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| Bundled-up Vivian |
Paloma and I finally committed to getting back on the trails and finishing up our quest to hike the 48. We had our sights set on summitting Mt. Jefferson via the Caps Ridge Trail on Sunday, August 20th, however poor weather and the fact we were hiking with our 16-month old, Vivian, caused us to turn around about a half-mile from the summit. We were bummed but knew that we made the right decision, especially after talking with others who did go to the summit and told us it was miserable. I will say, though, she looked pretty cozy bundled up in my
Deuter Kid Comfort Air carrier!
We decided to return to conquer Jefferson less than a week later, on Saturday, August 26th. This time, however, we decided to up the ante and add Mt. Washington to the plan. Given our experience the week prior, we decided that hiking in the Presidential's with a 16-month old might not be the best plan given the unpredictability of the weather and the long hours we would be hiking, so we recruited my parents to join us on our trip to hang with Vivian while we hiked. We arrived at the Caps Ridge trail-head at just after 9:00AM, made our final preparations and were on the trail at 9:25AM. The weather at the base was just above 50 degrees and the skies were clear.
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| Beautiful Day |
Our route for the day was to take the Caps Ridge Trail up to the summit of Jefferson, then take a short jaunt down the Jefferson Loop Trail to connect to the Gulfside trail across to Washington. To reach the summit of Washington we would take the Trinity Connector. Our plan was to descend to the Lake of the Clouds hut via the Crawford Path, and finally return to the base of Washington via the Ammonoosuc trail. A total distance of 10.5 miles or so.
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| Climbing the Caps |
The Caps Ridge trail is unique in that the trail-head starts at such a high elevation that you break treeline within a short period of time. The trail is relatively mild early on but was a bit overgrown - surprising since it seems like it is well used. You are treated to some decent views pretty early on - this particular day was nice and clear so the views were fantastic. Quite a difference from the week prior. Once you break treeline you begin to climb over the Caps - a series of rock outcrops that require some bouldering to get over. It is actually quite a fun trail to climb on. As we climbed to around 5000' the temperature started to drop significantly, so Paloma and I both put on our fleece jackets and rain shells.
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| Summit of Mt. Jefferson |
We reached the summit of Jefferson at 11:30AM. It was quite breezy at the top and we were in and out of the clouds. When the clouds cleared we were treated to amazing views over to Mt. Adams and Mt. Madison, as well as over to our destination - Mt. Washington. Woof - it looked like quite a trek to get over there! We spent only a few minutes on the summit of Jefferson as we were eager to begin our trek across the range to Mt. Washington.
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| The Cog Railway |
The Gulfside trail is actually quite pleasant and easy going, though even though were were keeping a pretty good pace Washington still looked quite far. Halfway between Jefferson and Washington is Mt. Clay, which although is over 5000' tall, doesn't qualify for the 4000 Footer list due to the prominence rules. We were tempted to take the Mt. Clay Loop to bag this mountain as well, but given the time we decided to stick to the Gulfside Trail and skip the elevation gain to bag Mt. Clay. The views along the Gulfside trail were phenomenal, and it really highlighted the scale of the Presidential Range.
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| Paloma on the Gulfside Trail |
After we circumvented Mt. Clay, we emerged onto the shoulder of Mt. Washington and quickly came to an intersection with the Cog Railway. We reached the tracks just in time to see one of the trains going by - this was pretty cool. As we waived to the passengers descending via the train, half of me was thinking about what wussies they were taking a train to visit the summit of Washington, though the other half of me was tempted to hitch a ride down. We got a bit turned around at this point and had to backtrack a bit to get back on the correct path to the summit. This involved climbing alongside the train tracks, which got the legs burning as the ground was quite soft and the pitch was quite steep. We finally found our way back to the trail and began climbing steadily to the summit of Washington. The final approach was via the Trinity Connector, and before we knew it we were standing on top of the tallest of the 48 4000 footers, the mighty Mt. Washington. The time was 1:40PM.
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| Ugh! |
For those unfamiliar with Mt. Washington - lets just put it this way...the summit is a shit-show. I've purposely put off hiking Mt. Washington because most people who climb it end up being disappointed because they have found the summit to be swamped with people who either took the Cog Railway or Auto Road to the top. Well folks, that is exactly what we experienced. We had to wait in a twenty minute long line to get our photo with the sign at the summit. It was not enjoyable.
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| Summit of Mt. Washington |
Now - I am not knocking people for driving or taking the railway up - just a few months ago Paloma, Viv and I drove to the summit of 14k foot Pike's Peak in Colorado and had a great time. But it is quite a let down to have hiked for so long and to not be able to enjoy the summit. Oh well - I knew what we were getting into. After we snapped our summit photo we decided to get the heck out of dodge, and began our descent to the Lake of the Clouds hut at 2:00PM.
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| Lake of the Clouds |
The hike down Crawford Path to the hut was relatively mild. As we hiked we watched someone fly a drone, presumably taking some cool aerial shots of the Lake of the Clouds. We reached the hut at 2:45PM. If I could turn the Lake of the Clouds hut into my full-time residence I would do it in a heartbeat. What a gorgeous setting. Flanked by Mt. Washington and Mt. Monroe, the hut sits on the shore of a crystal clear lake that Paloma pointed out almost resemble those infinity pools you see at high end Caribbean resorts. We stopped in the hut to use the facilities and I was tempted by some delicious smelling brownies that must have just been made by one of the crew members there. I was good though and passed. I wanted to spend more time at the hut but it was now 3:00PM, so we decided to begin the final section of our hike via the Ammonoosuc Ravine trail.
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| Swimming Hole |
The Ammonoosuc Ravine trail skirts down the ravine alongside the Ammonoosuc river. It was a bit steep at the top so we had to take some care in our descent. What a beautiful trail, though. There are a number of small waterfalls and swimming holes along the trail, and great views back up towards Mt Washington. We kept a decent pace as we got lower on the trail, and reached the Cog Railway parking lot at 4:50PM. What a great but exhausting day of hiking. We reunited with my parents and little Vivian and began the drive back home. I was pooped!
All in all this is a fantastic hike. It is decently strenuous but the hike along the Gulfside Trail is mild and gives you a decent recovery period before ascending Washington. Make sure you check the weather before doing this hike, though, as you are exposed for several miles. 42 down, 6 to go!
Hike Stats
Trails: Caps Ridge, Jefferson Loop, Gulfside, Trinity Connector, Crawford Path, Ammonoosuc Ravine
Total Time (Including Breaks): 7:25
Distance: 10.5 Miles
Elevation Gain: ?? (If anyone has an accurate Elevation calculation of this route, please let me know!)
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