The Foxtrot Traverse

My traditional birthday hike up the Lion's Head trail on Mount Washington was in need of an upgrade. Some spice. A little kick in the pants.

I decided on a fair-weather traverse over the Northern Presidentials, starting with Monroe and then backtracking up Washington and continuing North over Jefferson, with Adams and Madsion being options if trail conditions were fast.

I've been wanting to try and catch a nice winter landscape of Mount Monroe from the Camel Trail at dawn for some time now, which is one of the reasons for the trip over to Monroe.

My original, rather optimistic plan calls for an afternoon exit, hitchhiking back to Pinkham Notch.
We'll see about that.

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The Route: From Pinkham Notch, up Tuckerman Ravine trail to Lion's Head winter route, left on the Alpine Garden trail to Tuckerman Crossover to the Davis Path, down to the Camel Trail, leading to the Crawford Path at a point just above Lake of the Clouds hut. Up Monroe, then backtracking up the Crawford Path and on to the summit of Washington, over the Gulfside Trail to Jefferson, and exiting Edmands Col via the Randolph Path to Israel Ridge, then Grey Knob trail to Lowe's Path and out to Rt.2.

The Forecast: High pressure cresting. Highs in the 20's. Winds - light and variable. Skies: Mostly clear.

Trail Conditions: Highly variable. Ranging from bare rock to 8 foot drifts. Powder snow over water ice. Powder snow over nasty rocks. Wind sculpted snow. Bottomless snowfields. Spruce traps aplenty. Many cairns above and near treeline completely buried.

(Rough) Route Profile

Route Map