Hiked Mt. Washington again on 6-Aug-2011.   We began at the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trailhead parking lot – crossed the Cog Railway road to head up Jewell trail.   The weather was good, though the report suggested rain in the late afternoon. The plan was to head up Jewell trail, bag the summit, then head down Ammonoosuc Ravine trail, stopping at the Lake of the Clouds hut a brief mid-afternoon break.

As many of the posts say, Jewell is an easy way up the mountain (as if there is ANY easy way up Washington), though true enough, the grades weren’t too steep and the footing sound.   When we reached the Gulfside trail junction, we decided to take a break, leave our day-packs and quickly bag Mt. Clay.  While not on the 4000′ list, the short (packless) trip to the “mound” was a nice breather.

When we reached the Mt. Washington summit – OMG, it was mobbed!   How can there be a line for photos with the “Mt Washington Summit” sign?   Go figure.

After a water fill-up and some more lunch, we began our decent at nearly 2pm (later than anticipated). An ‘easy’ walk to the AMC Hut, we took another quick break, then headed down the Ammo trail. Heed what’s said, it’s a VERY steep trail. Some butt-sliding and careful scrambling, the 1.0 mile section from the hut to the gem pool took us nearly 2 hours! From the gem pool, the remaining 1.1 mile to the Cog railway was a gradual, but steady downhill.