[ranger rock]

Thanks to the detailed TR by Texaco the three of us did this without making any big wrong turns and without having to turn around at all. This trip was last week on one of the last dry days of the year. At one point near the beginning we got off trail in a ravine and then we heard a male voice booming through the woods "the main trail is up here". I liked how he called it the "main trail" instead of telling us that we were off the trail. Later there was a little route confusion and we wished that voice in the woods would guide us again. One member of the party who had never climbed before decided to stop at the basin at 5,200 feet. She waited there while Sam and I made the climb. I had never climbed before either, but I was in pretty good hiking condition after doing Mount Rose a few times, then doing Wagonwheel ridge and then backpacking to the Brothers Basecamp. The route up was a little scary for the two of us who made it, but we did make it. Then once we were on top we mostly just worried about downclimbing. I'm sure this will be less scary the second time. I never did make it up the Brothers, so making it up Mount Washington was extra nice. This was my first class three climb and now I feel like a whole new world has opened up for me. There were low clouds blocking the view to the east but we could see the top of the big mountains on the other side of Seattle. To the west we had an excellent view of the Olympics. Next week Mount Copper.. Copper is class 2 so it might just be a little easier.. More pictures and details on my blog: http://tinyurl.com/92amrjs

Track Log

A scary exposed place

Lovely lichens on the summit

A fun tool

above the clouds

The summit is somewhere up there

Sam signs the register

Finally on a summit with my helmet

That little white speck is my car

The big rock at the base of the high meadow

[IanB]

Congratulations Ranger Rock on your first "3"! Looks like it was an exceptional day above the marine layer.

[Hanzsek]

About 15 years ago I was with friends climbing the E ridge of Washington (Route 4) when we got stuck atop "The Nose". The guidebook mentions the route goes over the sub-summit and then can be rapelled or downclimbed to reach the true summit but we didn't see it... Just as we prepared to retreat a male voice calls out loudly and says " Put her (my wife) back on belay and have her go down the NW side. She'll find it". Huh? Oh, wow, there's a guy standing 200 feet away on the summit telling us where the route is! So we did what he said and she found it and we completed our traverse - thanks to the guy I call The Route Angel... Sounds to me like he's still up there!

[Magellan]

Glad you made it and sorry I couldn't. We had some guys helping us with the route otherwise I don't think we would have made it either.

[Redwic]

Good job, RR! Mount Washington is a great peak!

[Scanfield]

It was a great trip and thank you for letting me tag along! I've since made plans with Jessica to do either Ellinor or Rose so she can bag her first summit! I'm glad we had each other up there to keep pushing forward!

[Texaco]

Good work! Next time you might try staying more hydrated...helps with the hearing voices thing

[ranger rock]

[puzzlr]

Thanks for the report, including the good route illustrations. I've been fuzzy on where the normal route up this peak goes.