Thursday morning was 45'. We decided to drive up the Mount Washington Auto Road. We listened to a informational CD on the drive up. Clouds rolled in near the top, which limited our view, but it was still an impressive site and a lovely day. A couple of pictures from the way up, and the sign indicating the hike we took last year (Tuckerman Ravine).
There used to be an inn at the top of the mountain! It is still there as a historic building. Great stove. Note the extremely thick walls.
In addition to this historic building, there is the Mount Washington Observatory, that does the weather monitoring and scientific observations, plus a cafe, water, bathrooms and other amenities. (This small building, now a shop but once the weather observatory, is chained down so it wouldn't blow away.)
This next picture is of my favorite sign.
I can just see people who are hiking the Appalachian Trail (all 2174 miles of it) going "Yes! Only 332.4 miles left." For those who don't know, the trail ends on top of Mount Katahdin in Maine. Personally, I'd rather have it end at the bottom, preferably a nice inn with hot baths and a masseuse.
Last year, of course, we hiked Mount Washington. It certainly was faster to drive up. After our lunch on the mountain top, two young woman approached us and asked if we could give them a ride down. They had hiked up but didn't trust themselves to hike down. There are buses and the railroad, and many people do seem to hike one way and use transportation for the other way. They had obviously not intended to do this, but were smart enough to realize it would be an issue to hike back down. So Paul rearranged the stuff we had in the back of the truck, and we brought them down and dropped them off at Pinkham Lodge (the AMC lodge).
We then walked across the street and hiked a short but steep hike to Square Ledge, which provides an excellent view of Mount Washington. Here is Paul doing a little trail maintenance.
And doing a little climbing.
(Click here for the 'real' story on that.) And a few pictures showing the view, plus one showing the steepness of the short trail.
We then walked Lost Pond Trail, which is part of the Appalachian Trail. We met Joe, from Salem Massachusetts, who was up for the weekend, and he mentioned that this trail linked to the Glenn Ellis Falls trail, and then another path back to the lodge (Direttisimio Path or some such name). So we hiked the rest of the way with Joe and are glad we tried these other trails instead of back-tracking. Glen Ellis Falls is a well-maintained walkway designed for a lot of traffic.
Friday morning was the warmest: 49'. That might not sound all that warm, but we really noticed the difference between the 1st morning's temperature and the last. We packed up and left by 10 AM, going down the Kangamangus Highway again. This time the apple seller was there (although his Macouns weren't quite as good as they were last year, his cider was excellent). Then on home, where we met Dan and Kristen for the weekend. (See the "home" pages for info on that visit.)
In case you are wondering the camping meal plan: Supper the 1st night was pasta with tomato sauce and bread from the Italian market near our house, Tutto Italiano. Breakfast Tuesday was oatmeal (instant), toast, apple and banana with peanut butter. Lunch (on the mountain top) was hummus, tabouli, and lettuce in a roll-up plus snacks. Supper was fire-baked potatoes with chili, plus cornbread (which I had made at home). Wednesday breakfast was scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese, toast, and fruit w/ peanut butter. Lunch was hummus, tabouli, and lettuce in a roll-up. Supper was fire-baked potatoes, baked beans with smartdogs, and brown bread. Thursday breakfast was wild-rice pancakes, inspired by our trip to Minnesota and the restaurant at Superior Shores. Lunch was ... SURPRISE ... hummus etc. (We used to have peanut butter & jelly sandwiches on our hikes, but have switched to hummus.) Supper was parched wild rice mixed with white rice, lentils, green peas, and some cucumbers & tomatoes from the garden. Our final camping breakfast, on Friday, was the same as the 1st: oatmeal, toast, fruit with peanut butter.
Updated July 2020