Tuckerman's Ravine @ Mount Washington, NH

Marina and I at the beginning of the hike

Several weeks back, my uncle called me and mentioned he was coming out to New England to visit.  As part of the visit, he planned to hike to Mount Washington's Tuckerman's Ravine.  This natural structure is near the summit of the tallest mountain in the Northeastern United States.  He told me that the four and a half mile hike is fairly easy, but it is a constant struggle, not much flat area.  He also mentioned that he would like my wife to come along as well.  I had no problem making the hike, but Marina, who is originally from Brazil, was a little more skeptical about hiking up the massive mountain in wintery conditions, as she is an inexperienced hiker.  Nevertheless, we decided it would be worth the trip, and met up with my uncle, father, and brother on a cold Saturday morning to make the hike.

approaching the bowl

My brother, who is an avid snowboarder, had decided to bring along his board, so that he could ride the ravine.  As well pulled in we learned that the trail was pretty icey.  Marina was able to use my fathers Microspikes to maintain traction, while the rest of us used poles.  The Microspikes worked spectacularly, and Marina was able to traverse up ice covered terrain with almost no delay or caution, I definitely need to look into getting a pair for each of us.  The hike took about 2 hours to reach the top, with several small breaks to catch our wind and admire the beautiful views around us.

L to R (Brother, Me, Marina, Uncle)

We reached the top of the bowl and were treated to a glorious view of the summit, Tuckerman's Ravine, the neighboring Wildcat mountain, and a bunch of other hikers and skiiers enjoying the lovely day.  It was incredibly sunny, and I quickly realized a sunburn was forming.  Luckily, I was drinking beers and was not about to allow a little sunburn to ruin a great afternoon.  After watching some great ski runs and hanging out with the locals, our beer supply was depleted and we decided to head back down.  It only took us an hour and a half on the way back, and a good amount of snow had melted.  The weather was absolutely perfect for a winter hike, roughly 40 degrees and not windy nor a cloud in the sky.

We were pretty wiped out at the end of the day, and my legs and hips were certainly sore the next day, a desk job and hiking are two mutually exclusive professions!  We drank a couple more beers back at my other aunt and uncle's condo at Loon Mountain in Lincoln, NH and crashed around 10pm.  We drove back to CT the next day, but the hike was awesome, and we are considering going back in the warm months.

This was the best run we viewed all day:

my father going nuts in the white.

my brother, marina and myself in the top right small group, just chillin