Leslie and David's Wanderings: 14-15 July 2022 Mount Washington and the White Mountains

Monday, July 18, 2022

14-15 July 2022 Mount Washington and the White Mountains

It rained most of the first day we were in New Hampshire so we caught up on chores. Our neighbors from Texas suggested we take the tour bus up to the top of Mount Washington rather than driving it ourselves. Since we would be able to see more as passengers than driving, we decided to follow their advice and made reservations ($103 for the two of us). The weather cleared out overnight and we had a beautiful clear day for our tour. We found out that it was a very good decision since they would not have lets us go up the road with the Behemoth because it is too wide. The road to the top of Mt. Washington was built between 1851 and 1862. The two way road was very narrow and there are no guard rails with some very steep drop offs. No worse than the Going to the Sun Road, but definitely narrower in places. Originally, they would take tourists up the mountain in covered wagons. The journey would take 8-9 hours round trip. Mount Washington is the highest point on the East Coast at 6288 feet and is part of the Presidential Mountain Range (we also saw Mount Jefferson). In addition to the road up to the top, there is a Cog Railroad and 4 hiking trails that get you there as well. There were a lot of hikers at the top. The weather was quite pleasant with the temperatures in the 40s with a light wind. One of the buildings at the top is held down with massive chains since the weather at the top can be quite brutal. The highest wind ever measure at a manned weather station was measures here at 231mph. The other buildings at the top were built into the mountain out of rock and concrete. The weather observatory is manned continuously year-round. From the top we could see for several hundred miles and could even make out the Atlantic Ocean on the horizon. We were surprised to also see a couple of gliders taking advantage of the updrafts from the mountain to gain altitude. After wandering around for an hour, we met back up with our guide, Randy, for the trip down. At the bottom, we stopped for fuel and then the Big Day brewing company for a light dinner and some great beer. We also took the time to make reservations for Cadillac Mountain and Jordan House in Acadia NP.