Mt. Washington Hike via Ammo Trail

Great day for a quick hike to the Mt. Washington summit for Washington's birthday weekend!  Trail conditions on the Ammo trail were excellent with mainly hard packed snow so we were able to reach the summit in about 3 hours 10 minutes.  Beautiful frozen creeks and waterfalls along the trail.  We saw a lot of hikers doing Mts. Monroe &/or Washington and skiers doing the lower part of the Cog Railway.   Enjoyed lunch behind the summit building with a great view of the Northern Presidentials.   The winds were calm at the hut but steadily increased while ascending Mt. Washington and reached hurricane force for the descent along the Cog Railway route with blowing snow.  The upper part of the Cog was glare ice and very steep but improved after we were about halfway down.  We brought sleds so were able to sled down for about the last mile to the parking lot.  Conditions were hard packed snow & ice so the sleds went very fast & were hard to control!  Enjoyed a relaxing evening at Bear Pond with pizza & a warm wood stove.

Let's do Mt. Washington on Washinton's Birthday Weekend!  This is about a 8 mile round trip hike using the Amoonusuc Ravine Trail (Ammo trail) with an elevation gain of about 4000 feet..  The trail is generally level for the first 2 miles at which time you arrive at the Gem Pool. The trail then becomes steep to Lake of The Clouds Hut.  The summit of Mt. Washington is less than 1.5 miles from the Hut.  We will have lunch at the Hut or on the summit depending on weather conditions.  We will descend via the Cog Railway route. The weather forecast at this time looks like a mild partly cloudy day with southwest breezes.  If the weather is too windy, we will not hike beyond the Hut.

This trail is usually packed so all we'll probably need is traction, i.e., Micro Spikes/ Crampons. Bring hand warmers for your gloves. Wear winter-insulated boots on your feet, warm socks, dress in layers [no cotton], gloves [mittens are best], warm hat and headlamp/flashlight. Some guys like to have a scarf/neck gaiter to keep their neck warm, gaiters for their boots to keep snow off their boots, ski poles and small thermos for something hot to drink. Don't forget water, lunch and snacks.

Hikers are welcome to stay over at my house near Franconia Notch, NH on Saturday and/or Sunday nights or just come over after the hike for a apre-hike Happy Hour/Potluck dinner.  Hot showers available.