Hiked June 6, 2009 by Larry, Debi, Heather, Will, Tim and Valerie
We all met at the Glen House, across Route 16 from the Auto Road, around lunchtime on Saturday. We spread right out in the grass and enjoyed lunch before heading up the mountain. The views from our lunch spot were worth the drive already!
During the drive up the Auto Road, we came across this black bear. We stopped our cars to watch him. Unfortunately, a group of motorcyclists, with their music blasting *very* loud, came up behind us while we were watching the bear. They started screaming (over the blaring music) "It's a @#$!@#$ bear! It's a @#$!@#$ bear!". This was bad for the bear, and bad for the kids! What a bunch of jerks. Anyways, the bear took off into the woods and we continued on our way. We pulled over to let the motorcyclists go by so that we didn't have their music blasting at us all the way up this road that should be at least somewhat serene. :-(
As we drove up, we took this picture of Mt Jefferson, where we (Tim&Val) had lunch yesterday - in the dip at the summit.
Valerie sold this hike to Debi as a "flat walk circumferentially (Debi made up that word) around the side of Mt Washington". Debi sold it to the non-peak-bagging members of her family the same way - with promises of opportunities to photograph the alpine flora. When we arrived at the Alpine Garden trailhead on the Auto Road at mile-marker 6, we were confronted by quite an uphill, rocky climb. Thankfully, with the beautiful weather, no one seemed to hold us responsible for the misinformation.
Soon, we were over the hump and headed towards the "big cairn" at the top of Huntington Ravine. Looking down into the ravine, it's amazing to think that people hike up that!
From there, it really did look like a relatively flat walk over towards Tuckerman Ravine.
The Cog was above us, puffing out smoke. There were still a few snowfields around.
The Lapland Rosebay was blooming, but not much Diapensia or Alpine Azalea yet.
At one point, about half-way to Tuckerman Ravine, the kids decided that they would rather not continue across. Aunt Val stayed with the kids with Debi, Larry and Tim headed over to the ravine, where they still saw skiers! The kids happily pulled out their art kit and drew pictures. We were all very careful to stay on the rocks and off the vegetation.
Can you imagine a more inspiring place to draw?
We captured this picture as we headed to the summit after our hike. It's an American Pipit, and a first ID for us!
Overall, it was a beautiful day to be on the mountain! Debi was really happy that Larry, Heather and Will got to hike above treeline and get a taste of the "rock-hopping" (and see the ravines).