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Madison to Monroe -Saturday March 17, 2012

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Water dropplets on the branches in front of the cottage we rented.
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Appalachia trailhead. There were already many cars at the lot. We started after 8 AM, slightly later than we're planned to.
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Mike at Tama Falls.
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Mike on Valley Way.
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Kim. I'm the only dummy who wore long sleeves and long pants.
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Mike in the misty landscape.
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Kim.
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Scar trail was unbroken.
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Dirt showing throught the thinning snow.
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Yike!
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Sun was about to burn off the morning clouds.
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Getting brighter.
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Junction of Valley Way and Watson Path.
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Cool weathered sign.
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Yeah Sun!!!
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Only icy section that crampon was slightly better than microspike on this entire hike. Yaktrax would have been sufficient for the rest of the journey.
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First sight of the ridge.
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Morning mist was dissipating.
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Another unbroken trail.
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Looking toward Howker Ridge.
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Cool sea of clouds.
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Mike was hiking with his friends for a while, he caught up to us shortly before the hut.
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Out
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Summit of Madison.
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Madison Spring Hut.
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There were barely any icy and snow on the summit cone, we all stashed our traction devices opt for barebooting.
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Ran into Cory and Steve again.
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Steve. They were to do the full traverse today. Like!
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Kim on the summit of Madison.
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Kim and I on the summit.
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Mike and Kim taking in the views.
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Mt Washington.
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Mt Adams.
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Osgood, I decended Mt Madison via Osgood trail once, it was a knee-busting trail.
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Summit of Madison.
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No wind, great visibility and warm, thumb up from Mike.
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Kim heading down.
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Next stop, Mt Adams.
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Kim descending Madison with Adams ahead of us.
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Cool erosion looks like it could be Alien's writings.
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Continued on after taking a breakfast break at the hut.
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Heading toward Adams with Madison and the hut behind us.
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Miek with Madison nehind him.
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Kim with Madison in the background.
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Durand Ridge?
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On Air Line toward Adams.
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Summit of Adams.
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Ran into Kevin who just tagged his winter #47 and heading to his grand finish on Madison.
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Tim.
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Kim and Kevin.
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Mini Eggs from Kevin. Thanks Kevin, the treat kept me going later the day.
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Kim on the summit of Adams.
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Kim and Mike on Adams. Madison was behind us now, literally.
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Mt Washington is just a tad closer now...
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Madison from Adams.
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We took a shortcut and by passed the Thunder Storm junction.
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We're followed by 3 backpackers.
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Still so far away...
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Next stop, Mt Jefferson.
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Franconia Ridge is visible behind Jefferson
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The 3 backpackers passed us. We'd passed them one last time shortly after here when they stopped to dig themselves out of a posthole and put on snowshoes. I posthole near them and was so bad that I had to scooch my way to the firmer snow to get up.
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Kim and Mike marching along.
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Washington and Jefferson. The boots trail up Jefferson was visible from here.
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Mighty Mt Jefferson with a skull and crossed bones above it :)
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Castle Ridge?
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Early taste of the slush-fest to follow.
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Took another break at Edmund Col.
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Views from Edmund Col.
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Kim heading up the Loop Trail.
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Adams behind us.
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Jefferson Ravine behind Kim.
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The Jefferson snowfield. With the soft and sticky snow conditions, it was an easy walk.
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Kim and Mike entering the snowfield.
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Looking back at Adams.
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Over we went!
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2 hikers ahead of us. The temperature was getting toasty hot by now.
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Looking back at Adams.
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More postholing to come...
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Kim on the snow slope leading to the summit.
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Mike and Kim ahead of me. It was so hot at this point I was ready to strip down to my underwear.
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Where the *bleep* is the summit!?
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Adams behind us while we're death-marching up Jefferson.
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*bleep*
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Getting some more appreciated breeze as we approaching the summit.
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The damn summit...
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Almost there...
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Mt Washington peeks through from behind the big cairn below the summit of Jefferson.
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Mt Washington.
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Mt Washington with teh summit knob of Jefferson in the blurry foreground.
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Mike on Jefferson.
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Kim on Jefferson.
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Washington and the southern Presidential range from Jefferson.
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Southern Presidential range.
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Bretton Woods ski area and Franconia Ridge etc... The visiblity was amazing.
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Mike doing some trail work.
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Off we went.
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Miek leading the way to Washington.
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Kim leaving Jefferson behind.
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Enroute Mt Washington.
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Jefferson is still visible form here.
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Slush!!
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Jefferson Loop meets Gulfside trail.
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Junction of Gulfside and Sphinx.
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We decided to go around Clay after 2 hikers told us of bad postholing while they came over Clay.
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Looking back at Jefferson.
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Postholing was bad here too... The views sure made up for it.
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Continued on...
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Kim with Clay behind her.
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1.4 friggin mile to Washington.
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Kim taking in the views. What a day!
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Jefferson, Adams, and Madison. We came a long way.
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Miek waiting for the cog.
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Sick of postholing, we opt to walk on the rail track.
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Kim and Mike on the rail track.
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Poor Mike can't get a break.
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The wind picking up drastically as we approached the summit.
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Summit Observatory.
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We hunkered down in front of the building entrance away from the wind, for a much needed refuel. Kim signed us in.
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30 something degree compare to near 60 on Adams.
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Kim at the summit of Mt Washington.
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Mike.
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Kim and I.
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Heading down to the Lake of the Clouds Hut.
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Monroe looks tiny from here.
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Franconia Ridge fro, Crawford Path.
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Washington River. This may be the worst part of the day but by now we didn't give a crap. Sick of picking rocks to hop on, we just plowed right into the slush pool of water or sunk deep into the soft snow, what's new?
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The endless visibilty was worthy of every bit of the sufferings.
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LOC hut and Monroe, our last two destinations.
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Kim with Monroe behind her... not quite yet.
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Looking back at Mt Washington.
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Lakes of the Clouds Hut.
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Kim on the roof.
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We dropped our pack at the jucntion and headed up Monroe.
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Lets just get over it!
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The weary trio heading up Monroe.
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Sunsetting.
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One last climb to the summit.
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Mike approaching the summit.
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Stick a fork in her, she is DONE!
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The trio on the summit of Monroe. Thanks Mike for joining us.
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Admiring the gorgeous sunset from the summit of Monroe.
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We earned this moment.
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Getting back to LOC hut.
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One last view of the sunset before we headed down via Ammonoosuc Ravine trail.
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Nice place to camp.
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