Mount Washington

Saturday morning was a perfect day for hiking. We got a bit of a late start, having accidentally taken a small detour into Maine. We got on the trail around 9am. The hike is supposed to take around 4 hours up, 2-3 back down, so there wasn't a moment to spare.

At the beginning, we were so happy and naive:
We hiked the Tuckerman's Ravine trail, which is the standard trail that offers the best views. It followed a riverbed up most of the mountain, so there were a lot of rocks to climb over, and there was none of that "nice walk through the woods" that usually accompanies the start of New England hikes. We certainly walked through the woods, but it was steep most of the way. This was the longest flat section and boy, were we glad to see it.
About two hours in, we reached the Hermit Lake Huts, where Matt discovered that his hiking boots were in trouble. The sole of one boot had come almost completely off. He tried to duct tape it together, but he didn't deem it safe enough to continue up. Matt definitely wins the Sportsmanship award, because I probably would have said, "oh well" and continued up. But he definitely made the right choice, as we found out later. He headed back down with the car keys, thinking that if he could buy a new pair of boots in town, he'd drive up the auto road and hike down with me and Jay, and Candice and Peter could take the car down.

The four of us set off from the huts, having voted the strongest hiker off the island, so to speak. From the huts, the trail got serious fast. We saw this view from the huts and thought, "wait. We have to climb up that? Where's the escalator?"
The next two hours were rough, but had the most beautiful views. The best part of the hike was near the top of the ravine, where the trail followed a stream that cascaded down dramatic cliffs. It was incredibly steep but rewarding.
The view down the mountain from the same spot:
To be continued..... (dun dun dahhh!!)