Mt Monroe (12/22/22)
Part of winter vacation is getting the chance to hike in the snow! With school having gotten out Wednesday, Thursday seemed like the perfect day to hike. The question was where to hike to? I thought about attacking Sugarloaf and Spaulding, or maybe Abraham, in northern Maine, but those all involved logistical issues that I wasn't quite ready to tackle. In general, the difficulty of a hike doesn't intimidate me. However, logistical difficulties do. Finding parking, trail information, road closures, and so on is stressful. Thus, I decided to fall back on a hike that was a tough climb, but also simple logistically: Mt. Washington. "But wait, Hawk," you might be saying, "your title says Mt. Monroe." We'll get to that.
I packed my winter gear the night before my hike. As usual, I packed heavy, making sure that I had my bivy, sleeping bag, and sleeping pad, in case I got into trouble. I am finding snacks to be a difficult issue in the winter, because my proven high calorie snacks, like Payday bars, tend to freeze. On the trip up, I stopped in North Conway for my usual pre-hike bagel from Big Dave's Bagels and Deli (I swear they should sponsor this blog with how much I faun over them), and drove to the Ammonoosuc Ravine trailhead. The weather report for today was iffy, so I decided to go up the west side, where I could stop at the Lake of the Clouds Hut and figure out whether Washington was doable or not. Besides, I am more familiar with that side of the mountain.
There was only one other car in the parking lot when I got there, and I never encountered them on trail. My stomach was bothering me a bit this morning, so I hoped that wouldn't cause any issues as I hiked. I made sure to drink plenty of water to keep myself hydrated, and that seemed to help my stomach. I could have parked at the Cog Railway parking lot and saved myself half a mile or so each way, but that would have cost $10, and I have no interest in giving them any money for a variety of reasons.
As it always is, the first part of the hike was relatively easy. I could definitely tell that I wasn't at full hiking strength, but that's mostly because I haven't been hiking enough lately. I knew that the trail would start ascending steeply after I passed the frozen waterfall area. Thus, I decided to stop there for a snack and water break. I was expecting to have seen other people by now, but I guessed that the fact that it was a Thursday meant the trails were sparse compared to what they would be on a weekend.
In some ways, the steep ascent that followed the waterfall was easier for me than the milder ascent before it, because I was more mentally ready for it. I knew what I was getting myself into. As I ascended, I passed an area where people had littered the ground with orange peels. It was pretty disgusting, and I had to maneuver my spikes carefully to avoid getting one stuck to them. I know they're biodegradable, but seriously, pack it out!
I got a nice view of the Bretton Woods Ski Area from the side of the trail. Dragonfly and I are planning to go ski there this winter, so it was exciting to get a good look at the ski trails from a distance. I sometimes wonder if the people who map out the ski trails do something like that, or maybe they just use drones.
The landmark I was looking for was the Hilde Step, which I knew marked the beginning of the final ascent to the Hut. A hiking group that I was with had named it years ago, riffing off the famous Hillary Step on Everest, although the Hillary Step no longer exists. As I found it and climbed, I kept glancing off to my left and seeing the towers of Mt. Washington standing proud over the landscape. It looked so close, like I could just turn left and be there in a few minutes, but I knew that wasn't true. It was probably less than a mile from me as the crow flies, but I can't imagine that a crow would enjoy flying up there with those winds.
The weather was weird on this day. There was kind of a haze that hung over the mountain, but you could still see for miles. However, the sun was partially grayed out, which I suppose I was thankful for. It led to a really cool looking effect.
As always, it was hard to find the trail in the final ascent to the hut, so I did my best to follow the snowshoe tracks that came before me. I was wearing spikes but carrying snowshoes, as a previous trip report had said that snowshoes were necessary. This was untrue. I did just fine in spikes and didn't post hole or anything.
Once I got to the Hut, I realized that the wind was worse than I bargained for. Even with the building for shelter, it was almost impossible to get out of the wind. It was gusting right over the structure and hitting me. I had to take a quick snack break, as I couldn't linger too long. I also had to make a choice as to what to do next. It was pretty clear that Washington was out. I would have had to be exposed above tree line with no shelter for a long time on the way to the Washington summit and back, and I didn't think that was realistically doable. I did have all my above tree line gear, but I didn't see it as a smart risk.
Thus, I was left with two options. I could go for Monroe as a consolation prize, or I could just turn around and leave empty-handed. I didn't like the idea of leaving empty-handed, so I decided to go for Mt. Monroe. It was just a short walk from the Hut, so I wouldn't be exposed above tree line for too long. I worried that putting on all my above tree line gear would make me overheat, so I just put on my balaclava and pulled up the hood on my jacket.
As I started out towards the mountain, I made a poor choice. Instead of going the direct route, I went for the first landmark that I could see, which were a couple signposts. This meant that I ended up going off the beaten trail, which made it hard to find my way up the mountain. Of course, it probably would have been hard anyway, given that prior tracks didn't stand out very much against the frozen mountainside.
I always feel like I am an arctic explorer when I am getting beaten on by the wind as I attempt to climb a mountain, and this was no different. The winds were ferocious. The worst winds I have ever experienced while hiking were on the first time that I climbed Mt. Monroe. These winds may well have taken second place. I made it about two-thirds of the way up the mountain when I realized that I was on the wrong track. Now I had two choices. I could either go back down the mountain and go all the way around to the right track, or attempt a dicey climb up the side of an ice sheet.
With the winds beating on me, I knew that going back down and all the way around wasn't going to work, so I decided to try the climb up the ice sheet. I made it, but it was a bit scary. I wondered if I should have left my pack back at the Hut while I climbed the mountain? Of course, it was too late to second-guess that decision now. I pushed towards the summit, which of course turned out to be a false summit. From there, I had to traverse my way across the top of the mountain while the wind was trying to knock me down the whole time. Thankfully, I made it across without further issue and tagged the summit. I took my usual summit selfie and started back down.
On the way back to the Hut, I was struck by how in certain pockets the wind was howling, and in other pockets the mountain served as a wind block and it was as docile as a light summer breeze. I decided not to descend via the sketchy ice sheet that I had used to ascend, but instead I took the better way back to the Hut. Once at the Hut, I regrouped, ate a snack, and began to descend. I realized that tree line was going to make much for much better shelter than the Hut.
As I descended, I ran into my first other people of the day. The first four all told me that they planned to hike Monroe, and I let them know what my experiences had been. The fifth person I ran into told me that he had planned to hike Washington. I tried to talk him into hitting Monroe instead on account of the wind. He seemed like a pretty experienced hiker, so I suspect that he probably made the wise choice and took my advice.
I made it down the mountain at great speed. It's really not that long a hike, distance-wise, and the way back to the car is entirely downhill except for a couple slight rises right near the parking lot itself. I was proud of not falling down during the descent despite the sheet steepness of some sections.
Overall, I consider this to have been a successful hike. Even though I didn't achieve my goal of hiking Washington, I still got some good exercise that will hopefully prepare me for more winter adventures. Besides, it's not like I need Washington for any lists or anything at this point. It's just a mountain that I like to hike, given its relative hiking difficulty and logistical ease. Given the winds today, it was difficult for even a Hawk to fly to Mt. Washington. Nonetheless, as always, I want to remind you that you can't take flight until you spread your wings.
Comments
Post a Comment