Hiking in the White Mountains: Sarge Rock Hops Up & Down the Rock Pile . . . Mount Washington

Date of Hike : 5/24/21

Tuckerman Ravine Trail & Lion Head Trail : 8.6 miles, 4,200' elevation gained

Trip Report:

- As the snow melts away above treeline, I like to take advantage of the abundance of water running on the trails along with the remaining snow fields for an easier accent of Mount Washington for Sarge.

- We got an early start and saw only a few hikers up Tuckerman Ravine Trail, half were skiers looking to get in a few turns in the bowl.

- Once on Lion Head Trail we made the steep burst to treeline under abundant sunshine. Luckily temperatures were nice and cool with a slight breeze.

- The remaining snowfields above Lion Head and below the keyhole were half the size they were the previous week but Sarge still took full advantage of running around and eating the snow while drinking up the snow melt along the way. I give it two more weeks at the most before the snow is completely gone on Lion Head Trail, while snow in the bowl will be around until July.

- Once past the keyhole, Sarge put it in another gear and I had trouble maintaining pace, he'd get ahead and look back down as if to say, "Let's go old man!"

- The summit was really quiet, I only saw a few state park workers as I took the usual summit photo before heading over to the observation deck where Sarge spotted the Cog train chugging up the tracks, which meant time to leave.

- We headed down just as the train made it to the top and jogged back down the mountain seeing about another dozen hikers and a few skiers along the way.

- Towards the bottom we veered off trail so Sarge could take a plunge in what I call the ice box before heading back to Gorham for lunch. :)