I had a plan that I would hike Caps Ridge up Jefferson and then Mt. Clay and maybe Washington, and then stay at Lake of the Clouds, and hike down Ammonoosuc, take the Boundary Trail and do a 1.4 mile road walk to get to my car. Which is a hike that I would still like to do. Because that's not what happened. For starters, I completely overslept and woke up at a little after nine! It's a 2.5 hour drive to get up there, so I wasn't feeling optimistic about having the time to get to bread at 6 at the hut. So, as I drove up I planned and I thought I would try Ammo up, stake out my space at the hut, and then think about a summit, which is what I did.
The last time I was on the Ammonoosuc trail it was August and raining and freezing cold, and I had turned around at the falls. This time it was wet and much warmer, and I had a much better hike. Even though the Ammo trail is the easiest way to hike up Washington, it's not that easy. The first mile or so is delightful, with a gradual incline, a flowing stream, and stairs at any hard part. You get to this pretty pool with a waterfall and a few rocks, where I stopped and at a cheese sandwich on challah, and then it gets real. The rest of the trail is very up hill. At first, there's a long and unrelenting stair case that sucks the wind right out of you. Then it's a bit more fun at least, because there's some nice slab and fun little climbing bits. I got to the spot where I had stopped the last time, and thought how pretty it was, how nice for a sandwich (except that there were a bunch of noisy kids there), and kept going. It took me over an hour per mile, but finally I got to the hut, and was so glad to see it!
I was assigned to room 1 and I staked it out to find the best place to sleep. Each bed had three bunks, the first two of which were too small to sit up in. The top bunk, though, was taller in two of the beds. I tried them out and decided on one where I could actually stand up! I put my stuff there, and headed out to decide what to do next. Washington was in the clouds, and I wasn't really feeling the 3 mile hike to hang out with a ton of people, so I did Monroe instead - it's only a mile and 500 feet of elevation gain. And, I was so glad I did! I actually had the top to myself for a while. It was not too cold out (though I did need my puff) and I watched the clouds roll through. It was pretty awesome - I sat there for about a half hour and admired the area. Then I decided that rather than going down the way I came up, I would do a loop and walk a little on Crawford Path. I thought it would be short, but of course it went up another little mountain - which I thought about skipping by walking through the grass, but of course I didn't go off trail, since the vegetation is so fragile up there. In the end, I was glad I went around, because the Crawford path is so nice! I went back to the hut and stuck my feet in the lower lake at first, but it was so crowded with screaming kids, that I decided to try the upper lake, which was much nicer. The upper lake you can wade into easier - fewer rock falls in it. So I stood in it up to my thighs, and enjoyed the view of Washington. I thought about going for a swim, but I only had one sports bra and didn't want it to be wet for the rest of the day.
The food at the hut was a huge disappointment - they had over spiced caned mushroom soup, the bread was a little burned, and there was a not very good dessert. Fortunately there was veg lasagne that wasn't too bad. I sat next to a through hiker, who said he hiked about 14 miles per day, but only 8 in the White Mountains. And again I was reminded that it is doable; it just requires persistence. After dinner I watched the sunset, and went to bed early and read a book.
In the morning, there was no coffee!! I was awake for a full hour before I got coffee, which made me really cranky. Breakfast was even worse than dinner - burned oatmeal with no brown sugar, dry eggs, and burned pancakes. When the coffee finally came it was watery and disgusting. I promised myself that I could buy some coffee when I got down the mountain. The food is usually so good at the huts, I don't know what happened.
Anyhow, I had packed my backpack before breakfast and as soon as I was done I headed out. The weather report was pretty bad, including possibly severe thunderstorms, hail and possible tornados! I did not want to be up in the mountains in that weather for sure. Also, I didn't really want to be driving in that weather. The hike down was nice - there was a bit of butt sliding and such, but the slabby parts of the hike were actually pretty sticky, even though they were wet, and the stone stairs are well made. I got down in less than 3 hours. As soon as I got down, I went to the cog railway station and got a cup of coffee, which was delicious! I got home around 1, and the storm arrived around 3 - I was so glad to be cozy on my couch. A good few days hike, and really nice to be up in the presidentials, but also a reminder that lake of the clouds isn't my fave hut.
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