Mount Washington — Saturday, May. 26, 2018

Spent the night at the trailhead in order to get an early start for good snow. Woke up at 4 and found area totally socked in. Waited until 5 and the fog had let up a bit. Started at 5:25 up the primitive trail. It’s pretty clear to follow but definitely not your normal day hike. We had a GPS which helped us since we got off trail a bit. Planning to do a Washington - Ellinor traverse but wanted to summit Washington first. Headed right once we got to the jct with the traverse. Route got pretty sketchy once we reached a section with snow and rock. My partner decided to stay at the base of the steep snow while I continued. Do not attempt this if you are not comfortable rock climbing and scrambling. Headed right again towards the summit, which was mostly obstructed with clouds. Route is pretty clear but the summit does require some dicey scrambling. Maybe I took the wrong way, but I was heading up 4th class terrain to reach the summit. Summit views were gorgeous and there was a register to sign. Summited at 8:30. Thankfully, I was able to down climb what I climbed up, but falling was not an option. As I headed back on snow, nearing where I had left my partner, I slipped, the snow came right out from underneath my crampon. I slid from snow to rock breaking my left ankle. I could walk on my ankle but was in a lot of pain. I down climbed to my partner and we assessed the situation. Traverse was out of the question and we headed down, it was very slow going. The snow conditions were awful for my ankle and visibility was poor. I was so grateful to get back on dirt and rock even if it meant I was scooting on my butt. We contemplated calling Olympic Mtn Rescue but we both felt so much better once we got down to dirt that we decided not to. Using my trekking poles as “crutches” we got back down to the car at 1:15. Lesson of the story: Be so, so careful with these spring snow conditions. Mount Washington is much more technical than I was expecting. Tripping/falling in other places could cause serious injury or death. I know of someone who died up there years ago in May bc of falling. This climb is not for an average hiker. Be prepared with the necessary gear, be safe.