Highpoint: Mt. Washington
State: New Hampshire
Height: 6288 ft.
Highpoint#: 1
Date: 9/15/2001
Trails: Hiked Tuckerman's Ravine trail.
Distance: About 5 miles one way (took transportation down).
Vertical Gain: 4820 ft.
Time Taken: 5 hrs.
Weather: Absolutely no clouds all day. High 60s on the way up, 40 at the top, with 30mph wind.
Group: JO, BC, Rick, Jay, Jay’s then-girlfriend Hilary, and Sal

Comments: It was an awesome day and there were no clouds all day long, not even little ones. Most visitors to Mt. Washington take the famous auto road or cog railroad to the top, but we were there for a brisk hike. The Tuckerman's Ravine trail was a good choice. The trail started out at a nice pace, gaining 2300 feet in about 2 miles.  The trail is rocky but smooth in this section.  Then, as you see the walls of Tuckerman’s Ravine pop over the trees, the trail levels out. You then begin climbing up the north side of the 1300-foot headwall of the ravine.  The hike up the ravine was a long scramble up some pretty steep rock surfaces, and it gets progressively steeper as you near the top.  Once over the ravine, we found that we still had another nasty little hike at a good pitch up the summit cone, which was essentially a rock pile. No soil or small rocks here, just 1-5 foot flat boulders piled haphazardly in the shape of a mountain, providing many holes to twist your ankle in. Every now and then the rocks would tilt to test our balance. Finally we emerged at the summit to be greeted by hoards of tourists who had taken transportation to the top. It was very windy and about 30 degrees colder than at the base of the mountain.  There was a line to stand on the summit. We didn't bother to get our picture taken there like everyone else, though we did stand at the top. Since it was getting late in the day and we were all pretty tired, we decided as a group to take a bus down to our cars. Great views from the top.

 

 

Near the beginning of the trail, this is your first view of Washington since you left your car.  The summit is just barely out of view to the left.

 

 

This is view from the floor of Tuckerman’s Ravine.  This is where the size of the mountain really starts to hit you.

 

 

A tired and disheveled BC takes a break at the top of the ravine.  Still another 1100 feet vertical to go!

 

 

Rick, BC, Jay and Hilary near the summit.  This was a very cool hike, and it got the highpointing bug started with JO and BC.