Road Tripping Through New England

Took a road trip up to Saint Gaudens National Historical Site in Cornish, NH. Attempted to get to Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller too, but their signage SUCKS!!! But we managed to walk around the town and drove around the entire park site, so that counts as a visit in my mind.

The Robert Gould Shaw/54th Regiment Memorial in Cornish, NH.

The park property is gorgeous and the staff that greeted us today were quite enthusiastic. Only $5/person to get in and tromp about the grounds. I would love to go back and go along the trails that they have as well. We had limited time since we planned on hitting 2 parks today, but only got to one. And then we got tired and hungry and cranky. lol. The whole site, though provides beautiful photos.

I only wish that we had gotten there before 1 p.m. Its a long drive up, especially with leaf peepers, but there was a ton of rain today and it made everyone move even slower. The season ends at the end of the month, so we’ll have to wait until 2015 to go back again.

This is…

where I want to be right now:

Seek the Peak Re-Cap

So, I made it up and down the mountain without falling down once, which is actually quite an accomplishment for me.

The week began with some beer:

A sampler from Moat Mountain, lovely place to eat and lovely place to stay about 20 miles away from Mt. Washington and nice comfy beds.

Larry came along for the ride and the weather reminded him of traveling on the ocean with all the fog and rain.

The last of the snow from the winter…it wasn’t as impressive as last year since it was all gloomy when we went by in the morning. If we had come down the same trail (which we should have) the pictures would have been much better.

We made it up here in fairly record time for me. 4 miles in just about 4 hours…with the extra weather and some issues with breathing and a large group of people standing in the middle of the trail, so annoying.

A quick picture after we hit the summit going down Lion’s Head.

You can see how different the weather can be in just a few hours. It was lovely on the way down from the summit.

Remember, kiddies! Be Ice Smart! And remember to scream and wave your hands in the air while running away from large ice boulders.

I love $3 pint glasses!

But orgasmic, organic berries are even better!

Mountain Week, Summit Photos

Four times up and cloudy skies each time. I actually had some clear skies once while almost to the top, but they went away fairly quickly.  Mount Washington spends about 90% of its year in some sort of cover: fog, clouds, snow, sleet, rain. It looks like this time will be no different with showers predicted for the morning of our hike.

Hopefully by the time this summer is over, I will have two more summit pictures to show. One will be a true summit (in my mind) because I’ll walk up myself. The other one will be aided by a car ride (really a truck ride) up the Auto Road. As my birthday present to myself, I have booked myself a weekend at the Mount Washington Observatory. Not only do I get to be geeky and learn about weather, I get to sleep overnight on the summit. How cool is that? I would rather the clear skies for that because I am definitely bringing both my cameras (just got the new one) to try and take pictures of the stars! 🙂

Mountain Week, The Mountain

Mount Washington stands at 6,288 feet (1,917 m) and is the highest point of both the White Mountain’s 4000-footers and of New Hampshire. It is known for having incredibly wild weather and holding the record for the highest wind gust measured at the Earth’s surface, 231 mph on April 12, 1934. Before Europeans arrived, it was known as Agiocochook.

First seen in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, it was first ascended in 1642 by Darby Field (for whom Mt. Field is named for). The Crawford Path was laid out in 1819, providing access to the summit. In 1861, a stagecoach road was placed for the summit (which was turned into the Mount Washington Auto Road) and in 1869 the Cog Railway was created.

One of the silliest things I’ve done in my life is to pick up a book entitled “Not Without Peril”; I did this on the first night of a 20 mile hike through the White Mountains and was fascinated by the ways that people have died on Mt. Washington. Some were quite simple, people wandering off trail or trying to summit in storms…other people have died in very unique ways, the ones who died by drowning caught my attention. Apparently, someone has also been murdered on the mountain in 2001.

I would strongly suggest not picking the book up before going on a hike through the Whites, but it is a good read overall.

Mountain Week, The Cog Railway

In honor of my hike this weekend, I thought I would do a post a day about Mt. Washington. Today’s post: The Cog Railway.

A cog railway has a toothed rack rail and is named a cog because it has one or more cog wheels that mesh with the rack rail. Because of this, it is able to operate on steep gradients.

The first cog was in England in 1812 and the first in America was the Mount Washington Cog Railway in 1868.
While this train has been a source of endless joy and excitement for passengers, for hikers it is a totally different story.  The train’s whistle is a constant companion as you hike up the mountain and plumes of smoke can be seen as you go up certain trails.  The worst part, however, is when you get to the top and are all tired and excited to be on top of the summit and have to wait for people who took the train to take their pictures on top of the marker to take your own.

There is something satisfying about moving around these people with your stinky and large backpack and get stared at by people. Last Wed, we were hiking up Cannon and someone was saying on the trail “You wouldn’t want to hike all the way down there!” just as I was coming onto the trail. Several looks were given to us as we slogged on to the tower…I’m sure we’ll get some more this weekend, especially if it is raining.

Seek the Peak 2009

Next weekend, the Boy and I will join hundreds of others on a climb up Mount Washington as part of a fundraiser for the Mount Washington Observatory.   In April of 1934, the fastest surface wind gust in the world (231 MPH) was recorded there…I’ve seen the graph in person and it is just crazy.

I am $40 from the next level of fund raising and would love to be able to hit that mark, if you would be willing to support me I would be very appreciative. The link is here.

Cannons away!

Finally can cross off a new summit from my 4,000 footer list! Thank god. Actually, there were many representatives for God on the mountain today as we were climbing with about 80 seminarians from around the world. It was slightly weird, but they were all very polite and eager to get up the mountain. Thankfully, though, they took the tram down or continued along the trail.

Its good, because then they (and no one else) got to see the Boy scrapped his knee and my pathetic attempts to apply first aid. AND they did not get to see my feet slide out from under me as I went ass first into a nice solid (and do I mean solid!) specimen of New England rock. I think I will have quite an interesting bruise and no running for the next few days.

The Obligatory Summit picture, taken on the observation tower with annoying tourists around us complaining about the cold and the walk over to said tower.

I’ve been taking better self portraits lately, this is my favorite from the set:

And finally, we found a really cool rock:

Ships to visit

So, instead of bitching on and on about the Tall Ships and how they are going to be ruined, maybe people should open their eyes to the ships that are already here in the New England area. Sure, some aren’t as big or flashy…but they all have an interesting history, are nearby, are free or cheap, and would make an awesome day trip for a family.

Many places, such as Quincy or Battleship Cove, have multiple ships in port for you to visit or have other attractions around them so it can be made into a full day trip.  I’m sure there are other ships that are not listed here, and I did not go outside of the New England area, but they are all worth a visit. Not only are most of them run by non-profits, which are having issues these days with dwindling attendance and rising costs, but many of them were involved in major battles throughout Naval history.

Here are your options:

MASSACHUSETTS USS Cassin Young, Boston, Massachusetts, Free USS Constitution, Boston, Massachusetts, Free USS Friendship, Salem, Massachusetts, Admission Demolition Boat, Fall River, Massachusetts, Admission Hiddensee, Fall River, Massachusetts, Admission USS Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr, Fall River, Massachusetts, Admission LCM 56, Fall River, Massachusetts, Admission USS Lionfish, Fall River, Massachusetts, Admission USS Massachusetts, Fall River, Massachusetts, Admission PT 617, Fall River, Massachusetts, Admission PT 796, Fall River, Massachusetts, Admission USS Salem, Quincy, Massachusetts, Admission German Seehund, Quincy, Massachusetts, Admission NEW HAMPSHIRE USS Albacore, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Admission RHODE ISLAND Soviet Juliett 484, Providence, Rhode Island Currently sunk by a storm, closed at the moment. CONNECTICUT USCG Boat Arctic Scout, Bridgeport, Connecticut Japanese HA-8, Groton, Connecticut USS Nautilus, Groton, Connecticut Italian Siluro San Bartolomeo, Groton, Connecticut USS X-1, Groton, Connecticut Auxiliary Schooner Brilliant, Mystic, Connecticut, Admission USCGC Eagle, New London, Connecticut

Mount Washington

Here it is, in the negative temperatures in Boston and all I can think about is the next time I get to climb Mount Washington. Its become a bit of an obsession for me. I’ve been up 4 times, twice on a charity hike for a women’s shelter here in Boston (each one 20 miles long), once on a 20 mile hike with my boyfriend, and the last time with my boy again hiking to raise funds for the Observatory.

It took me 4 tries, 2 of them sleeping over at Lakes of the Clouds Hut, to see anything from the summit. And it was totally worth it.

We’ve already planned at least one trip back up to the summit together this year, probably for Seek the Peak (The charity hike for the Observatory), and the boy is going sledding down Tuckerman’s Ravine again this April for the Inferno. But, National Geographic just put out a beautiful 12 photo spread about the Obs and has a huge article on it in the Feb. issue about the mountain and the Obs. Cannot wait to pick up a copy and drool over the photos. My favorite is below…the landscape there in the summer is so weird at times, in the winter its even more stunning.

Mount Washington At Night