Mount Washington — Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021

kidzwonthike and I went up to Mt Washington today. It was my second time doing this scramble and his first (my first was in 2019).

First off, Mount Washington is a climber’s trail, not a maintained USFS trail. If you are expecting kind knolls and grade, you will be sorely disappointed. It’s a scramble basically from start to finish, with the easiest route being class 3.

I knew the general way so I led the route. A couple deviations I made this time were going up a class 3 rock face instead of the scree funnel death gully, and I went up the SW face which involves some fun class 4/low class 5 moves 😊.

We raced the smoke up to the summit and barely won, then were met with a thunder and lightning storm as we started down — which wasn’t on the forecast! I'm definitely checking that one off my bucket list of “things not to do on a mountain”.

We were moving quickly downhill (well, as quickly as we could), and both ended up slipping and falling on the wet tread once, even though we were being careful. Ergo, it’s not a place to go when wet.

Lots of tasty mountain huckleberries along the way with some wildflowers to boot 😋. Downside was the biting flies in the morning and some of the flying summit ants, but they went away once the weather got colder.

My GPS track attached to the Peakbagger.com link provided has more ups and downs than necessary as I went up the SW face, summited, tried providing verbal directions for how to get up there, came down the gully, demoed the traverse route around the E side to kidzwonthike, then summited with him :).

Thoughts on the Descent Route

When rockfall occurs, yell "rock!" to inform other potential climbers/scramblers that they need to react appropriately.

The scree funnel death gully isn't advised when others are present, or at the very least is a chokepoint requiring one individual to be descending at a time, or a surefooted group on short rope walking in tight formation.

A better way down if one feels comfortable with class 3/4 down scrambling, would be to take the gully to skier's right of the scree funnel death gully. There's less unpredictable loose rock potential, whereas the scree funnel death gully can speed up larger (apple sized) boulders going at 10+ mph.

kidzwonthike and I went down the scree funnel death gully one at a time because he didn't feel comfortable downscrambling the class 3/4 wall. I went down first, slipping and sliding on my butt, and yelled "all clear!" when I thought I had gotten out of the trajectory of the rocks behind a larger boulder. kidzwonthike accidentally kicked down a few loose rocks and yelled "rock!". I hit the deck quickly to avoid getting hit by the boulder, then quickly moved out of the way to avoid any other careening rocks, because a smaller boulder went over my head after I hit the deck.

There are slabby steps one can use on the right side of the scree funnel death gully, as well as tree roots that can be leveraged (well, as long as the tree is still standing) on the left side of the gully down lower.

Thoughts on the Summit Block Traverse/Scramble

The bulk majority of the rock I tested appeared sound, however, there were some flakes/outcroppings I ran into that were weak/loose. Be sure to test the rock before committing!

If one is looking for less exposure, going up to the left of the W gully before the summit is advised when dry--paying attention to the loose scree on top of the rocks. Going straight up or down the gully isn't advised as the runout is poor and the potential for an uncontrolled slip over the E face of the summit block is highly probable. After you reach the top of the gully, turning right (facing NNW) and scrambling up the class 3 open book to the summit is advised when dry as the other popular route to the W involves some degree of class 2~3 loose scree with exposure. If ice/snow is present, the W traverse might be advised over the class 3 open book due to exposure/runout, depending on what tools you have at your disposal.

Going up the SW face wasn't all that bad for me, but I have some basic bouldering, intermediate alpine climbing skills, and basic rock climbing skills, and am more comfortable on solid rock than loose scree. Being able to comfortably free solo up the class 4/5 face or bring adequate protection is highly advised if you plan on committing to this route. Smaller cams or nuts would probably work along with a 30m~40m rope and slings if one isn't comfortable with the exposure, or the conditions are extra spicy.

Walking the ridge from the N as pribbs describes it, is longer and involves a large degree of classic class 3 exposed ridge walking on solid rock, similar to the upper ridge traverse on Kyes or White Chuck. I would only consider this route if the area is dry.

Gear Used

• Climbing helmet (yes! It's very needed!!)
• Merrell Trail runners
• Trekking Poles
• 3L water - it was very warm today (70°F~80°F when we arrived around 10:30), the area above the upper meadows is very exposed, and there aren't any spots where one can filter water on the route right now.

More Information on this Trip Report

• https://www.peakbagger.com/climber/ascent.aspx?aid=1723657