The strong winds and bitter cold stopped our returning guest and Redline Guide Chase Hall in their tracks after taking on the first of two mountains planned for the day. The guest, working on his Grid, was able to get Mt Monroe today but not Mt Eisenhower just to the south. He will have to get it done next year. Chase took some gorgeous photos and wrote the following summary:
Before the hike we dropped a car at Edmands Path, taking full advantage of Clinton Road still being open, and then drove over to Hiker lot at the Cog base and started our hike up Ammo Trail to Lakes of the Clouds hut. It was both myself and my guest’s first time carrying and wearing our snowshoes on trail this season. Above the Gem Pool to the summit of Monroe snowshoes stayed on until half way down Ammo when we finally took them off and wore spikes for the remainder of the hike. Hopes were dashed when we reached the summit of Monroe. It was one of the coldest ascents of this mountain for me and I’ve been on the summit a lot. This hike took the cake. It was a spicy cold! A cold that if you stop you will be cooled down in less then three minutes. The trick is to keep moving slowly forward and not stop. Small steps to the summit and it’s all downhill from there. My guest and I talked about turning around on the summit and we agreed. It was just too cold to carry on with the plan to continue onto Eisenhower. He was happy and I was, too, because after Monroe there are no other bail-out spots until you reach Edmands Path. It was a good day to settle for one summit. Next year my guest will Grid out November with just three peaks left. —Chase
