Mt Washington Trip report 07/19/2008

Updated 07/24/2008

Trip Details:

Arrive trailhead	09:25AM
Start hiking	09:41AM
Mt. Washington Trailhead	09:48AM
Owl Spot	10:36AM
Old/New Trail fork	10:48AM
Pond/New Trail Junction	11:14AM
New Trail Up	11:25AM
Ridge (meet winter route)	11:40AM
Summit	11:58AM
Ridge down (lunch)	12:12PM
Leave Ridge	12:28PM
Pond	12:54PM
Winter Ridge start	01:02PM
Turnaround for today	01:07PM
Pond	01:20PM
Old/New Trail fork	01:46PM
Owl Spot	01:58PM
Mt. Washington Trailhead	02:41PM
Car	02:54PM
Snow	One little patch not a factor on hike. I guess technically I did step one or two steps on snow but I'll call it snow free. Saw a few patches down below in trees from above, presumably where little sun shines. Nothing in summit area.
Bugs	Annoying mosquitoes. Too much to sit on summit thus I went back down a bit and still got a few mosquito bites. I did use various sunscreen/bug juice before starting.
Weather	Slightly cool in morning. Warmed up but never hot. Clouds kept rolling in to ruin decent summit views.
Crowds	Counted roughly 20 people and a few dogs on entire trip. Not a good summit for crowds. Too many bugs as well to sit around too long and lounge around.
Scenic Value	Hard to tell since summit views were blocked by clouds. Not a 360 degree summit view though. Various partial views at spots on way up. As trees grow up views may become less. Get your south views before summit as they will be mostly blocked at summit.
Difficulty	Reasonably easy hike. New trail graded well. Steps provided if it is steeper in a few spots. New trail part/switchbacks very well constructed. Lower trail mostly old logging returned to trail status.

Narrative:

Well after two failed winter attempts, I decided to make the next attempt in summer once the snow was gone. This time the summit was achieved via the hiker friendly new summer trail. This trip definitely didn't break any time records. In fact I actually started trying to slow down some in the hopes that the clouds would burn off by the time I hit the summit. Not to be for views.

Parked about 09:25 and was off and going by 09:41. You leave the parking lot through the woods and shortly meet up with the access road, then Iron horse then turning right going about .1 miles you see the unmarked Mt. Washington trail on the left heading into the woods and uphill.

Start of Mt. Washington Trail at Iron Horse.

Headed up the "Mt. Washington" unmarked trail. There isn't a lot to jump up and down about on the lower portion of the trail. A few rocky cliffs going up and a few sneak viewpoints. You reach the first fork. Stay right. I think the other way is for climbing the cliffs.

A bit later you reach the infamous Owl Spot. Partial views here. Not a real exciting destination spot in my opinion. The view pictures were taken on way down as views were better.

Shortly later you reach the junction old/new trail then the creek crossing. Go straight (or right) for the new trail. The Great wall trail goes left and will eventually get you to the summit. It looks more brushy/less traveled, but I haven't been on it.

Shortly after rounding a bend and climbing some more, you reach a mini talus area which in winter is a nice snow slope.

The creek is crossed a 2nd time before following east a bit and switchbacking to the west and meeting up with the pond.

Just before the pond is an overgrown road heading off to the left. This is NOT the trail.

When you see the pond, look back behind you to the left. This is the continuation of the trail. If you continue straight you can still reach the summit via the winter route, and more of a boot path along the ridge.

Shortly after you reach the new trail portion that does easy switchbacks up to the summit. A few views along the way were somewhat cloud limited.

After some switchbacking you cross an old road before the final switchbacks to the summit. Don't take the road. Cross and continue the trail on the other side.

Shortly later you reach a more open area just south then the summit. Summit views were partial and especially underwhelming with the clouds constantly rolling through.