Mount Washington, New Hampshire

Thank you Tony Bielat for recommending Mt. Washington and the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  I arrived late this morning from Boston and was told by the park ranger that the mountain was fogged in and I would not be able to drive to the summit.  The tour company across the street could drive me up or I could travel half way up myself.  So, I went across the street and bought a ticket for the 1:15 tour.  I bought a sweatshirt since the weather on the mountain is 30 degrees cooler than at the base.  Then I went to my car and worked on straightening out the truck and just as I finished, they came out to tell me that the mountain is clear and I could drive up there.  They refunded my ticket and I was off!

You have to drive your car in LOW and travel about 15-20 miles per hour.  And be careful not to burn the brakes on the way down.  It's eight miles up to the summit.  For the first few miles trees line the road and I could barely see through them.  By the time I got to the fourth mile, the pavement changed to dirt.  There is mountain on one side and nothing on the other - just a few rocks between me and death.  My heart was racing.  Then, the clouds came in and it was nearly impossible for me to see.  My hands gripped the steering wheel, 10 and 2 all the way!  I had the radio on and the stations were fading in and out.  Sometimes I was hearing a French broadcast from Quebec, other times NPR from Vermont.  The road returned to paved and visibility was grave.  There were no cars behind me and I could barely see the headlights of a van approaching. I was at a crawl.  The only reason I knew I reached the top was the sign for parking.  It was hard to even see the parking lot - there were no other cars visible.  I parked the car and walked up about 50 wooden steps as the wind was whipping through my hair.  I pulled up my hood and was getting wet from the clouds.  It was freezing.  There was no vista, no rolling hills, no ski trails visible in the mountains.  All I saw was grey framed in rocks around the ground perimeter.  But I was there!  On top of Mt. Washington.  You have to take it as it comes and I have to say this is still the best trip ever!

Lower down the mountain