Mount Washington Snowshoeing

For Mount Washington this week we're down to a perfect group of 4 that will see if we can make it to the top.

Last week when I did this I wore my Yak Trax for 1.5 hours on the trail but I could have converted to snowshoes at about an hour so make sure you have some Yak Trax too! They were especially useful for the hike downhill later in the day when the trail was refreezing.

The summit party candidates are those comfortable with 10+ miles and 3000+ feet of elevation gain with snowshoes on and confident on steeper terrain. To me this felt like 1.5x the effort of climbing Mount Si on a warm summer evening. The pack is heavier and there is just more work in the snow. Last week the conditions were optimal and and this week we may be socked it but the route is unique climbing along a ridge spine that is just fantastic in snowshoes. My buddy did it without the elevator thingies on his snowshoes and I had them on mine and tried it both ways. Its all good - you'll just get a little calf burn without it.... The return route down from the summit will be less steep and is an option for the climb we may try another time if I get folks that aren't quite confident with the ridge but I bet once you see the ridge you'll want to climb it.

Len 425-269-9529 if late or lost