Elevation: 2,860 ft (overall) 3,051 ft (total)
Time: 3:08 (Hut) 3:30 (Monroe) 3:44 (Hut) 5:42 (Total)
Trails: Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail, Monroe Loop
With some time off and the forecast of a bluebird day, I decided it was a good day to try and get in a pre-winter hike of Mt. Monroe. Given the forecast, I wanted something above treeline. I also have not hike the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail before, so I could do some redlining. Adding in the already winter like conditions, and I could check out the hut with with a wall of snow already up against the doors.
Knowing that parking at the cog would cost more, I started the day at the USFS parking lot instead. I was redlining today, so saving $5 and getting to hike the whole trail was the better deal. Even though it was supposed to be warm up high, to start the day it was below 0 at the trail head. Inversion had kept the summit of Mt. Washington warmer than the valley the last couple of days, so it was already 10-15 degrees above up high. I started up the trail with my snowshoes on my pack as well as my spikes. The trail was a bit too narrow and bumpy for snowshoes to be good yet. Spikes could have helped, but weren't really needed.
Crossing Franklin Brook
Before too long and without any difficult sections, I was soon at the junction next to the Ammonoosuc River. From here, spikes would have been helpful, but I still held off on using them. I wasn't in too much of a rush and paying attention to where I put my feet meant I could get by without them. It was nice hiking near the river, and I am sure the trail being so close to it is even better in the summer. There were a few nice views from along this section that provided some good looks up into the ravine as well.
A side hill section of trail along the river
Looking up through the ravine
Once to the Gem Pool, I took my first long break of the day. I could tell just from looking that now the trail was going to get steep. After some time resting and having a snack, I put on my snowshoes. The traction was going to be helpful, but I also wanted the televators to help my legs on the climb. I love having heal lifts on snowshoes and how much better it makes a steep climb. The climb up the Gem Pool was certainly steep, but by keeping a steady pace I wasn't doing too bad. For how little hiking I had done leading up to the end of the year, my legs weren't feeling too bad.
Gem Pool
Higher up in elevation at the cascades, it was interesting seeing how much water was still flowing at such a high elevation. With temps so cold lately and how high up you are, you wouldn't initially think that much water would still be flowing. Above the cascade the trail started to get some drifting of snow in it and the current route deviated from the real trail to take a bit easier and less obstructed route. I didn't see where it actually went back into the trees, but did see where it came out. In the end the trail also came up from the wrong side of the hut as well.
Going up steeply
The cascades
Getting closer to treeline, the trail continued to follow the drainage above the cascades before eventually going to the left more and following a route through the trees that provided fewer obstacles. There was some drifting through here that slowed me down a bit in the steeper sections. Being a Thursday, there hadn't been much recent traffic. Soon the hut started coming into sight and the drifting went away. It was replaced by a very firm layer of snow. I kept on my snowshoes, but spikes would have been fine after the hut.
The Lakes of the Clouds Hut and Mt. Washington
Snow sculpted sign
From the hut you could tell that all the other hikers have been making a straight line approach to the summit. With the snow being so hard, you could go pretty much anywhere lately. With smooth conditions, it didn't take long to get up to the summit. Once I got to the summit, I spent nearly 45 minutes just enjoying the views and taking pictures. It was in the high 20s and the wind was only blowing at about 5mph, a great day to be above treeline.
A straight path up Mt. Monroe
Mt. Washington from the summit
View to the west
View to the south
View to the north
Fun with my crystal ball
More fun with the crystal ball
In the back of my head I was hoping to climb Mt. Washington today as well. But while on the summit I decided against it. I got a later start than I wanted to and took a bit more time getting up to the hut than planned. If I tried for Mt. Washington, I wouldn't be back down until after dark, and I didn't really feel like doing that today. So I decided to take my time and just enjoy the hike a bit more. So I hiked back down to the hut and took some more pictures before going back down into the trees. The decent went smoothly and I kept my snowshoes until until the Gem Pool again. After that I sent back to bare booting it until back at the truck. On the way out I decided to hike the trail out the Cog Railway base station, and then walk the road back to the parking lot. This was I could reline that section of trail as well.
A little bit of snow blocking the doors
Snow encased trees on the way down
In the end the hike went well and the weather was great. It couldn't have gotten much better today. And on a humorous note, I happened to see online that someone I went to grade school with happened to be hiking Mt. Isolation today. After a joking comment made on a photo showing Mt. Monroe where I said I could see myself, it just so happened that the person they were hiking with produced a photo of the summit of Mt. Monroe while I was standing at the top. They were playing with their zoom lens while I happened to be standing at the top. You can't make out much for details, but I can tell that it is the appropriate clothing for what I was wearing and didn't match the only other hiker I saw near the summit.
Me on the summit of Mt. Monroe as seen from Mt. Isolation
For all the pictures from the hike, just go to my Mt. Monroe gallery on SmugMug
Google Earth representation of the hike
