Mount Washington Road Trip Show Goes On

What places of mountainous interest have you previously visited?

“What draws us from the low valleys to the high mountains is that noble stance of the summits!” ( Mehmet Murat ildan)

Mount Washington stands out as the tallest peak in the White Mountains of New Hampshire at 6,288 feet. On a good weather day from the top, you can see hundred of miles throughout New England in all directions notably to the coast of Maine and the Green Mountains of Vermont. So we anticipated the excitement of reaching this famed summit being a major highlight of our three day, road trip stay in the nearby tourist  town of North Conway, New Hampshire, thirty miles away. But on the morning of that chosen Friday for our visit, ominous weather reports indicated that the apex of Mount Washington would be heavily shrowded by periods of pelting rain and misty fog. 

Thankfully we would shift gears to a Plan B perspective that morning and determine that in spite of the likelihood of  poor visibility conditions at the top, there would be other opportunities to capture the appeal of Mount Washington that day. How invigorating it thus felt to breathe in the cool alpine air, moment by moment, as we chugged along steeply from Marshfield Railroad Station through heavily forested woodland at lower elevations into the boulder covered  barrenness of austere tundra conditions. For from my cozy seat, I made good use of my binoculars and camera to spot captivating  panoramas at will. Further excitement would take place for me as our dutiful rail conductor entertained passengers with  some interesting stories of human interest and exhorted some juicy tidbits about  how best to tour the surrounding region. 

Actually our one hour spent at  the foggy summit of Mt. Washington turned out much better than originally expected as well. For we made the best of these weather obscured conditions in the spirit of youthful play by roaming the grounds freely, climbing jagged rock paths, making new acquaintances  and sharing photos taken in a loving manner. I might also recognize that by so dealing emotionally with such uncertain  extremes of wind, rain, fog, and cold on this day, we’d obtained some good practice to conquer one of the deepest fears of our long distance travels. Enjoy the photos.

Useful Fact Source:

https://www.visitwhitemountains.com/things-to-do/outdoors/mount-washington/