Started around 0600. It was fairly warm compared to other time i have been in the cog parking lot. The forcast for the summit was a high of low 40s. I dont remember the low but i recall it being nominal with skin covered. When i do washington, which i do frequently i just make sure i have enough layers regardless.
I was pretty exhausted when i started this hike. I recently took a trip to the eastern sierras and hiked every other day out there with big milage and vertical gain days. Unfortunately it is hard to replicate the same interval in the whites because of how rough the trails are. By the end of the outing my calves/achilles were pretty inflamed.
Anyway as soon as I broke treeline the snow started as dusting. Once you reach the ascent coming to a point past jacob’s ladder where you can see the observatory the ice starts. I had traction as i do this time of year, but it was not needed. There are a few spots out of the sun that require rock hopping but nothing totally covered in ice yet.
It looks like the weather the rest of this week is warm/dry which is rare. I think the trail conditions will hold atleast until next week.
It was nice to be the only person on the trails other than two canadians (speaking french), & one other person i saw briefly down at lakes. All in all a flawless day but recovery still needed from massive milage and vert the last two weeks.
4400ish feet just passed waumbek station
Ice starts
a view i frequently skip
iced over
gone are the lines
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