JohnL
New member
Giff and I were prepared for a “mostly cloudy” day but the weather gods decided to let us slip into a small window of gorgeous and varied weather for the day. We got started up the trail at 8:50 noting only two other hiker cars plus two snowmobile-toting trucks in the Crawford lot. The trail was well broken out and the lower part of the mountain was a winter wonderland of snow covered trees. We moved easily up the trail, only taking particular care at the numerous seepage areas where the trail was covered with ice, and in some areas, running water. We passed by the Mizpah Cutoff an hour later and at 10:15 we broke into the open at the Webster Cliff Trail junction.
The view over to Eisenhower and beyond was stunning. We could see the clouds roiling up in the Dry River basin with the south wind. We were hoping they would not be a major factor as we made our way up the ridge. We bypassed Pierce for now and headed straight to Eisenhower. There were no tracks ahead of us as we made our way along the numerous humps of the ridge. As we neared Eisenhower, the clouds rolled in on us and visibility shrank to a minimum. We quickly climbed out of it and the sky became grayer as we made our way up to the summit at 11:15. We spent 10 minutes at the summit with only a modest wind to dampen our enthusiasm. Mt Washington’s summit cone was enshrouded and to the west the clouds continued their movement in the valleys and around the peaks.
We headed down and the magical sight in front of us made us giddy. The lighting, the clouds, the peaks, the snow all combined to form a magnificent vista. I was so busy looking at the panorama and taking photos that I didn’t see the ice on the trail. Bam! Down I went, falling like a bag of hammers, spraining my left wrist and scraping up my right forearm, though neither injury hurt until hours later. I cursed myself for being so careless but thanked my lucky stars that it was no worse. I continued taking photos but was more careful as to where I placed my feet.
We passed two hikers who had overnighted at Nauman’s and were happy for the good weather after spending a miserable day on Saturday. Three hikers joined us on Pierce’s summit where we stared at the last of the beautiful views before heading down. At 12:30 we called it a day and made our way down, passing less than a dozen hikers who timed their hike a bit late for the nice weather. By the time we got back to the parking lot at 1:30, the skies all around had turned steel gray and the bright sunshine had packed it in. We had timed our day perfectly.
Photos are here.
JohnL
The view over to Eisenhower and beyond was stunning. We could see the clouds roiling up in the Dry River basin with the south wind. We were hoping they would not be a major factor as we made our way up the ridge. We bypassed Pierce for now and headed straight to Eisenhower. There were no tracks ahead of us as we made our way along the numerous humps of the ridge. As we neared Eisenhower, the clouds rolled in on us and visibility shrank to a minimum. We quickly climbed out of it and the sky became grayer as we made our way up to the summit at 11:15. We spent 10 minutes at the summit with only a modest wind to dampen our enthusiasm. Mt Washington’s summit cone was enshrouded and to the west the clouds continued their movement in the valleys and around the peaks.
We headed down and the magical sight in front of us made us giddy. The lighting, the clouds, the peaks, the snow all combined to form a magnificent vista. I was so busy looking at the panorama and taking photos that I didn’t see the ice on the trail. Bam! Down I went, falling like a bag of hammers, spraining my left wrist and scraping up my right forearm, though neither injury hurt until hours later. I cursed myself for being so careless but thanked my lucky stars that it was no worse. I continued taking photos but was more careful as to where I placed my feet.
We passed two hikers who had overnighted at Nauman’s and were happy for the good weather after spending a miserable day on Saturday. Three hikers joined us on Pierce’s summit where we stared at the last of the beautiful views before heading down. At 12:30 we called it a day and made our way down, passing less than a dozen hikers who timed their hike a bit late for the nice weather. By the time we got back to the parking lot at 1:30, the skies all around had turned steel gray and the bright sunshine had packed it in. We had timed our day perfectly.
Photos are here.
JohnL
