Mount Washington via Winter Lion Head's Trail

In preparation for the HM3 in Mexico with Attitude Montagne, we had planned to meet with the team beforehand. The first meeting was scheduled for January, with the aim of climbing Mount Washington in winter. A few weeks ago, we climbed Mount Washington via the Winter Lion Head's Trail.

The initial plan.

Well, that's the result of our weekend. Because the original plan was slightly different.

Basically, we had planned to leave from Friday to Sunday in order to have some margin for our ascent of Mount Washington. The idea being to get into HM3 conditions, we were looking for a route where we could do some ice climbing or mountaineering.

We selected the "Odell Gully", which seemed to be relatively easy while still allowing us to work on the ice techniques we wanted to work on.

To make things easier, we opted to sleep on the mountain at the refuge, located some 400 metres above the parking area.

The aim was to reach the refuge on Friday afternoon and check the weather conditions to decide which day we would climb, Saturday or Sunday, with a strong preference for Saturday to have a quieter day for the return to Montreal.

First climb a little longer than expected

Time to make the drive with Paul, meet up with Audrey and finish the drive to the Mount Washington parking lot. It's 3 p.m. on Friday when we enter the mountain's visitor center. We check in and ask for some information before heading off to the Harvard Cabin where we'll be sleeping tonight and next night.

We set off with our big bags at 3.45pm, on foot. No need for snowshoes or crampons for this part of the trail.

The walk is a little harder than we thought. As the route was 3.5 km long, we thought it would be very fast. Except that with the heavy bags and the 450 m ascent, the pace is rather slow.

After a two-hour hike, we arrived at the refuge by headlamp, as darkness had begun to fall.

Sleep at the Harvard Cabin on Mount Washington

The Harvard Cabin is a fairly basic shelter. It does, however, have a stove and a wood-burning stove. A "keeper" is present in the cabin every day to look after the fire, maintain the cabin and inform visitors like us. He'll give you the latest weather forecast every morning around 7am.

You should bring everything you need to the refuge and leave with all your garbage, so don't overload yourself.

To sleep at the Harvard Cabin on Mount Washington, you'll need a mattress and a sleeping bag. Be sure to check the weather forecast for the night of your visit. It can get cold quickly in the hut, so if you're going like us in winter, a -10 C sleeping bag is a minimum in my book. I had a -17 C and we had a rather warm night for the season and I was fine.

The sleeping area, however, is very basic: it's the floor in the attic of the refuge. Part of the attic is heated a little by the fireplace, but that's really just a bonus, so don't count on it.

After setting up our gear for the night, and putting some clothes to dry, we set about preparing our feast (if only). The refuge has a gas stove that does the job perfectly. On the menu was a nice dish of rice, beans and eggs (sorry, this recipe won't end up on Fournoratio.).

We're the only ones with the hut keeper for the night. The aim was to leave relatively early, so once we'd received the latest weather report, we didn't linger too long and quickly went to bed.

Before I forget, there's a dry toilet about 1 minute's walk from the refuge and several "pee zones" just outside the refuge. It's a bit of a nightmare when I go to bed, having an urge during the night that forces me to get dressed and face the cold.

Adapting to conditions.

The night didn't go too badly, I woke up a few times, but it wasn't too bad. I fell in love with my sleeping bag, but my mattress may need changing.

We get up around 7am and meet up with the hut keeper, who is receiving the latest weather report.

As we'd expected, conditions were going to be fine for the day, which is a rarity on Mount Washington. Unfortunately, the gullies, including the "Odell Gully" we had in our sights, have too much snow at the top. This means that the risk of avalanches is too high to risk venturing down this side. So we're going to have to adapt to the conditions and change our plans.

After discussion with the hut keeper, we decide to take the classic route, Winter Lion Head's Trail. Apart from one section which has been a little difficult and icy in recent weeks, the rest should look like a fine winter hike. We take a rope, however, to get us through the eventual ice passage.

Time to pack our bags and have a light breakfast of bread and Nutella, and we're off by 8:45 from the hut, heading for the summit of Mount Washington via Winter Lion Head's Trail.

A beautiful day's walking

The hike isn't long on paper, just 5 kilometers, but it's the elevation gain that's going to be the difficulty. There's about 800 m of positive ascent from Harvard Cabin. So you might as well say that it's a pretty steep climb.

The climb is therefore rather slow, but we manage to keep a steady pace without taking many breaks. We mainly stop to take off layers or put them back on when we leave wind-protected areas.

What was supposed to be the most technical part of the climb is actually quite easy, thanks to a fixed rope already in place. We've still got our crampons on, though, and we'll be keeping them on all the way to the top.

A little higher up, we reach the end of the forest and start to hear the wind blowing, so we put on another layer before venturing further. As we emerge from the trees, we get a magnificent view of the surrounding area. The weather is clear, which is rare on Mount Washington, and we're above the clouds. The scenery is truly incredible.

The sun is shining brightly, and we'll see it in the evening with beautiful colors on our faces. The hike isn't over yet, and there's still a long way to go to reach the summit.

We reach the summit, and we're far from alone. Even though the road is closed to cars in winter, there are many ways to get to the top of Mount Washington. We'd been pretty quiet on the Winter Lion Head's Trail, but now we're back in civilization.

We also met up with Jean Daniel, another member of our future HM3 group, accompanied by a friend. They ended up taking the same route as us, but were leaving directly from the parking lot to do the day's ascent.

We don't linger long, as the cold wind is blowing quite hard, and as we're no longer on the move, we start to freeze quite quickly. Just enough time to take the classic summit photos, and we turn back directly to the hut.

Audrey and I arrived at around 4pm. Paul, for his part, wanted to follow Jean Daniel and his friend back down to the parking lot by another route. We weren't too keen on making the climb from the parking lot to the refuge again, so we didn't accompany him. He eventually arrived around 7pm, rather tired.

Tonight, the refuge is much more crowded. The janitor has a group of friends visiting, and two other groups aiming for a Sunday ascent are also present. There's even a couple on a winter camping trip. Well done to them.

The atmosphere is good in the refuge, and the fireplace keeps us warm. We make a "feast" before going to bed.

Back home

Sunday, the last day of our little trip. Waking up, we assess our motivation and plans, and finally take the day easy, aiming just to get back to the parking lot and back to Montreal not too late.

Time to have a light breakfast and put away all our gear, and we take our big bags back to the car. It's a beautiful day, and we pass a lot of people on cross-country skis and on foot. Mount Washington really isn't the best place to feel totally cut off from the world, especially on days with very good weather.

After a good hour's descent, much less difficult than the climb, we reach the car and head back to Montreal.

It was a beautiful weekend at Mount Washington. Thanks to Paul and Audrey for accompanying me. It was a very rewarding weekend. I learned that I had to work on the ascent, because it was much harder for me than the descent.

If you'd like to know more about the different ways of doing Mount Washington, a detailed article is coming soon.

For more photos, please consult my photo report on Studio-Horatio.

See you soon for a new adventure!