We left Danforth Bay Camping Resort in Freedom, NH. Believe it or not, Mt. Washington (Pinkham Notch base) takes about 1 hour and 10 minutes. In the North Conway / Intervale area on NH 16, Mt. Washington was completely covered in the clouds. This was a bit concerning as I was initially worried by the potential for afternoon thundershowers.
After a quick egg and cheese bagel breakfast along with some coffee for me and water for my son (that's all he drinks) we arrived at Pinkham Notch base to party-cloudy weather. We parked and started "re-packing" our bags. Austin prepared 11 water bottles in his back pack! It was heavy. I had six along with lunch, snacks, cameras, and warmer clothing. To our suprise, we quickly realized that someone was sleeping in the bed of the truck that we pulled next too! We kept quiet but thought it was a little strange that people would "camp out" at Pinkham notch.
723AM - Starting Out:
We finally hit the Tuckerman Ravine trails after "repacking" our bags several times. Suprisingly there was no bugs to bother us, even more surprising since we were deep in the woods and the river was flowing high. We did not stop to take a picture or even to view the Crystal Cascades. If we ever return to visit Glen Ellis Falls (which is nearby - 5 minutes by car) we will make take the 5-10 minute hike to complete view this. The thought of finding my camera in the packed backpack was unthinkable at this early stage in the game
830AM - First View:
After about a mile or two climbing at a very moderate pace, we saw the 1st real view on the trail. I was suprised at the number of hikers that were descending from the mountain. Many of them appeared to have overnight gear while several did not. Makes you wonder !
909AM - Hermit Lake Summit
We arrived at Hermit Lake Summit. Just prior to this location we noticed the Lion's Head trail off to the right. The Hermit Lake Shelters (only legal place to camp on the East side of Mt. Washington) are also close by on the right side of the trail. Bathrooms (flush toilets) are available. Surprising clean but purell replaces sinks. No place to put trash (carry in/carry out). After a few pictures we headed along to the headwall.
1020AM - "Bad News at the Headwall"
At 10AM after some heavy steep climbing we stopped for 10 minutes to enjoy a granola bar and some water while overlooking the Tuckerman's Ravine waterfall. This break gave us some much needed energy to hit the headwall at a good steady pace. The view was awesome but I was a bit concerned on how wet the headwall looked. About 1/2 way the headwall we came in contact with an older gentleman who was using some hiking support tools. Apparently, he had recently heard from some other hikers (that we passed coming down previously) that there was a severe Thunderstorm front moving in around 1PM and how Mt. Washington was like a "lighting rod" and he wasn't "becoming a crispy critter". Well this was concerning especially since just a few hundred feet above us it was very cloudy and windy. The older hiker told us it would take about 1 to 1.5 hours to continue our journey at a good pace. However we would have to be confined to the summit. We took our chances and decided to continue on!
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