This was another first hike for me. It’s a nice hike and there are very large boulders along parts of the trail that are interesting to look at. I arrived at the parking lot around 9:00am and there were already quite a few cars there. I put on my boots and gaiters and was on the trail about ten minutes later. The trail steeply climbs from the parking lot to a road. Follow the road upward (right) until it connects to the Iron Horse Trail. Keep going straight (do not turn left onto the Iron Horse Trail) and very soon you’ll see a post on the left side of the road with some lettering on it. Continue on just a bit until you see a break in the trees on the left. That’s the trail. Parts of the trail are pretty rocky and parts of the trail are pretty wet and there are a couple small blowdowns along the way that are easily stepped over. I passed the small cave turned climbing rock about thirty minutes from the parking lot and I was at a “viewpoint” (fogged in) a little over thirty minutes from the cave. Snow appeared on the trail around 3400’/3500’ but only a few inches. It never got any deeper than that and there’s none at all in the forest section approaching the summit. There’s a creek crossing earlier that’s actually more slippery than the snow was. I found the creek crossing less slippery to just walk through the water rather than stepping on the surface rocks. Having waterproof boots makes that an easy option. I arrived at a fence/gate to pass through a little under two hours into the hike and arrived at the completely fogged in summit forty minutes after that, which made the trip two and half hours up to the summit including a couple photography stops. I passed two hikers shortly below the summit who were part of a large party at the summit when I arrived. Another solo hiker and a couple of backpackers were also at the summit and another solo hiker and a group of three arrived shortly after that. I stayed for about forty minutes watching the couple of gray jays hoping for some crumbs then headed down, making it back to the parking lot in an hour and forty minutes, including two photography breaks.

Great views and so much solitude! There's something magical about having a mountain to yourself. This is exactly what I found last Monday when I headed up Mount Washington after work to catch the sunset. I knew that I would be coming down in the dark so I made sure to pack plenty of layering options and a backup light source. You don't want to be caught out there with ought light. I made it to the trailhead without incident, though the gate at the entrance to the parking lot made me a bit nervous. Do they ever lock these things? That would end your post-hike high pretty quickly. The trail is in great shape--albeit scarcely marked-- for the most part as long as you follow the directions above which are spot on. The few exceptions to this are a couple of blowdowns along the trail and some icy patches in the last third. Also be sure and watch out for that infamous boggy area. It nearly caught me by surprise as I was running down the mountain in the dark after shooting the sunset. When do you make it to the top, be sure and check out and sign the trail register. Happy hiking!

This was my first time hiking Mt. Washington and the view was absolutely gorgeous at the top. However, this was not an easy, breezy hike. It took about 4 hours to reach the top due to several inches of snow. I had grips for my boots but trekking poles would have worked better. I slipped a few times so you really need to watch your step and be careful. There are several great look out points as you ascend which makes it all worthwhile. A great hike to take photos and really enjoy nature. Once reaching the top, the view was breathtaking. The pictures really don't do it any justice. Enjoyed lunch at the top then started the descend down. Took over 2 hours to reach the bottom. This is a hike I would do again because of the amazing view at the top.

Nice to escape the crowds of the other various hikes around the valley; only ran into about 7 other people, one being a gentleman who was doing some maintenance on the trail. A special shout out to this guy, could definitely notice the difference in his handiwork on the way down! After the heavy rains here over the past couple days, the trail itself is very washed out which didn't make the normally rocky trail any easier. There is quite a bit of erosion over the course of the entire hike and good portions of the trail is currently a stream. About 2+ miles in we hit snow which ranged anywhere from 4-8+ inches deep. Despite having my microspikes, they were of little use. Unfortunately the snow wasn't completely compact but was rather in the process of melting which made footing quite difficult. While some places were icy, post-holing in the snow wasn't uncommon either. It was quite the slippery ascent and definitely slowed us down after the already steep rocky trail prior. Took as a total of 4.5 hours to reach the top and a 2 hour descent, but definitely worth the view and escaping the tourists. Could see as far as Mount Rainier, the Olympics, Glacier Peak and Mount Shuksan. However most everything past North Bend was in the fog.

Decided to try out Mt. Washington and was not disappointed in any way! Wish I had tried it sooner. We parked in the Olallie State Park parking lot and took the trail from there. Once you walk up a steep trail you will meet an old logging road, take a right and walk the flat road for about 2 minutes, look for a white wooden post on the left that has numbers and letters on it about 100 feet after that is the trailhead, if you do not know this it would be impossible to find the trailhead. You will get amazing diverse views the entire time up the mountain. There are beautiful rock walls, streams, and look out points throughout. I would advise to use poles and have microspikes on your boots, it was VERY icy. I slipped pretty bad twice even with my poles and spikes on. About halfway up the trail was pretty covered in snow but was packed down enough so it was do-able. However we did not make it to the top because we lost the trail about 3/4 of the way up. Still was a great hike and we enjoyed the parts we did hike.