14.6km, 749m elevation gain. Moving Time 4 hours 13 minutes. Total Time 6 hours 23 minutes.
My last hike was December 4th, it's been a while due to holidays and injury. Toe is still bugging me a bit but it was great to get out there and catch some good weather!
I started around 7am at the Mount Washington Raven Lodge. The conditions were great. There was a well worn trail and everything was pretty solid. I made great time to the last hill before Lake Helen Mackenzie and saw the sun start to rise through the trees.
I put a hustle on it and ran up the hill as much as I could and made it in time! After taking a bunch of pictures, I crossed the lake and made my way up the first ridge towards Mount Allan Brooks. I followed a loose path up the hill and eventually made it to the summit around 9:45am. I boiled up some water and got a meal in a bag cooking then made myself a couple cups of coffee!
I stayed there for over an hour. I was warm and the view was great! I had thought about going down the front of Allan Brooks which would avoid crossing the lake but chose to go pack on the path I knew. It was getting warmer so I got back to the lake as quick as I could.
I took a few pictures at the far end of the lake and waited for someone to come most of the way across before I was ready to go. I got part way down the path and I was starting to get sketched out about the ice.
The sun was melting the ice and there were some decent cracks a few feet off the path the entire way. I might have heard some crack but it could have just been the crunch of the ice and my mind.
I stayed on the path as it was at least one inch thicker from previous travelers but I got across as fast as I could. This was the fastest kilometer of the trip. But I'm sure it was probably fine, maybe.
Next time it could be an idea to go up the front of Allan Brooks instead. Then I could do a loop over Mount Elma too!
Great day to get out, enjoy the weather and get the heart going!
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