Some days are memorable. 

Some days come and go with the passing of time and seem to slip through our memory’s grip.  Some days, on the other hand, are unforgettable…

We just lived an unforgettable day.  Unforgettable in the sense that our memory has been engraved with visual images, olfactory hew, and even tastes – if you consider a renewed taste for adventure as a legitimate taste – of  our climb to the top of, and overnight stay on, the summit of Mt. Washington.

Mt. Washington has an elevation of 6,288’ and takes credit for being the highest peak in the Northeastern United States.

Over 150 people have died on Mt. Washington. 

The terrain that you encounter on a climb of Mt. Washington includes “lowland and boreal forest, a glacial cirque, and alpine highlands” and, “the trails are steep, rough and potentially dangerous, but the weather, especially above treeline is most often the cause of death”, informs cartographer Ed Rolfe in his Illustrated Visitor Map and Guide (The plethora of information and detailed route information found on Ed’s Mount Washington and White Mountains National Forests Maps is a critical resource for anyone attempting a climb in New Hampshire.   Contact The Wilderness Map Company at edwardmrolfe@gmail.com).

 We decided to climb up through Tuckerman’s Ravine. 

This approach would have us leave Pinkham Notch and attack the summit from the east side of the mountain before making our final push up the summit cone and into Mount Washington State Park from the south.  Mount Washington is surrounded by over 780,000 acres of the White Mountain National Forest, but the summit is actual part of Mount Washington State Park.

The State Park leases a portion of the Summit Building to The Mount Washington Observatory. 

The Observatory is a private non-profit scientific and educational institution that is maintained twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred and sixty-five days a year.  The staff of meteorologists, interns, and volunteers takes weather readings all day, every day so as to constantly monitor the “home of the world’s worst weather”.  The geographical location of Mt. Washington and its summit’s unobstructed exposure create a system of weather that is extreme to say the very least.  The Observers once recorded a wind velocity of 231 miles per hour, the highest manually recorded wind velocity ever recorded on the surface of the earth, and on a late July summer day, while many parts of the United States was in the midst of a heat wave with record temperatures in the triple digits, we were adding layers throughout our summit approach preparing for temperatures in the 30’s.

 The climb up Tuckerman’s Ravine Trail starts from the AMC Pinkham Notch Visitors Center.  The AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club) holds special use permits from the US Forest Service to provide the Visitors Center and eight other “Huts” (see Backpacker Magazine August 2010) found throughout the National Forest  as overnight accommodations for travelers who wish to explore the White Mountains.

 We didn’t start our climb up Tuckerman’s Ravine until mid day.  We knew the climb was going to be tough.  The Tuckerman’s Ravine route is a relatively popular route and everyone we talked with during the Seek the Peak weekend had both suggested the route as a favorite and warned of the route as a workout.  An early start is most certainly the best way to go if your plan is to go up and back.

We were taking our time and soaking up every last memorable view, scent and sensation the mountain had to offer because fortunately for us, we only needed to be concerned about a one way trip.

We received a few odd looks on the way up as everyone we passed seemed to be heading down, and we even had one concerned inquiry as we stood gazing at the waterfalls flowing off of the giant granite face in the top of the Tuckerman’s Ravine as a gentleman asked, “are you going to the summit?”  When we replied, “Oh Yeah!” he quickly responded, “You’re not worried about getting down before dark?” 

His question was without a doubt valid and typically an appropriate and important question to ask a fellow traveler in an extremely volatile environment like Mt. Washington (a question we wish many inexperienced climbers and backpackers could be asked before they put themselves unknowingly in harm’s way).

As a matter of fact, if he had read question #28 on the Mount Washington Observatory’s list of frequently asked questions,

28. Does anybody else live on the summit besides the Observatory staff?

Aside from the Observatory Crew, which inhabits the summit year-round, the Mount Washington State Park Crew also remains on top year-round. They rotate shifts on the similar schedule to the Observatory, weather permitting. In the summer, there are usually two State Park rangers on the summit every night, to do facility maintenance and to serve as emergency standby staff.

then he would have every right to assume that the two State Park Rangers, along with the crew of two meteorologists, two interns, one Observatory Museum caretaker, and one volunteer would be the eight lucky people who would get to spend the night on the summit.

Fortunately for us, on this particular night there would be ten lucky people sleeping on the summit.

 We explained to the inquisitive gentleman that we could take our time because we were only going to the top.  His immediate conclusion caused him to suggest that we had a ride waiting at the top, “someone driving up the auto road to pick you up?”  “Nope”, we said with a grin.  “Riding the Cog Down”, he continued his search for the logic behind our relaxed late afternoon summit run.  “Nope”, we said with an even bigger grin that was obviously a manifestation from some sort of guilty pleasure that was boiling over inside both of us.  “We are sleeping on the summit”, we offered “In the Observatory!”

We thought we would be putting an end to his confusion, but his confusion simple shifted to the question, “how do you get to do that?”

The usual answer would include explaining Edu Trips, overnight educational trips to the observatory that include an overnight stay, but our opportunity was a special invitation on behalf of the Observatory for our involvement in the Seek the Peak fundraiser.  After providing the curious gentleman with our explanation his intrigue transformed into his own form of excitement, an excitement for us, and that moment reinforced the engraving in our memory of just how lucky we were to live those very moments.

The climb to the summit lived up to the hype!

 We had summited Mt. Washington once before during our 1999 through hike of the Appalachian Trail.  The A.T. follows Crawford Path, the oldest continuously maintained hiking path in the United States, to the summit when hiking from South to North.  Our memories of that unforgettable day involve clouds, rain and wind, so it was only fitting that as we reached the summit cone during our climb up Tuckerman’s Ravine, the far away views we had been experiencing throughout the day from underneath the fast moving clouds became blanketed in white and our focus shifted to the boulders that required constant attention considering the winds were sustained in the low 60’s with gusts closer to 70m.p.h. during a day in which the Observatory recorded a 24 hour high wind velocity of 80.6 m.p.h.

The conditions were tough enough to keep the crowds of tourist toting their new, “This Car Climbed Mt. Washington” stickers and others who still lingered with the smell of biodiesel supplemented coal that puffs from the smokestack on the Cog at bay, so for that moment we had the summit to ourselves. 

 It is not unusual to see huge crowds on the summit, during less aggressive conditions of course.  When the clouds lifted the following morning (early enough to watch the sun glow its first rays of the day from the observation deck at the Observatory) we shared the summit with the typical summertime crowds.

For the rest of this day though the summit was going to be ours, ours to share with the eight true inhabitants anyway.  We certainly wanted to respect that domain.  We were guests here, this is their home.

 Meteorologist Brian Clark introduced us to the Observatory.  We hung on every word as he explained each aspect of the Observatory, when the observations are taken, where they are taken, how they are taken, and why they are taken.  Brian allowed us to experience the power of an unobstructed 60+ mile per hour wind from the highest point on the tower of the Summit Building.  Talk about, “Hold on Tight!”

We shared a family style meal prepared by Volunteer extraordinaire Dennis with Meteorologists Brian, Ryan, Museum caretaker Ryan, and Interns Hannah and Becca.  The crew was on day six of their eight day shift, shifts going Wednesday to Wednesday every other week.  We were completely welcome and they truly seemed to be as interested in our story as we were theirs.

They live very unique and yet in some ways very normal lives on the summit.

After dinner there was time for relaxation on the couch with Marty the Cat (the summit pet) while watching a selection from the Summit’s DVD collection, they just press pause on the hour so an observation can be taken.

 At 5:00am eastern daylight time and 4:00am Mt. Washington Observatory time (the Observatory does not recognize daylight savings) a knock came on the door as meteorologist Ryan softly announced, “Sunrise in fifteen minutes”.  Ryan had prearranged to wake us if the conditions would allow a view to the east at that time of the morning, saving us from waking for no reason on a clouded in summit.  We bundled up and headed for the east viewing observation deck.  On the way past Ryan’s desk he assured us the clouds were offering intermittent gaps to the east and that it would be worth our efforts.  He was right.  The clouds would fill in and then views would open up.  Just as the first rays of the sun graced New England with their presence the clouds opened and our memories gripped tightly to that moment, one of many moments that have forever been engraved into our minds as part of an unforgettable day on Mount Washington.

 Later that day, as we hiked the Crawford Path off of the summit to the Boott Spur Trail for our return trip to Pinkham Notch, we turned over our left shoulder every chance we got for another view of the majestic mountain.  Each and every perspective added to the collage of visions, smells and sensations that would ensure this was an experience we would never forget.

For a look at the SPOT Adventure from our trip to Mt. Washington go to:  http://www.spotadventures.com/trip/view/?trip_id=216095

For more pictures from our trip check out:  http://www.getoutmore2010.com/photo-journal/

See You Outside,

Sheri and Randy Propster

Tags: Backpacker Magazine's get Out More Tour, Mount Washington Observatory, Randy Propster, Sheri Propster

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 28th, 2010 at 8:59 pm and is filed under Advice From the Experts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.