washington

[EarlyBird]

I'm planning to hike mt.washington this coming weekend and was wondering if anyone had a trail preferance.

i was planning on the ammounuce to jewll trail rather than tuckerman..
mainly because it starts 900ft higher and appears to be not as difficult than the ravine and headwall.

also,what are some suggestions for equipment and clothing to bring/wear?the weather appears to be nice according to weather stations.i also know taht can change quickly.

[Bill O]

That is a good trail option.

Its starting to get cold up on the summit. Not sure what the forecast is this weekend, but 60s in the valley could translate to 30s and 40s on the summit.

Hat and gloves are always in my bag, no matter what season it is.

[TrishandAlex]

I found the Ammonoosuc trail to be extremely do-able. Those first two miles are a pleasant walk in the woods. The last mile is hard and steep, but then you're above treeline and the hard work is over, at least for the ascent. Crawford Path to Washington's summit is fairly easy if you've got good weather.

Jewell trail down...different story, at least for me. Too many huge boulders to rock-hop on and over, at least for the first two miles. I found the descent really hard until we got to treeline. So for me, the easiest thing by far would be to ascend AND descend using the Ammonoosuc. That's just my opinion, I'm sure there will be many others.

[KD Talbot]

Trish is right, the quickest retreat, and probably the easiest is back down the Ammo. Much less time above treeline if bad weather is approaching. I'm not saying don't go Jewell Trail, just keep the retreat in mind as an option. Also, many get confused looking for the Jewell. You must leave the summit near the northwest corner of the Tip-Top House and descend the Trinity Heights Connector, then north along the Gulfside Trail, you actually start to climb Mount Clay a little before you reach the junction with the Jewell. Avoid the Mount Clay Loop unless you plan to visit the summit of Clay. Give yourself plenty of time as the Jewell can be easy to miss if it gets dark which would leave you out on the Presi's over night. Not good.

Bill is also correct, you can pretty much expect it to be cold and windy regardless of the forecast or temp in the parking lot. Be sure to have layers and plenty of food and water.
9/22/06 Crawford Path


KDT

[EarlyBird]

wow,what great advice on the jewl trail.
i'm thinking after reading what you had to say i might search for another route down.
i wasn't planning on bringing any overnight gear so a night out on the presi would definitly be bad.
i have my map spread open wide and i'm looking towards tuckermans and perhaps the other approad of the mountain.

[EarlyBird]

what are yer thoughts on ascending via tuckermans--->decsend via Lion's Head or Boott Spur?

[TrishandAlex]

Also, many get confused looking for the Jewell. You must leave the summit near the northwest corner of the Tip-Top House and descend the Trinity Heights Connector, then north along the Gulfside Trail, you actually start to climb Mount Clay a little before you reach the junction with the Jewell. Avoid the Mount Clay Loop unless you plan to visit the summit of Clay. Give yourself plenty of time as the Jewell can be easy to miss if it gets dark which would leave you out on the Presi's over night. KDT

Yes, yes, and yes. I had trouble finding the Jewell trail and navigating it a bit, and this was in broad daylight and great weather. (However, I'm not as experienced as the rest of the folks on this forum.)

If you want an easy (and still very scenic!) descent, go back down the Ammonoosuc.

And I'll repeat what the others have said. Turn back if the weather turns sour. I guarantee you'll regret it if you don't.

[mtruman]

Having only been up and down Washington once I feel much less qualified to reply than most of the folks here, but here's my opinion anyway. Our one trip was up Lion's Head and down Tuckermans. I found this route very doable and didn't have an issue with the descent on Tucks. I was glad that we did it in this direction since I felt that going down Lion's Head would have been tougher (but not terrible). The key here is probably the weather. Either of these in wet (or worse icy) conditions would make the steep rocky descent quite a challenge. I'll leave it to the more experienced to comment on how that would compare with Ammo/Jewel or the other options

[EarlyBird]

thanks for the advice.I wasn't aware of the difficulty on the decsent.
I was lead towards tuckermans too.i'm toggling between the 2 on which route to go.
i'm sure after hiking all day,i will not want an extream decent.

[EarlyBird]

thanks bill.
Hat and gloves,check!
i have been monitoring the weather via the autoroad section of the site.It always seems to be 20 degrees colder at the summit than at the base...
i'm crazy excited to the summit though weather permitting