Mount Washington : The place of the Great Spirit

Mount Washington : The place of the Great Spirit
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New Hampshire Oct 2015

No mountain in US has such a cult following as Mount Washington does in New Hampshire. The visitors love driving up Mount Washington, a mountain that does not even make the list of top 10 tallest in the East Coast of US. This mountain barely peaks at 6,700 feet, is not very tall compared to the giants else where in US. Just to give you a perspective, there are 53 peaks that are at least 14,000 feet in Colorado state alone. I used to live by one of those "14ers" as they call them in Colorado, and I driven up many others as well but I have never seen one fourth the crowds on Rocky Mountains as I have seen on Mt Washington. Why you may wonder? Perhaps due to the fierce reputation that Mt Washington has earned. How bad it gets on Mt Washington? Please read on..

Mount Washington registered the highest wind ever recorded in the world taking hurricanes and typhoons into account. The wind blew at mind-blowing 231 miles/hour at the summit on April 12, 1934. The bad news just keeps piling on the top of highest mountain in the North East United States. In the year 1969 a record level of 566 inches of snow fell and 50 inches of it fell in just a single day. Get this, a 100 inches of rain pounds the mountain annually. A mountain that is so notorious for erratic weather had the perfect weather when I was up on the summit. I have such effect on mountains, I surmise.

The road up this mountain is so vertical that it feels like you are driving up straight into stratosphere and your heart drops into your tummy. You try not look down but it does not help much. You can't stop because there are vehicles behind you. You can't go up because you are too frightened. You can't pull over because there is hardly any room for cars going up and cars coming down. The popularity of this mountain can be attributed to the fact that the visitors want to be able to tell everybody that they climbed this mountain and lived to tell the story. The drive comes at a price however. It is not cheap either. It costs you $28 for the driver and vehicle, additional passengers pay $8 per adult. The mountain may be steep but the fee is steeper.

Now that you are excited about wanting to conquer this mountain while still bummed about the high dollar fee, you might ask, how do you get there? Lets say you start out from Boston and head up north on the interstate I-93. About 70 miles up north after you passed Concord the capital city of New Hampshire you come across Route 49 that takes you towards the towns of Waterville Valley and Compton. This junction of I-93 & Rt 49 is a good spot to stop and fuel up. Food for you and gas for your car. There is a tourist information booth right there by the exit if you like to pick up brochures and learn more about White Mountains attractions. You get back on I-93, fasten up and get ready for drive of your life. If the Franconia area just up the highway feels like you are in Jurassic era that is just the beginning. Stay on Route 3 that takes you North East off I-93 in to the northern edge of White Mountains. At Carroll take Rt 115 East until you hit Route 2, turn east on Route 2 and you will come up on the town of Gorham. Here you have to get on Route 16 going south, you will be treated to the majestic views of the mountains all around you, about 10 miles down the road through the National Park you will see the signs for Auto Road for Mt Washington on your right.

After you finish your trip you will know more about your car than about the mountain. You will know what I mean when you try the climb. I was half way up the mountain road and stopped at a "lookout", spent a few minutes there savoring the views and took some pictures and got back in my car and turned the ignition on. Nothing. It would not start. The steep drive overheated the engine and I had to wait a little until it cooled off before I was back to the scary ascent. Keep your car in the lowest gear and keep it there through out your trip. The cars going up have the right of the way.

Do you know the Native Indians used to call this mountain "Agiocochook" means "The place of the Great Spirit". They revered this mountain in such a high regard that they never climbed it out of respect. It all changed when the early settlers decided to built the road by hand since they didn't have the modern equipment. It took them sheer determination, lots of gun powder, ox-driven carts, battling the elements, thick forests, budget issues, lots of pure muscle to carve out a path. At first horse-driven carriages were the only mode of transportation until they converted the road in 1912 for automobiles. In 1869 they built a cog railway which is still in use today and extremely popular among tourists.

If you have scaled this mountain you have been to the birthplace of legends. That's how the gentleman begins in the companion CD they give you that is extremely informative. Not sure what he meant by that but it sounded like a good way to end my story.

==Thank You==