The plan was to head up the Ammo with our oft-returning Gridder guest, wander over to George, then double back to finish a Southern Presidential Traverse. And the trail conditions were awesome until Redline Guide Chase Hall and guest got to the Lakes of the Clouds hut. Everything after that was icy — like crampons-icy. This slowed the team down a lot and they pivoted, deciding to head down after bagging the Mt Washington summit, taking their time enjoying a spectacular spring day — so different from the last one we did.
Ammo going up was fantastic. Solid snow base. Snowshoes from lot to Lakes of the Clouds will get you up Ammo without any issues, and there were no issues with the water crossings. I was really feeling good about the day. At Lakes of the Clouds hut, though, that’s when the day — and the trail — went sideways. The area around the hut and beyond had a lot of ice. There was soft snow on top of ice, but it was very slick. We changed over the spikes for the remainder of the day. Mt Monroe (attempted) was extremely icy from the junction sign on up. We turned around half way up as getting down could have been a problem. It was too icy and unsafe so we went up Washington instead. —Chase
