Wanderlust: July 2013

Mt. Monroe
--5,384'--
--2.4 mi one way--
--#4--

Mt. Washington
--6,288'--
--1.8 mi (from Mt. Monroe)--
--#1--

My friends and I took the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail to get to the summits of Mt. Monroe and Mt. Washington. Due to severe weather warnings, we took the Cog Railway down.

To get to the trailhead, take Route 302 until you get to the Cog Railway Base Road. There are two starting points. The main one (which is a $3 parking fee) is located about a mile before the train station. We parked at the train station, which shaved off a mile. Its free to park there except during peak seasons which they charge $5 a car.

The trail was a lot more fun than Jewell Trail. There's many waterfalls, rocks, boulders, and scenic views. Two popular spots on this trail include:

The Gem Pool

The Cascades

AND

The Lakes of the Clouds AMC Hut

But there are many un-named waterfalls, streams, and pools on the trail. The path is steep majority of the time. We had to scramble up the rocks a lot.

::Mt Monroe::

Mt Monroe has got to be one of my favorites now! I absolutely loved all the green fields and lakes. Things everyday people can't see! I LOVE it!

climbing up to Mt. Monroe summit

Me! :)

Mt Washington is hiding behind me...im the small white dot :)

::Mt Washington::

After we hiked to Mt Monroe, we looped around and heading up to the summit of Mt. Washington via Crawford Path. The path from the Lakes of the Clouds hut was all rocks/boulders. The weather changes extremely quickly sometimes up there. When we started, it was partly cloudy, but as we got closer to the top, we couldn't see much infront of us. We also met two hikers, who met each other at the beginning of their hikes and decided to hike up together. It was great talking with them and sharing the experience with them.

I made a joke (since we could barely see anything) that we would probably run into the building...we just about did. Here's some pictures of the hike up and the summit. We spent awhile at the top and took the Cog Railway down.

At the summit

We did it!

The huge downfall to the #1 tallest mountain in NH is that its filled with tourist. When I hiked last summer, we had to wait in a long line to gout out picture with the summit sign. Hikers get last priority which stinks because we work our butts off to get to the top.