Thursday, January 10, 2019

Monroe, Washington, and Jefferson. January 5, 2019

Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail, our own way up Monroe, Crawford Path, Gulfside, Jefferson Loop, and Jewell Trail.  Between 12 and 13 miles with around 5000 feet of elevation gain.

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We started out before dark at the hiker's parking lot, as we didn't want to pay the new day use fee that the Cog charges.


We started out in microspikes, but then switched to snowshoes later in the hike.


It got lighter as we continued up the path...




Our first glimpse of the Presidentials. 



Gem Pool...



As the trail got steeper, we started seeing more views.  It was a beautiful day!



We got closer to the hut and treeline.




Finally, we got to the hut.  Our plan was to go up Mount Monroe, then Mount Washington, then Mount Jefferson.






We made our own path up Monroe, as the real trail was covered by snow.  At the summit, some nice fellow hikers took pictures of the three of us.


We went back to the hut and then up the Mount Washington summit cone.  There were many other people going down and coming up the peak.







Mom, Alex, and I were already tired, but we headed down toward Clay and Jefferson, following the Cog Railway tracks.  Then, we took the trail around Clay, through Sphinx Col, and up to the summit of Mount Jefferson.







We went back down the summit cone, through the Col, and up to the intersection with Jewell Trail.  Then, we headed down it towards our car.  However, we stopped for a little while to take pictures of the beautiful sunset.




There was this mysterious green light coming from the sky; it was gorgeous!





Alex taking a picture of the sky...



We made it to treeline but had to stop a short way down to take even more photos of the vibrant, breathtaking sunset.  The colors were so beautiful!











We got to our car a little bit after dark.  The day had been long and exhausting, but beautiful and fun as well.


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