Trip Overview:
Start: Pinkham Notch Visitors Center
Up: Tuckerman Ravine Trail
Down: Tuckerman to Lion Head to Tuckerman
Camp: Hermit Lake Shelters
Miles: 8.3
Time: 1-2 day hike
Route to the summit:
We started out at the Pinkham Notch Visitor Center 10 miles south of Gorham, NH and fueled up with a huge buffet style breakfast at the Joe Dodge Lodge...always my biggest advice for hiking and any athletic endeavor is to make sure you are fueled up with lots of calories...we certainly did that and supported the AMC while at it...not a bad start...We purchased tickets to camp at the bottom of the Ravine at the Hermit Lake Shelters and headed on our way by 8am...The first 2.4 miles up to Hermit Lake were rocky and a fairly steady climb...you certainly realize what you are in for quite quickly...however I was in pretty good shape after our last few weekends of tough hiking so I was excited to get to our tent site and continue up the headwall...We made it to the caretakers cabin and our home for the night...we checked in, set up the tent and lightened our pack for the trip to the summit...It felt great to lighten the load and made for a stronger and safer hike to the observatory. The view at the cabin was amazing as it opened up leaving us with a visual of the headwall and bowl...amazing views!
This is also where we began to see the weather change...we started off with clear skies and temps in the 80s...we begin to see clouds move in here and as we head up the headwall the weather worsened the higher we climbed...you will see this progression via the pictures with the summit at almost zero visibility.
We headed up toward the headwall where some tough hiking began: "Beyond Hermit Lake, the Tuckerman Ravine Trail changes in its character – it becomes much narrower, and has several quite steep sections. It ascends along the "Little Headwall" to the "Connection", and then travels into the "Floor" of the Ravine. The steepest and roughest part of the climb comes next, ascending the "Headwall" of the Ravine. This is an area that is typically wet, and extra caution is needed to avoid slipping. While thousands travel this trail each year without incident, the trail ascends a cliff, and travel off the Trail would bring you over a precipice with disastrous results" This was made more difficult as the temperature dropped and wind increased with storms rolling in...the highlight of this portion of the trail was the remaining snow that we hiked within feet of about halfway up the headwall.
We successfully ascended the headwall and started the last push to the summit...At this point the trail becomes less steep but is made up entirely of rough boulders, known as the summit cone....typically a tough climb, but made worse with our horrible weather. Wind gusts reached 70 mph, visibility was limited, and the temperatures dropped dramatically. At this point we added layers with fleece and rain jackets, and I was left wishing I packed my gloves and winter hat, something I will certainly remember for the next trek above treeline!
Route to Camp:
We asked for advice at the observatory for our trek down. It took us a good amount of time to reach the summit; arriving at around 230pm...We were told that they never recommend descending via Tuckerman as the headwall leaves you exposed to the elements with great risk of heading off the edge of the trail...considering the weather we took the advice and used Lion Head Trail to reach the Hermit Lake Shelters for the evening. We were fortunate; the weather started to clear leaving us with some fantastic views of the headwall and Ravine that we just climbed...I always support a loop hike so you hike new terrain, views and areas of the mountain...so I was excited about the route and the spectacular views! The trail also left us with some challenging scrambling and my first ladder to help assist the descent down...It was a slow hike down with us arriving at camp around 730pm tired and excited for a jetboil dinner!
I recommend a night at the Hermit Lake Shelters...The tent platforms are in excellent shape, with a solid wood floor above the ground...there is a caretakers cabin, toilets, clean water, and a bear rope already set up for easy bear safety. They have weather updates every am, so you can check the forecast before heading up towards the summit. It is gorgeous with a natural mountain lake and a few trails around it for a relaxing evening walk if you are up to it after a long day...we were not! You can't reserve a spot ahead, so make sure to get your tickets first thing at Pinkham Notch!
We had a relaxing night and morning with only 2.4 miles to descend to get back to the visitors center and our car. We filled up our water for safety and headed down the remaining few miles down Tuckerman. We stopped for several pictures and checked in with several hikers on their way to the summit...We made it down in just under 2 hours...headed to the car...and straight for some burgers in Gorham!!!
Few things for next trip:
-The weather really is harsh and unpredictable, so pack fleece, rain gear, gloves, and hats...EVEN IN JULY OR AUGUST!
-Take the safe route down...Lion Head Trail has gorgeous views and is safer especially in bad weather or late in the day.
-Start early...the hike took longer than we anticipated and we were down to minutes before dark hit at the end of the day.
-Invest in some good trekking poles...again they were clutch especially on the hike down!
Hope this summary was helpful for you...feel free to comment with your own experiences on Mount Washington or the Presidential Range...
THIS ASS CLIMBED MOUNT WASHINGTON!
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