Trail Report: Seek the Peak Hikes 16 and 17!

By Chris Nichols

September 22, 2025 – Summit 16 of 17

A chilly morning turned into a spectacular day on Mount Washington. The thermostat in my car read 39 degrees when I got to the Ammonoosuc Ravine trailhead. I think that’s the coldest start so far. But the forecast called for temps to potentially reach 50 and winds in the 20 mph range.

To mix things up a little, I decided to do Jewell up and Ammo down. I saw a few people in the parking lot, but didn’t see another person until I was close to the summit. As I climbed, the temperature warmed and even with the breeze, I was comfortable with shorts and a t-shirt.

I think Jewell is easier to climb than it is to descend, but maybe that’s just my knees talking. I set another personal best ascent with 2:57:52, beating my old record by more than a minute.

The summit was quiet, awaiting the first Cog train, so a quick summit photo and inside for a snack. The summit team was busy with their team meeting, so I just waved and headed out.

The Ammo trail used to intimidate me as a means of descent, but now that I’ve done it a few times, it’s actually a nice trail when things are dry. Speaking of dry, the lakes of the cloud are scary low, barely puddles at this point. There was a decent amount of moisture on the rocks on the trail, probably dew, but some of the water crossings were completely dry, something I have never seen.

I met several people on the way down including a couple whose plan was to hike up and catch the Cog down…they called it the old people’s plan!

Blue sky, comfortable temperatures, and the mountain almost to myself for much of the day…hard to complain.

My watch said 9.39 miles and 6:17:40 of hiking time.

Monroe and the hut.

Looking down the cog.

Summit photo.

Blue sky and fall colors.

September 28, 2025 – Summit 17 of 17

Finished! When I made my first summit back on May 1, I didn’t expect this little quest to take me 5 months. Weather and personal commitments got in the way at times, but I kept chipping away and now I am done. As a reminder, this year was my 17^th Seek the Peak in support of the Mount Washington Observatory and prior to this year, I had climbed Mount Washington 17 times. I was also born on the 17^th, so 17 seemed like a magic number.

As I have stated in the past, the Ammonoosuc Ravine trail is my favorite trail, and it still is. It’s challenging, but with breathtaking views. So it was natural for me to finish by climbed Ammo. The forecast was for clearing skies, temps into the low 50’s, and very windy. The climb up Ammo to the hut was unremarkable, though I passed 7 people along the way. The hut has closed for the season but I took a quick snack break before heading up into the clouds that wouldn’t completely clear until I was on my way down.

The wind was brisk after passing the hut. I was happy to see that last weeks rains had raised the water a little in the Lakes of the Clouds, but they are still far from full. At the summit, I had a brief glimpse of blue sky, but no real views. The wind was in the low to mid 40 mph range, which I think was the windiest I’d seen it on my quest.

I decided to go back down the Cog path and was glad I did. I met Eric Todd Sweet, who was making his 225th summit along the way.

A few stats (per my watch, including hike 8.5 up Eisenhower):

Total miles hiked – 155.25

Total elevation gained – 71,890 feet

I hiked at least once each day of the week, with Wednesday winning at 4 times.

Climbing Ammo won at 7 times

Descending the Cog path won at 8 times

Today was 7.98 miles in 4:56:14. I summited in 2:56:42, a new record for me on Ammo.

One of the challenging sections of the trail.

I can usually see the summit from here.

Summit photo (a brief glimpse of blue sky).

The summit from Waumbek.

Looking up along the path.

Chris Nichols is a longtime friend and supporter of the Observatory as well as a volunteer Steward for Seek the Peak, Mount Washington Observatory’s largest annual fundraiser. You can view Chris’s first trail report here, and all seventeen of Chris’ trail reports chronicling his journey can be found here. The Mount Washington Observatory congratulates Chris on this achievement and thanks him for his incredible stewardship.

You can learn more about Chris on the Seek the Peak Stewards page, and on his social media channels (cnbnichols87).