I spent much of this past Saturday above treeline and what a
day it was. I went up the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail at 5:30 planning on doing a
loop of Monroe, Washington and Jefferson. My stretch goal was Adams and Madison
based on time/how I felt. Conditions were mixed on the way up but the I was
able to bareboot the first 1.5 miles before putting on my microspikes. I had
never been on the Ammo Ravine trail before and really enjoyed the amount of
rushing water, especially this time of year. The trail became difficult to
follow up high, there's didn't seem to be many cairns along the last stretch to
the hut. Met two folks who camped against the Lake of the Clouds hut. It was
funny as they actually wished they had had more wind in order to dry their
stuff some. The trail from this point on was a mix of bare rock, snow and ice
so I took my spikes off for what would end up being the rest of the day.
Bluebird skies at the top of Monroe and the views were
incredible. It was already feeling warm with temps in the 40s and almost no
wind. Foolishly I realized I didn't pack sunscreen and even more foolishly I
realized I left my hat in the car. I knew it would get cloudy in the afternoon
and I was hoping that maybe the clouds would roll in sooner rather than later.
Crawford Path was a stream at times leading up to Washington
and I was already hot and tired when I got to the summit. Not a great sign but
it was 8:30 when I got up there and I was surprised to find I had the summit to
myself. Took shelter in the shade while I had a snack and then I began the long
journey to Jefferson. I started to encounter people along this stretch
including skiers which I found amusing. I know there was still good skiing to
be had but on the Gulfside trail with so much bare rock everywhere they looked
out of place.
I reached Mt. Jefferson and had a decision. The sun had been
relentless to this point. I was making myself drink lots of water (thankfully
no shortage of water sources on this day) and felt good overall but knew that
the heat was taking its toll. It was only about 10:30 so still early in the day
and I didn't want to head down yet. So I opted to continue on to Adams, knowing
that I would have to backtrack to at least Jefferson in order to head down.
This stretch was long and tiring so I took my time and rested when necessary.
Saw a couple big groups doing the whole traverse between Jefferson and Adams.
There were a goodly number of people on the Adams summit but they cleared out
soon after and I enjoyed the summit to myself for a few minutes.
Madison always looks so close (and so much lower) from the
summit of Adams but time was already starting to eek away from me and I thought
better of pressing on. I made the correct decision to head back to Jefferson. I
attempted to take the Cornice Trail to avoid summiting Jefferson again but I
got confused by the sign at the Edmonds Col. Cornice Trail didn't seem to have
been used recently and I was leery of venturing into its snowfield so I opted
to just go up Jefferson again. A slow slog ensued. But at least the clouds had
appeared in force and I was out of the sun much of the time.
Back on the summit of Jefferson. Again. Took a long break
and enjoyed snacks. I decided to take Caps Ridge Trail down from Jefferson. I
had never been on it before but I had just read a recent report from someone
who did Caps Ridge > road walk > Border Line Trail to get back to the
Ammo parking lot. It sounded interested. And so it was. Caps Ridge above
treeline was wonderful. I really enjoyed the rock formations. Once in the
woods, the trail was sloppy heavy snow as the report suggested. I finally was able
to put on my snowshoes and was happy they got some use on this day.
The road walk was enjoyable as it's downhill and mostly
bare/minimal snow. The only problem was that despite watching the distance on
my watch I somehow missed the sign for the Border Line Trail and went 0.4 miles
past it. That was annoying but now that I was off the mountains and out of the
sun, I didn't mind. As advertised the Border Line Trail was a soggy mess. Lots
of submerged bridges and flowing water. And strange microclimates - there were
cool sections and then it would suddenly feel hot and humid. Wild. The short
section of Jewell Trail to finish the day seemed to go forever and I was
grateful when the road and parking lot seemed to appear from out of nowhere.
Overall a great day. I'm kicking myself for not being
prepared for the relentless sun but I just kept up the water/food intake and
made it through alright. It was nice seeing familiar faces up on the ridgeline
and I'm grateful I had the opportunity to get in this quick trip and enjoy such
fantastic conditions. I'm happy with how my video came out.
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