Hiking in late september early october???

[abercrombie9701]

My wife and I are Planning on hike to Mt Washington Summit in late september or first week of october(more likely late september) and i have a fews questions
1 Is the Tuckerman's Ravine trail fairly easy to climb.
2what kind of clothing should we wear? are we talking winter jackets,gloves,hats or spring/fall jackets
3 can u get trail maps? and where to get them?


Were are planning on hiking at 7 am
Im also palnning on bringing bottled water and some energy snacks. Wearing plenty of layers(with no cotton if possible) wool socks. Is there anything im missing?

any info would be greatly appreciated

[KD Talbot]

Welcome! Search on this forum and you will find all sorts of info for 1st timers. You may not run into winter conditions, but you want to be prepared for them. Here's some pictures from late September a few years ago.

http://ghostflowers.com/white_mtns4000/washington92206/washington92206.html

If you climb Tucks you can purchase a map at Pinkham Notch Visitor Center. Folks there will be glad to answer all questions and will have an up to the minute weather report, critical for this foray.

KDT

[Addicted]

As far as clothing I would plan lots of layers. Hats, gloves, fleece, rain gear. I've seen it go from sprinkles to 70degrees at the trailhead to a blizzard and near freezing above tree line in October. Washington is unpredictable at best, but worth it if you prepare. I would read up on some trip reports. I made my summit in August :)

[Brad]

Check out the Conditions page in the archives for the past couple of years. Just picking a random day in 2008, Oct 27th, we see winds up to 60+ MPH and temps at the summit from a high of 38 F down to 30 F. I would call that typical and maybe even on the nice side. And it is calling for afternoon snow the next day.

http://images45.fotki.com/v1361/photos/1/1002902/6747510/20081027_180255_conditions-vi.jpg