Mount Washington

We spent this weekend at the Mount Washington Hotel. My company rents it out every year for a big party.

It is always nice to get up into the mountains during the hot part of the summer, but Saturday was maybe more than we were wishing for. When we got up, it was in the low 60’s and pouring rain. We decided to hit the trail anyways. We climbed Mt Hale. The beginning of the hike was really wet, …

… but it did settle down as we got higher. Halfway up it was just misty.

And by the time we reached the top it was actually quite nice. Our old copy of the AMC White Mountain Guide said that the trees at the top had been growing up since the fire tower was removed. Well, at this point the trees are well over 30 feet tall, and there isn’t any view left at all. Even if you climb to the top of this pile.

It was still a really nice hike. There were very few other people on the trail and the waterfalls were all looking great.

Sunday was sunny and beautiful. After a big breakfast and some time lazing on the giant porch of the hotel, …

… we went up the Cog Railway. We hadn’t been up in years because the top of the mountain is usually socked in when we’re up there, but this Sunday it looked perfect. Last time we went up, all of the trains were these wonderful old coal burners, …

… but now they only run those once a day. We rode on one of these new biodiesels.

The ride is still just as exciting though.

It’s a lot of fun to try to stand up as the train goes up through Jacob’s Ladder where the grade reaches 37.4%.

It was a beautiful sunny day at the top.

It was a bit hazy and there were a number of puffy clouds floating around. That meant that you couldn’t see as far as you can sometimes, but it was still a great view.

We spent quite a while clambering over the rocks and looking down the mountain.

Everybody had a great time.

On the way back home, we looped through Crawford notch so we could go to one of our favorite ice cream places and then back to 93 via the Kancamagus.