Mount Ellinor, Mount Washington — Sunday, Jul. 14, 2024

Parked at the upper Ellinor trailhead around 8:45 am. It was pretty packed already, but there were many spots to park along the road. Road had a few rough spots, especially in the last mile before the trailhead, but with careful driving my Prius was fine.

Ran down to the Mount Washington trailhead and started up. It is steeeeep, but cool trail. Right around where you break above timberline there was a trickle of snow melt. This was pretty much the only usable water I found for the day. Brought micro spikes just in case, but any existing snow was soft, and will be gone soon. No extra gear needed, other than a helmet. Summit views were some of the very best.

Returned back down to around 5300’ and started traversing over to Ellinor on the unofficial route here. There is a beaten path for a lot of the way, but also some scrambling, also possible to get off route and into some higher consequence terrain. Don’t try the traverse unless you’re comfortable with scrambling and off trail route finding.

Ellinor was buzzing with people in contrast to the silence I’d had the rest of the day. The staircase/trail down Ellinor is really cool.