About a year and a half ago was when I last did Washington, with a group of the "Over the Hill Hikers" hiking group, in early September. Weather-wise, it was a great day. We went up the Jewell Trail to the Gulfside Trail, and up the summit pile to the top. We got there just in time to witness that first-ever naturalization ceremony at the top of Washington for new citizens. It was on WMUR that night (they were - we weren't).
Then we went down the other side to the Lakes of the Clouds AMC hut, on up to the top of Mt Monroe, since it's "right there." Then down the other side of Monroe and over the ridge and up Mt Eisenhower, down the other side of that and over to Mt Pierce. Finally it was about another four miles out to the parking area just short of Crawford Notch, where we had spotted a car to get us back to where we started. That was a good hike, about 14 miles and all day, not bad for a bunch of post-retirement age folks. But then we had been doing stuff like that once a week since mid-spring.
I wouldn't recommend doing Washington unless you've been doing some serious uphill walking or something like that for a while beforehand. Or you're young. Do pay attention to wearing something sturdy on the feet, bring clothing to layer up with as you get up above tree line, carry at least a half gallon of water (OK, a quart or more, figuring you can tank up again at the summit or at the AMC hut). Watch the weather reports, and pick a good day. The Obs URL is here:
http://www.mountwashington.org/weath...t_forecast.php