The earlier mostly-cloudy conditions had cleared up nicely, and it was a beautiful sunny afternoon up above treeline. A gentle, warm wind began drying off our clothes and there were no bugs of any sort to be found. Nirvana compared to the conditions below!
We continued on, climbing a now-moderate slope, with a line of large cairns marking the way of the Davis Path above treeline.
Refreshing Alpine Walking
As I'd mentioned before, the day had been very hot for May. And humid. We had both taken about five litres of water, and I was now nearing the end of my final litre. I knew that I could make it back to the car with the little I had left, but I had been noticing the several small snowfields up here. I decided to go over to the base of one and fill a couple of litres with deliciously cold and fresh snowmelt water (and I took care to stay on rock when I was off trail).
Davis Path and Montalban Ridge
Nearing Boott Spur summit
courtesy JInnes
Andrew nearing Boott Spur summit
A few more tens of minutes of glorious alpine walking brought us to the top of Boott Spur, where a great closeup view of the summit cone of Mount Washington was presented to us. This spot was also noteable in that it was the last point of the elevation gain on this hike -- which according to my rough mental calculations, had accumulated to something in excess of 6,500 feet!
courtesy JInnes
Turning right at the junction with the Boott Spur Trail, we started down towards Pinkham Notch, which we could now see (well over 3,000 feet below us). The trail is very rough and bouldery in places (and fairly steep), and Jenn soon had a bit of knee pain as a result.
Hiking down the Boott Spur Trail
Ever-improving views of Tuckerman Ravine unfolded as we descended. It looked like the spring skiing season was pretty much over, with only discontinuous patches of snow in the recesses of the ravine.
