August 23, 2008
This hike (especially the way up) is a bit of a blur. I tend to daydream and sing to myself to block out what I really am doing. It helps me push through when my body wants to stop.
As usual we headed out from Waterville Valley and made our way to Pinkham Notch. Holy crowded! We had to park out on the road. We headed up the Tuckerman Ravine Trail with everyone else. Everyone said to bring layers; it’s cold up there. So I started with pants and a t-shirt, long sleeve layers in my Camelbak. It didn’t take long before I was hot and had to zip the legs off. I don’t remember too much about the walk toward Tux. Dad had read somewhere that Lion’s Head was less crowded so we headed that way. Sure enough there were a lot less people that way.
By the time we hit tree line I was sweating and wondering when the cold would kick in. We took a break and talked on the phone to mom. After our short break we kept going up until we leveled off. 
Thank goodness. We took another break surround by a whole bunch of other people and then headed out a long the rim of Tux. 
The view was amazing. Soon enough we had to head up those big, lovely rocks, that those who hike up Mt. Washington know and love. My adrenaline kicked in at this point, dad on the other hand didn’t appear to have this same kick. The mass of humanity looked like a slow moving train both up and down. 
At one point I saw someone fall and literally tumble down a few rocks. The man popped right up, said he was ok, and continued on. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. No stopping now. I wanted the top. Oh yeah, the cold weather, well I was still waiting on it. I got to the parking lot before dad thus giving myself a chance to rest. Once he joined we headed up to the real top.Now I really wanted a picture with the summit sign. Unfortunately all those people who drove or cogged up were in line to get pictures.
I was way too tired to wait in line. We headed in to get food and Gatorade. I have to say I did really enjoy having real food (chili dog!). I went downstairs to the Observatory Store and dad followed. The “This Body Climbed Mt. Washington” t-shirts were calling our names. I also got a hoody. I had to carabineer the bag to my Camelbak because it couldn’t fit in. We refreshed our water and headed out to the deck for more pictures. 
Finally I put on a long sleeve dri-fit shirt. Turns out it was 70degrees at the summit. A record high for that day and near the overall record. There was some wind, hence the reason for long sleeves. After a little while we headed down. I was intimidated looking at Tux the way down. It was hard for me to imagine we were going to hike down that, it seems so steep. 
I was a little scared because the trail was steep and wet at times. About half way down dad slipped and fell. Luckily he fell on one of the larger rocks so he didn’t keep going down, just some scrapes and a little blood. I was much more comfortable when we got into the bottom of the bowl. 
From here on out the hike seemed easy. This is a good thing because with about a mile left my legs were rubber. I was going on autopilot. We were very happy to not only see the car but also see there was no ticket since we were parked in the road.
Final thoughts: DO IT! You will feel so accomplished. I recommend doing some smaller ones first. Some friends who have done it and didn’t do other hikes were hurting big time afterward. I was sore but it wasn’t too bad. Now I really want to take on the rock pile in the winter.
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