The mountain decides everything. And everything is what we get. Being we’re talking about Mt Washington, everything can be quite a lot. On some days it can be oddly pacific, while being completely uninhabitable, unsurvivable on others. This day was somewhere in between. Windy, foggy, on the cool side. A wind chill number was announced. Restricted views forcing one to see local, and to avoid mysteriously unseen abysses. That’s what two guests did on their successful summit day. Interesting Weather as we say. The struggle between the seasons is already working its way toward winter. Leading this trip was Redline Guide Gregg Ludvigson. His summary and photos follow.
It was quite the experience for our guests on their hike to summit Mount Washington. The day started pretty nice. Cool temperatures with a light breeze at the base. With the recent rains, the trail was a little muddy and slick. Lower Ammo Falls was running high as it splashed into Gem Pool. The upper Ammo Falls was spectacular. As we ascended, fog was rolling in, wind was increasing, and temperatures were falling. Once we reached lakes of the clouds hut, the conditions were rather interesting. Looking at the current weather on the summit, winds were gusting to lower 60s and wind chill was in the 30s. We still continued on to the summit, taking breaks often and ducking behind rocks to get a break from the wind. As we approached the summit, peaks of sun could be seen through the fog. Winds started dropping and temp increased a bit. Our guests accomplished what they set out to do by hiking to the summit. They did a great job, especially in conditions like we had today. —Gregg
