I believe Scotty and I were the first on the trail this day, we saw 6 others. If you plan on hitting this summit by way of the direct route(not the Great Wall route), do yourself a favor and turn left (west) at the 3rd juction. You can't mistake this turnoff as it is along the bank of the only pond near any trail on Mt Washington. We made the mistake of heading East, and the further mistake of continuing past where the snowshoe tracks we were following turned back. This overgrown remnant of an abandoned forest road dissapears at the base of the steep North face. It was slow going in well over 3 feet of snow, and there was probably some risk of avalanche, but we weren't turning back. It took us nearly 4 1/2 hours to reach the summit, by far my slowest trip. The sky was slightly overcast, but we got a few sunbursts and the summit was relatively windless. Baker and Glacier Peak were clearly visible to the north.

Part II (continued from http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/trip_report.2012-02-05.4120476308): Snow fully covered the trail from the Owl Hike spot. Creek crossings were not difficult. We decided not to take the longer Great Wall Trail since daylight was a precious commodity. Despite the thickening snow, there were plenty of bootprints to follow, which had created a compacted trail for walking. Blowdowns were not a problem on the upper part of the ascent. We passed the boulder garden in the bowl, and we continued up towards the pond, which was iced over. At the pond, there were footprints going to the right, deviating from the summer trail, but we stayed to the left, passing through the horse restriction gate. 1/2 mile past the pond, the footprints left the trail and proceeded directly up the eastern face of the summit for several hundred feet of steady upward climbing. We followed, and soon we headed north again to the shoulder from which West Defiance Ridge and Mount Si are visible. We were treated to vertigo-inducing views of I-90 3000 feet below us. We then headed back to the forest, roughly following the summer trail, heading up to the summit. We were able to summit using poles and boots alone. At the summit, we could see Rainier and Chester Morse Lake. We could see Baker and Glacier to the north. McClellan peak was visible to the west. Someone had traced out the initials "BK" in the snow--what could it mean? The trip down was faster, and we were able to glissade downwards along the segment where we had executed our vertical climb in the snow. However, my left foot sank into the snow twice, requiring digouts. This was likely due to the act of descending and the slightly warmer afternoon temperatures. Fortunately, my friends helped me dig out. This was not an easy hike. Three of five summited. Ascent time: 3 hours 15 min. Descent time: 2 hours 30 min.

A sunny day meant that my next appointment with the summit of Mount Washington had finally arrived! My previous two visits to the weather station were marred by clouds at the top. This time, I would not be denied. This report is divided into two parts, as the "Mount Washington" trail page only describes the ascent to the Owl Hike viewpoint, 2 miles from the TH. The name originates from a time when "night owls" liked to use the start of the Mt Washington trail as an evening hike, ending at a natural rock bench with a view of Rattlesnake Mountain. The second part describes the ascent beyond the Owl Hike viewpoint. Part I: We arrived at the Homestead TH parking lot at 10 am. The parking area had been partially cleared, and there was no difficulty parking. There were wisps of clouds high above the mountains, but it was a very gusty day at all elevation levels. Snow was present throughout the hike, starting with the spur trail from the parking lot to the Iron Horse trail. Snow at the start was a few inches deep, though the trail was bare in places. Snow became thicker throughout, with complete coverage starting before or at the Owl Hike spot. We did not require traction devices, but poles were helpful. Blowdowns during the first mile of hiking were significant, forcing us to climb under or over under many occasions. At the Owl Hike spot, the clear day provided excellent views of Rattlesnake and its three ledges. On the return leg, from the Iron Horse Trail we could see the moon rising above West Defiance Ridge. For the ascent to the summit, read Part II: http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/trip_report.2012-02-05.3171689679/

A few blowdowns at the beginning of the trail but overall trail is in good condition. Trail is icy/snowy and and while I used the microspikes, snowshoes were not necessary. Very windy @ the summit.

Started up the Mt. Washington trail yesterday with Snowshoes on my pack with the intention of going onto the Great Wall Trail and up to the summit of Change Peak. At the very beginning, there are a number of blow-downs from the ice and wind we had recently, but this is largely at the very bottom of the trail. Once you get going, they're not an issue. Even below the Owl Spot, there was enough snow on the trail that the postholing got bad enough to warrant snowshoes, although many other hikers didn't have them. I put them on and headed up. At the junction to the Great Wall trail, there were no tracks headed that way. I took a few steps in my snowshoes in that direction, and postholed all the way in. There is an icy crust on top of what appears to be powder snow that made me reconsider. I continued up the Mt. Washington trail to about 3500 feet where I acknowledged my exhaustion and turned around. As I say, there were a number of others on the trail following the bootpath up toward the top, postholing often. In short, bring snowshoes!