Things weren’t really that well labeled and the maps on the signs were pretty pathetic. I knew this area was HEAVILY used, so I simply followed the beaten path. There wasn’t a trail registry, and I figured if they did, the park would consume about 12 bundles of paper per week with the amount of hikers that use the trail. If there were any fees to be paid, I didn’t see them, nor was I looking for them. I saw MANY warning signs informing the public that you needed to be in EXCELLENT physical shape in order to climb Mt. Washington. It also mentioned various fatalities, and emphasized how you needed various gear and mountaineering skills. The weather was nice and sunny with nothing on the radar for hundreds of miles in all directions, so I wasn’t that worried. The “trail” was a jeep trail which occasionally crossed streams with bridges constructed to allow 4 wheel drive vehicles passage. There were lodges up near the base of the mountain, so I’m figuring this was the route they used in order to haul construction materials. It didn’t take long until I encountered many slow people which I scampered past. The Tuckerman’s Ravine trail very beaten down and had rocks the size of backpacks to small furniture. With a KTM, you “could” motor your way up, but it would NOT be comfortable or enjoyable. I was amazed on how many people were on the trail and even getting a late start as I did. Some kid caught my eye when I saw a large pack and his choice of footwear, or lack thereof. I complimented his manliness by hiking in bare feet, but he said it was just his boots that were giving him trouble. He then told me that most people on the trail were going up to the cabins/shelters/camping spots for the night.
When passing by a bridge about a mile up the road/trail, I saw a hiking couple with their packs strewn about with cooking gear explosion. They were indeed boiling water, making some sort of soup, and eating jerky….right on the side of the trail. After feeling that I had just left the parking lot a few minutes ago made me scratch my head in bewilderment. At times through the hike up I felt as though I was cheating somehow, like cutting in line at an amusement park. So many slow people weighed down with enormous packs, and TREKING POLES!!! SOOOO MANY POLES!!! I think I was the ONLY person w/o those silly things…. I could have filled a boxcar of poles if I were to confiscate all of them. About another mile up the trail I broke off to the Lion’s Head trail which was reported to be much steeper, less people, and to have better views. It was up the trail a ways where I met a hiker with two teenage sons. He asked me if I was planning on going to the top, and I said, “sure”. My plan was to go up as high as I could, and if it looked bad, I’d turn around. This guy quite motivated in trying to convince me to TURN AROUND that instant. He informed me that they had left that morning at 9am and were this far on their way down, so I had better turn around and come back another time when I was better prepared and had more daylight. I told him to have a nice day, and he muttered something to his kids in disgust as if I had just walked off of a cliff. The next bit of trail indeed was steep and I gained a lot of elevation quickly. At this point I began to sweat. Once out of the trees the wind picked up significantly, and my heat generation was no longer sufficient in keeping me warm especially with all my sweat evaporating, so I put on my long sleeved shirt. Still plenty warm to continue wearing shorts. I then could see the top not all that far away, and was even more confused as to what the guy’s problem was I had encountered earlier. It took some time, but eventually I was on the last few hundred feet of the mountain and the wind really began to pick up. I put my wind breaker pants over my shorts and was just fine. There were bits of ice on the rocks shaped with the wind, and would occasionally blow off the rock. The closer to the top I got, the more I had to swim past people due to the popularity of the summit. Then on top, any slob could drive their car to the summit for the price of $28 + tax per vehicle. I took some pictures, dodged some falling ice hunks from one of the buildings, and explored a bit. It was extremely windy on top, and since I had stopped hiking, my fingers were getting chilly enough where I wanted to keep them in my pockets. Still I believe 95% of everyone else on the mountain was foolishly over dressed with full body subzero arctic clothing, and multi-hundred dollar mountaineering gear. I got many funny looks from people as I wandered in their midst wearing a thin pair of pants, and a cotton button up shirt taking pictures with (gasp) my bare hands!!! I got my fill and started down.
The descent was fine. I decided to go down a different way to switch up the scenery some, and perhaps encounter a less steep trail which would save the knees in my descent. The other trail was a bit easier, but it had MANY people on it, all descending at a crawling pace. A few foreign speaking hikers found stepping stones in the middle of a narrow section of trail as a perfectly acceptable place to sit down, take a break, and have lunch. People with large packs and bulky gear were taking their time going down Tuckerman's Ravine, and I had to scamper down offshoots of the trail to avoid complications with wildly flailing trekking poles. I eventually got to the lower elevations and passed a lodge full of people talking about how awesome they are. I quickly made the remaining 2 or so miles down the jeep trail back to the parking lot. I didn’t see many people on that last stretch, except for some poor hiker who appeared that he twisted his ankle and was slowly hobbling down the rocky road with his friend. I got to the car with plenty of daylight left. I think I got up the mountain in just under 3 hours, and back down in about 2. I don’t consider myself to be in excellent shape by a long shot, but when I read trail reports saying that it takes about 6 ½ hours to do a round trip for someone in great physical condition, I think these eastern people are just a bunch of REI pansies. Well, that was my snobby remark for the day.
I then went to go visit Kyle Satterstrom at Harvard. We had a late dinner with his girlfriend at a Vietnamese restaurant, then went out for “bubble-tea” smoothies afterwards. Then my legs started to ache, and I wanted to get back to my hotel bed so I navigated my way through countless toll highways back to Windsor.
That’s about it. Enjoy the pictures.
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