Into the Clouds (A Trip Up Mt Washington)

We'd been watching the clouds on Mt Washington for days, checking the forecast, and hoping that perhaps things would begin to look a bit more hopeful for our scheduled ascent. The mountain came in and out of view, one moment hidden from sight and a few minutes later visible once again, but mostly shrouded in mist. We had checked so many times that unknown even to myself, I'd already become resigned to the very strong possibility of there being no view from the summit. There was no changing the tickets. They'd been purchased well ahead of time without any idea of what the future would hold. 

On Tuesday night I told Al that I wouldn't be disappointed if there wasn't a view on top of the mountain. "It is what it is," we decided. There wasn't anything we could do to change the weather and so we opted to make the most of whatever we were given.

It was clear (not raining) but cloudy when we got to the Cog Railroad Station. The summit was draped in clouds. We boarded the car prepared for cold, wind, and rain and we were not disappointed. LOL! The ride up the rail was fabulous, but once we entered the cloud, there wasn't much to see, at least not more than a few feet in front of us. It was easy to see how hikers can get lost and disoriented very quickly.

It wasn't exceptionally cold at the top of the mountain, but the wind was blowing at 49 mph with gusts up to 55. The rain felt like sleet where it hit my face. All I wanted was a photograph of myself on the summit with the Mt Washington sign behind me. Al had already given up on climbing the rocks in the wind and I was relieved he'd decided to sit it out. As I stepped from rock to rock I had to readjust my stance to compensate for the wind gusts. At one point I almost blew over, but I regained my composure, stepped in front of the sign, snapped a few cell phone pictures and headed back down to where Al was waiting. The whole adventure was quite invigorating! 

We had an hour to spend on the summit and so we checked out the national Weather Observatory Museum, poked around in the gift shop, mailed a postcard, and bought a cup of coffee. The descent was very similar to our arrival only backward, and the wind had relented slightly, blowing at 39 mph with gusts up to 48. We drove though thick clouds for a time and then we were suddenly beneath them.

We followed a steam engine out on a test run down the lower part of the rail and I was surprised by the memories the odor evoked. I haven't experienced a steam engine in 50 years and yet it felt like yesterday that I first smelled it. Fascinating! 

After looking at the cars and engines for a little bit, we made a quick tour of the gift shop and headed for the parking lot, hoping to beat the impending mountain rain showers. The Cog Railroad had been one of the main reasons for my return to the White Mountains and it was fabulous, even  in the fog, or maybe especially so.