Mt Washington & New Hampshire, from Steve & Alyssa

We spent a windy week in the White Mountain National Forest, home to Mt. Washington, the highest peak in the Northeast at 6,288 ft. The natural beauty of this region is breathtaking, like an Emerson novel or Hudson River School painting brought to life.

For those of you who have seen the bumper stickers and still don't know exactly what Mt. Washington means, think wind speeds of 50-70 mph and life within a cloud. Not that we're complaining...on the contrary, we had loads of fun trekking to the summit of this ancient giant.

Among the highlights of our trip were the opportunity to stay in the Mt. Washington Observatory (a gem in meteorology and wholely underutilized resource), seeing moose tracks, leaning in to pure 60 mph winds, and being able to quote whole passages from "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" when Saurumon traps the fellowship in a mountain snow storm (and have it be true).


Standing at the summit and feeling the force of true clouds blowing across the sky into your face can only be described thus; "It's like God is sneezing in your face."

We were also introduced to the underground hiking culture of this country, a passionate and unruly bunch who hold an inspiring respect for our natural resources. Picture yourself in a scene from just about any adventure film, think "Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark," or any mountaineering film. People stand around, men in long beards and longer underwear, with packs and caps standing by. Women, with packs of equal size, preparing for the day's trek to the next hut or shelter. (below, the dining room of the Lakes of the Clouds Hut, right, Steve & Alyssa demo what it's like to walk in the wind at the summit).















































Above is a preview of the tight living quarters at the hut, with bunkbeds 3 high, 15 beds per room.

















Above, Steve stands in the fog at Lake of the Clouds hut. Below, a 30 second wait can mean all the difference for visibility.

Before our major trek, we camped in the valley and explored other small trails in Crawford Notch State Park. Steve was very excited by the beautiful MSR Stove that he bought Alyssa for her birthday, and can be seen below making dinner at our site.





















The camping grounds that we stayed at were at the foot of an old river bed, filled with boulders from a time when it was much stronger.

















We saw no bears, but heard many stories of their attraction to food and thanks to Alyssa, were very overly-cautious about bear safety.

One of our favorite hikes we took was to the top of "Elephant Head," a short but rewarding hike with 180 degree views of the valley and Presidential range. We found cool mushrooms and moose tracks there.




































Although the smaller hikes were great, nothing beat the views from the top, after the clouds cleared. You could see to the Altantic Ocean.































































...and one for the road (video below is Steve at the top of the observatory tower. Notice how fast the clouds move around him).