My brother, two friends from work, and I set out early for New Hampshire's highest peak (and the highest peak in the entire Northeast for that matter).
We arrived at the AMC visitor center at Pinkham Notch just before 8:30am.
As usual, the parking lot was filling up quickly, and we got our first glimpse of Mount Washington rising high above the Joe Dodge Lodge.
We made sure we had everything we needed for the trip and departed the Tuckerman Ravine trailhead by 8:45am.
The air was extremely humid and we found ourselves sweating heavily almost immediately. We stopped from time to time to catch our breath and for much needed water. The rocky trail continued steadily upward as we got closer and closer to the Hermit Lake shelters, the halfway point.
At about 10:20am we arrived at the caretaker's house at Hermit Lake where we had spectacular views of the headwall of Tuckerman Ravine.
We spent half an hour for lunch then back-tracked .1 miles so we could pick up Lion Head Trail toward the summit.
As we climbed Lion Head, we soon had views of Hermit Lake and the shelter down below. Through the haze we could also see Wildcat Ski Area across the Notch.
The trail became very steep and rocky and it was still very humid, so we took breaks more frequently than I had hoped to, but we continued to make good time. Soon we entered the Alpine Zone, and shortly after we approached the namesake of the trail, a rock formation called Lion Head.
By this time, we had breath-taking views into Tuckerman Ravine.
We met the Tuckerman Ravine Trail again at Tuckerman Junction and prepared for the rough .6 miles ahead. It was slow going, but before we knew it, we were at the top and I had completed my first 4,000 foot mountain in the White Mountains.
We arrived at the summit just before 2pm and departed the summit just before 3pm. Now the long descent was upon us. Fortunately, we had stunning views of Boot Spur to entertain us while crossing the vast boulder field for the second time.
We took the scenic route down, via the section of Tuckerman Ravine Trail we had bypassed on the ascent.
After a lot of switch-backs and scrambling, we were at the legendary snow arch, where we all caught our breath and cooled down.
We rested shortly at Hermit Lake and arrived back at the trailhead just before 7:20pm. We were sufficiently tired after a challenging day of hiking, but the feeling of accomplishment was unparalleled.
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