Hans and I attempted a summit of Monroe via the Ammonosuc Ravine Trail.  We knew pretty quickly that we weren’t going to summit (fog + rain + the forecast) so we aimed for the Lake of the Clouds hut instead.

It was one of those oddly gorgeous days to be hiking – the fog and rain made everything misty and saturated with color.  And spring means lots of running water!

Monroe was full of these lovely gorges and water features and the first few miles are relatively flat and easy -doing just the first part of the Ammonosuc Ravine Trail would make for a lovely yet moderate hike.

This gorge was one of my favorite features! I’m so looking forward to bringing my tripod up to better capture how beautiful it is.

A steeper patch with the ice on the trail.  We didn’t make it to the hut – we called it about half a mile below, due to the bad trail conditions and heavily gusting wind.

And then right after we turned around, the snow started.  By the time we reached the parking lot, it looked like a proper winter day (though the sun came out in full force as soon as we left the mountains. It felt like we’d gone spring-winter-summer!)

It was a really lovely hike, if cut a bit short. I can’t wait to go back and summit – the best things about mountains, after all, is that they’re always going to be there tomorrow.