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December 23, 2005 |
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We met Charles and Damon at the Highland Center for breakfast before leaving their cars there and heading over to the parking area for the Cog. We parked up near the building and headed out on the Ammonoosuc trail. The trail crosses the river a few times, but was fairly easy to follow. It had been previously broken out, but a foot of snow had fallen since the last hikers were on it, so snowshoes were needed.
We kept a casual pace and were at the hut @ 2 1/2 hours later. We made use of the emergency shelter which is below the hut to layer up, have a snack, and don crampons for the ascent to Mt Monroe. As we headed up the trail we encounter winds @ 40 mph and ice covered rocks. The trail here was not easy to follow, but continuing up we spotted carins as we neared the summit. Unfortunately the visibility was only a hundred feet at best, so with no views and high winds we kept moving and headed down off the summit quickly. We noticed that ice was forming on us as we stopped at a trail sign to take a photo, although we were all quite warm. As we neared Eisenhower we encountered snow that was 3 - 4 feet deep, so we donned our snow shoes. With the poor viz, we missed the trail to the summit and ended up on the south side of the peak taking the bypass route. At the end of the bypass we turned right and made our way to the summit, where we saw the only other people we'd encounter as they were descending. After watching Charles do a head stand in the wind, we descended the way we came and started over to Mt Pierce. This section of the trail had been broken out so in short time we were at the summit. From here it was a very quick 75 minute descent back to the Highland Center. |
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Directions to the trailhead: Rte 93 north to Exit 35. Follow Route 3 East to the intersection with Route 302 in Twin Mountain. Take a right onto Route 302 and follow it sotuh for @ 5 miles to the base rod for the Cog. Follow this to the end and park. The Highland Center and Crawford Station are @ 5 miles further south on Rte 302. |
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and our