Lake of the Clouds Hut is at 5,050 feet and located on the southern shoulder of Mt. Washington, the highest peak in the northeast at 6,288 feet. Our approach used the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail near Bretton Woods, NH at the base of the Cog Railroad called Marshfield Station.

Snow was falling upon our arrival. After gearing up in a very windy parking lot with snow blowing around we headed up the trail. There is a lot of snow in the mountains! The trail was broken out however we put on our snowshoes due to icy conditions and the potential for deeper snow higher up.  

We started hiking through the snow laden trees as the snow continued to fall. Not too much longer and we were warmed up, ready to de-layer. 

Besides Jon and I, we were joined by Jim, Steve and Alex. Steve drove up from New York City to join us without much winter experience but he did attend one of our training hikes across the Franconia Ridge. Steve joined us to climb Mt. Washington in winter. He had taken a winter mountaineering course with the Adirondack Mountain Club so he was well prepared.  

We all dropped down to either 1 or 2 layers. The trail is very gentle to start, but soon steepens once you reach Gem Pool. Here we slowed down as we found ourselves hiking up this steep ice chute covered with a light dusting of snow and having to dig in with the points of our snowshoes to climb up. Our legs started to get a good workout. We went up the chute amazingly fast;  a testament that we were physically prepared for this climb. 

The peaks were still in the clouds as we climbed higher, but here and there we could get glimpses of the ravine below and the surrounding ridges. We saw nobody the entire day. We could hear the wind blowing hard up on the ridge. From the weather forecast we had already decided to forget Mt. Washington and try for Mt. Monroe if conditions were good once we arrived at the hut. 

Near where the trail crosses the main brook on flat ledges we found a flat spot behind the trees for a break, put on more layers and wrap our face with a face mask. Shortly thereafter we were primarily hiking in an open area up an ice crusted snow slope with scrub hardly visible. Temperature was about 2 degrees and thankfully the wind was on our back with a speed of about 25 degrees. Alex tried putting on his down jacket and the wind made it almost impossible to do. His jacket was flying every which way with the wind and it was only after many attempts did he finally get it on.  

Wind chills were now below zero so we put on our goggles. Any exposed flesh would put us in danger of frostbite. Visibility dropped to about 50 feet between the snow falling, blowing snow and the clouds/fog. We thought about turning around because we could no longer find the trail but saw some large rocks up ahead where the hut is usually situated. 

So up we went and what seemed to be large rock in the distance among all this blowing snow appeared to be the hut! The winds were now up to 55 mph and we were in wind chills 25 below zero. The wind was pushing us around making travel very difficult. The hut was surrounded by ice on the ground and the door to the dungeon (a small room in back of the hut) was blocked with about 1-2 feet thick ice. There was a corner where we huddled to protect ourselves from the wind. We were happy to have made it in these extreme conditions. It was so cold that taking photos was the furthest thing from our mind. And Mt. Monroe? Forget about it.  

As we headed out for our descent, it was very difficult to follow the trail since all of our tracks in the snow were blown away by the wind, most cairns were hidden in the snow and our goggles were starting to freeze/fog up. When we reached the steep chute I put on my crampons while everyone else left their snowshoes on and butt-slid down the trail using their ice axes as a brake. Lots of fun. 

Our winter training hikes did not put us on the summit of Mt. Washington but it certainly prepared everyone for horrendous winter conditions. The newer guys learned today what this thing called winter hiking can sometimes be really all about!

Returning to the parking lot we jumped into my truck, drove back to my house, took showers, changed clothes, and shared fun stories.

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