Woke up at 6am in Conway to a clear morning. On the drive up to Pinkham, the summit of Washington was in plain clear sight. However that would change. Start hiking from Pinkham Notch about 8am and hiked to the Lion's Head Trail. The Lions Head Trail was steep and there was a traffic jam from the large number of people ascending Lion's Head (although I am sure the ten people in our group added to that problem. ) There was snow on the trail which made the trail easier than if it was all ice. Once above treeline, we all were waiting for the wind to come, but it was not too windy. We did not even put on our above treeline gear until we got to the actual Lion's Head rock. The morning started out clear with lots of sun., but Washington was in the clouds by the time we got above treeline. We continued across the alpine garden and then ascended the final stretch towards the summit. Crampons were a must from Lions Head to the Summit. The wind picked up as we made our final ascent to the Summit, but for the most part it was not very windy (or at least not windy compared to my hike the weekend before). No views on the summit. As I started my descent from Washington my glasses and my goggles fogged up and I could only barely make out the person in front of me. I could not even see where I was stepping, but my crampons seemed to stick. Then a group of 4-5 people rushed past me and I did not know if they were in my group so I yelled to them, " Are you in my group", Then they muttered no, so I did not worry about catching up to them. When I descended a little further, the wind from Summit had lessened, and I took off my goggles and my glasses and could see again. Fortunately I found that I was right in the middle of my group. Then we descended the same way. I found that if I took off my glasses and just used my goggles that I could see better, but I will try to find a better solution. There were some flurries on the summit and it was snowing more as continued down, but coming down presented no problems.
Layer break near the start of our hike
Climbing up Lion's Head
View from Lions Head trail shortly before treeline and shortly before the clouds came.
Hikers enjoying the hike up Lion's Head
Summit of Washington
Me on the Summit of Washington with the great grey views of clouds.
Fellow hikers making the final ascent to Washington.
One Last look at the Summit
Looking back up on Washington from Alpine Garden. Its hard to tell whats snow and whats cloud.
Just barely can make out a little bit of Tuckermans Ravine. Remember to stay to the left when descending.
If you look carefully you can see people descending (or maybe ascending) Washington
Alpine Garden
Stream
This picture was taken after the hike. Just a few miles south of Pinkham Notch on Route 16, there were two moose enjoying the weather just off the road.