Team Gettysburg Ascends Mount Washington on 18 December 2001

After hitting the road something around fourish and spending the day driving north and east up the coast of the U.S., our intrepid adventurers found themselves in Conway, NH, just about 6:00 P.M. A quick reconnoiter of the local outfitters (complete with plastic boot/crampon rentals for Fee) was all that stood between our three Mountain Men and the start of the great adventure.

Another 45 minutes in the truck found us at our starting point, a lodge where we could sign in, change, and leave the vehicle. The storm that had harried us on our drive up had dumped a bit of snow on the mountain and the approaches, and this cushioning layer was destined to serve us well.

Our two-and-a-half hour walk-in was a bit longer than anticipated, but we found our way to the Harvard Hut without major mishap, and soon had awakened Tim, our innkeeper and native guide. After hot drinks and grub we bedded down up in the loft to await the 7:00 A.M. wake-up call and weather forecast from the station at the summit; twenty-first century mountaineering at its finest!

Upon consultation with Tim, we had decided to attempt the Winter Lion Head approach, and the weather forecast from the summit reconfirmed for us that time was of the essence, and that high winds would prevail in the afternoon as the storm moved out. The wind is what kills on Mt. Washington, and gusts in the hundred-mile-an-hour range are commonplace. Tim advised us that gusts that don't knock you over are under 40 M.P.H., while a wind that knocks you down and keeps you crawling has topped 80 M.P.H. We filed this information away for future use.

The Winter Lion Head route was a blast below the tree-line, and once we hit the steep part we cramped-up. At the cramp-up point Fee and Regentin said farewell to Crawford, who went on a little separate adventure all his own. From thence to the tree-line we had a whale of a time, kick-stepping and flailing away with ice axes, rather like little boys clambering up a huge, steep snow pile.

At the tree-line things became more serious. The wind-although not bad for Washington-was unrelenting from that point on, and tired us (especially our senior member, your present correspondent, who shall remain nameless) more than we had anticipated. From the point the approach trail hit the tree-line we skirted the edge of the Tuckerman Ravine to the Lion's Head rock formation, and from there made for the summit. By the time we had summited, the wind had begun to kick up, a spitting snow/sleet was horizontal, and visibility was negligible.

We made our way back down as best as we might, but with yours truly nearly blind, the Iron Man had to slack his pace on the descent. The part from the summit back to the Lion's Head was the toughest, although walking along the ravine was spookier in gusty winds. The ascent took us about four hours, and the descent half that. We were back to the Hut by dusk, and met up with Crawdaddy along the way. From the Hut we made it back down to the parking lot in less than an hour. From thence it was on to well-deserved hot showers at the hotel, and the traditional non-vegan celebratory feasting and beering began.