Another Road Trip-Part 1-Mount Washington

 Hi everyone. 

Last week ended with some wonderful weather on Saturday. It was crisp (I actually needed my down vest), but clear clear blue skies. A perfect day for nice views.

If you stop by my blog frequently you might have read that last week I took a ride with my husband to his meeting in Northern Vermont. He was going alone and his meeting was going to be short, and for me, it was great to "go" somewhere out of the ordinary.

In fact, my husband and I both enjoyed going someplace different that we decided this past Saturday to go for another drive and see some different scenery. This time we headed north in our own state of New Hampshire and head into the White Mountains.

 The White Mountains are a mountain range covering about a quarter of the state of New Hampshire and a small portion of western Maine in the United States. They are part of the northern Appalachian Mountains and the most rugged mountains in New England. (from Wikipedia)

We live on the eastern side of  the state and decided not to drive  across the state.  That meant we headed out and drove a couple of hours in a more or less northerly direction.

Just north of the town of  North Conway the road splits, and you have a choice. If you head  northeast, you will go through Pinkham Notch.  If you head northwest, you will go through Crawford Notch. In between these 2 notches is the mighty Mount Washington.

Mount Washington is the highest peak in the northeastern US at 6288 feet (1917m).  I know that's not very high compared to a lot of mountain ranges, but the Appalachians, of which the White Mountains are part of , are one of the  oldest mountain ranges on the planet. Therefore they are really eroded.

  Mount Washington is notorious for its erratic weather. On the afternoon of April 12, 1934, the Mount Washington Observatory recorded a wind speed of 231 miles per hour (372 km/h) at the summit, the world record from 1934 until 1996. Mount Washington still holds the record for highest measured wind speed not associated with a tornado or tropical cyclone. (Wikipedia)

OK, if this post has been a bit heavy reading, I just wanted to give some background info. We headed in the northwest direction., through Crawford Notch and beyond to Coos County where this big mountain is located.  Today I am going to share the mountain with you.

Here's the western view of Mount Washington. On the left  side you can see the railroad that goes up this side of the mountain. The towers on the top are for the weather station. The scars in the middle and right side are from avalanches, rock slides and water run off caused erosion.

The railroad that goes up Mount Washington is called the Cog Railway. We didn't ride it up that day. It is pricey, and really one of those things you only need to do once.  I had gone up with my family when my daughter was younger, and we were doing a local vacation. 

Plus although the temperature was around 52 degrees F on the bottom, on the mountain top it was only 26.9 degrees F.  And we had some wind too. So as chilly the as the bottom was, the top was cold.

Never mind the wind.

But it is fun to watch the trains. So we took a ride up and went out to see what was happening.

W did walk through the tiny free museum. When we arrived there were few people around, so we had the museum to ourselves. 

Here's one of  the trains on the way down.

When we rode the train it was still coal burning. Not the cleanest burning, but definitely historic. Now they have changed over to biodiesel. And at least the passengers aren't showered with black smoke and coal dust anymore.

We had a great view looking west from the parking lot. It was nice to just sit in the car for a little while, enjoying the warmth and sunshine. And the view too.

Another famous spot on the western side of Mount Washington is this vintage beauty.

The Mount Washington Hotel 

Some day I should like to come and stay here. But this trip was just a day out adventure, and with Covid, I am not yet ready to stay in a hotel yet.

The hotel was originally built between 1900-1902.  Originally the hotel was only open in the summer, but recently it was bought out by a hotel corporation and it is now open year round. There is a large ski area right down the road, and I think they also now own the hotel. I wonder what it's like inside? 

Maybe one day I will be able to tell you.

That's all for me today. I hope you enjoyed your virtual road trip.

Thanks for stopping by!