but soon we were at the the Cornice Junction.. Not looking forward to the slabby scramble ahead I had picked a route over the Cornice to Gulfside then head up and down over Monticello Lawn..This worked out very well..while the ascent is certainly longer that way the footing is mostly good and we popped onto the summit of Jefferson in the clear..A bit hazy at this point but the views were good and we joined several folks down by the big cairn for a snack..too early for lunch at this point..
The further along Gulfside to Washington we traveled the clearer it got as while it was warm..in the 60's.. alight breeze made this a perfect ridgewalk day and the views improved as the haze vanished..this is a spellbinding section of trail with the Great gulf..the Northern Presis..range after range of mountains stretching off in every direction..Dwarf cinqufoil (sp) blooming in profusuin everywhere..quite a day..Once past the Jewell Trail jct the crowds increased..an amazing amount of people made good decisions today and went above treeline..lots of folks in sneakers but lots of hikers as well. The final climb to Washington along the edge of the Great Gulf one of my favorite sections of trail..spectacular views into the abyss with Adams and Madison in the back gtround..
The point where you come over the Trinity Height connector to the summit sign is one of the more surreal sights in the hiking world..hundreds of people milling about..long lines waiting for a photo opp..we bypassed that madness and went to refill water bottles when we stumbled into our other OTHH party who was just finishing up lunch..After chatting for a bit they headed off for the Jewell Traill descent..we chatted a bit with a 5 year old who had just made the climb up Ammo to the Peak..Even his older brothers were pleased with him.
I was pretty pleased with this ascent today..I had purposely skipped STP hike this weekend thinking that it might be too much for me but I guess I have no excuses now..I did support a few other hikers this year though for that worthwhile cause..
hiking down to LOC was a pleasant journey as much of the haze had cleared and the views got better and better.we passed many people then happily ran into liz and Loanshark who were out for the day.. We chatted abit commenting on our good fortune then went our different ways..always good to run into folks..Munroe looks so steep from the hut but really a pretty quick climb mostly on well worn steps an we soon reached our last summit of the day..looking a bit wistfully further down the Crawford Path at Eisenhower .. a group of Camp Q kids passed by..now on the downhill side of there traverse today..they were all a bit hyped up and enjoying the weather..this camp runs such a nice hiking program..the kids are all very polite and trail savvy.
Descending Ammo can be a little challanging but we were fortunate to have DRY rocks for most of the way..Taking my time i picked my way slowly down the long ledges..marvelling at how good things felt..glad i took the chance to go high today.. A large (50) group of camp kids from another camp straggled by..tramping on grass cutting you off on steps..kind of annoying really but..at least they were out there..sneakers and all..some even had them tied....finally we had let all but the stragglers by and again enjoyed a steady descent..The steps to the Gem Pool were all dry and fine..a bandana soaked in the cool water sure felt good.. The trail a bit muddy in spots from there but overall trail conditions were very good today considering the weather we have endured this summer.
The Weeks will have to wait for another day..this was a terrific day to be above treeline..never took any clothes out of the pack..just a hat and sunscreen.. A quick swim at the excellent Jefferson Brook swim hole finished off the day..it was all good
a few pics at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/silverfox777/sets/72157621754384713/
The trail starts off a bit muddy with a steady grade..we reach the lookout rock in no time it seems..The knee feels good..i am concerned about the Caps abit but feeling strong after the last several weeks of hiking and will to turn around if it doesn't work out..I took my time on the ledgey scrambles..a spot or 2 a bit dicey but soon we were at the the Cornice Junction.. Not looking forward to the slabby scramble ahead I had picked a route over the Cornice to Gulfside then head up and down over Monticello Lawn..This worked out very well..while the ascent is certainly longer that way the footing is mostly good and we popped onto the summit of Jefferson in the clear..A bit hazy at this point but the views were good and we joined several folks down by the big cairn for a snack..too early for lunch at this point..
The further along Gulfside to Washington we traveled the clearer it got as while it was warm..in the 60's.. alight breeze made this a perfect ridgewalk day and the views improved as the haze vanished..this is a spellbinding section of trail with the Great gulf..the Northern Presis..range after range of mountains stretching off in every direction..Dwarf cinqufoil (sp) blooming in profusuin everywhere..quite a day..Once past the Jewell Trail jct the crowds increased..an amazing amount of people made good decisions today and went above treeline..lots of folks in sneakers but lots of hikers as well. The final climb to Washington along the edge of the Great Gulf one of my favorite sections of trail..spectacular views into the abyss with Adams and Madison in the back gtround..
The point where you come over the Trinity Height connector to the summit sign is one of the more surreal sights in the hiking world..hundreds of people milling about..long lines waiting for a photo opp..we bypassed that madness and went to refill water bottles when we stumbled into our other OTHH party who was just finishing up lunch..After chatting for a bit they headed off for the Jewell Traill descent..we chatted a bit with a 5 year old who had just made the climb up Ammo to the Peak..Even his older brothers were pleased with him.
I was pretty pleased with this ascent today..I had purposely skipped STP hike this weekend thinking that it might be too much for me but I guess I have no excuses now..I did support a few other hikers this year though for that worthwhile cause..
hiking down to LOC was a pleasant journey as much of the haze had cleared and the views got better and better.we passed many people then happily ran into liz and Loanshark who were out for the day.. We chatted abit commenting on our good fortune then went our different ways..always good to run into folks..Munroe looks so steep from the hut but really a pretty quick climb mostly on well worn steps an we soon reached our last summit of the day..looking a bit wistfully further down the Crawford Path at Eisenhower .. a group of Camp Q kids passed by..now on the downhill side of there traverse today..they were all a bit hyped up and enjoying the weather..this camp runs such a nice hiking program..the kids are all very polite and trail savvy.
Descending Ammo can be a little challanging but we were fortunate to have DRY rocks for most of the way..Taking my time i picked my way slowly down the long ledges..marvelling at how good things felt..glad i took the chance to go high today.. A large (50) group of camp kids from another camp straggled by..tramping on grass cutting you off on steps..kind of annoying really but..at least they were out there..sneakers and all..some even had them tied....finally we had let all but the stragglers by and again enjoyed a steady descent..The steps to the Gem Pool were all dry and fine..a bandana soaked in the cool water sure felt good.. The trail a bit muddy in spots from there but overall trail conditions were very good today considering the weather we have endured this summer.
The Weeks will have to wait for another day..this was a terrific day to be above treeline..never took any clothes out of the pack..just a hat and sunscreen.. A quick swim at the excellent Jefferson Brook swim hole finished off the day..it was all good
a few pics at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/silverfox777/sets/72157621754384713/
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