Adam's Mt. Washington trips

April 5 and 10, 2004

On Sunday April 4, swimmer/climber/runner Jesse Leayman and I drove up to Mt. Washington and hiked up via Huntington Ravine the next day.  Unfortunately he bonked in the extreme weather near 6000', a quarter of a mile to the summit and said "Adam, get me off this mountain" so we turned back at that point.  We descended the Auto Road and cut over to base camp along a trail near the bottom.  On Friday I drove up again (by myself) and awoke early the next morning for another summit attempt.  Weather conditions and hike route up were essentially identical (visibility was better) and I reached the summit in excellent time.  (Some hikes have taken over 16 hours, hence the early departure time... just in case.)  I descended via the headwall of Tuckerman Ravine, a smaller cirque southeast of the summit.  (Its headwall is about 700' tall as opposed to Huntington's 1600' maximum height.)  Tuckerman's was essentially deserted when I got there, though there were a couple people at the bottom and LOTS of people at Hermit Lake down below the ravine floor.  Lots of snowboarders and skiiers were hiking up, too, as I headed down past them for base camp.  I was definitely a source of amusement for many of them, all rime-covered with my summit gear, a clear indication of the battering summit conditions unfelt where they were going.

Trip info: Weather data & hike times
April 5 photos: The approachCentral GullyUpper slopesGoing down
April 9 photos: Views of Mt. Washington
April 10 photos: The climbUpper slopesSummit bidSummit areaTuckerman descentHermit Lake & base camp

 
WEATHER DATA FOR HIKE DAYS
  APRIL 5 APRIL 10
Weather Snow
Blowing snow
Freezing fog
Snow
Blowing snow
Freezing fog
Summit winds 78 gusting to 85 mph
(119 mph in evening)
77 gusting to 87 mph
(97 mph before noon)
Summit temps. -1 to +16 °F 9 to 12 °F
Cloud base 4500' 5000' dropping to 4500'
Min. visibility on hike 10 to 20 feet 50 feet
Base weather Partly sunny, breezy, 30s Mostly sunny, calm, 50s

 
HIKE TIMES
  APRIL 5 APRIL 10
Leave base camp 3:55am 1:45am
Arrive Harvard Cabin 5:20am 3:00am
Leave Harvard Cabin 6:10am 3:45am
Central Gully ice bulge 8:55am 5:30am
Huntington rim 10:00am 6:15am
Auto Road 10:40am 6:45am
6000' 11:30am 7:05am
Arrive summit n/a 7:25am
Leave summit n/a 8:05am
Base camp 3:15pm 10:30am
TOTAL TIME UP 7h 35m 5h 40m
TOTAL TIME DOWN 3h 45m 2h 25m

PREVIOUS  •  NEXT