Day 10: Mount Washington

Mount Washington Hotel

Today we took off to explore the White Mountains of New Hampshire. First stop is the Mount Washington Hotel.  Built in 1902, this hotel is a grand masterpiece of Spanish Renaissance architecture.  At one time it came upon hard times and threatened to close.  Today, it is owned by the Omni Hotel chain and has undergone a 2-year, 80 million dollar renovation, preserving its signature red roofs. There is also a Donald Ross 18-hole golf course surrounding the property. This hotel has hosted Presidents and important summit meetings and is truly a New England treasure!

 

 

 

The Cog Railway

The Cog on top of Mt Washington

Next, we're off to the Cog Railway.  Established in 1866, it took 2 years to build the railway and was the first mountain-climbing railway in the world!  The original railway used steam engines, whereas today, a biodiesel engine fuels the railways 3-mile trip straight up the mountain.  Although it would have been a fun ride, we elected to drive the "Auto Road".   

 

The Summit

The Auto Road is 6 miles of steep terrain, a section of which is not paved.  There are some places where two cars cannot pass each other.  Not for the faint of heart.  I enjoyed being a passenger and taking in the scenery.  George is a very careful driver and he did a fabulous job!  As you get to about mile 6, the vegetation begins to change as oxygen is 20% less than down below.  The  trees struggle to grow, are very small and low to the ground, therefore, you feel as though you are driving on the moon.  Once at the parking lot, there is more climbing to do - up many steps to get to the Summit.  I had to stop periodically to catch my breath.  The climb was worth it as today was a record weather day...62 degrees and sunny.  So clear you could see for miles and miles.  How lucky are we! 

 

Tip Top Building (side view)

The Summit is 6,288 feet above sea level and recorded the world's highest wind speed in 1934 - 225 mph which is why the Tip Top Building is chained down. 


 

The Tip Top building was once a hotel.  Today, it's restored to it's original state, which includes a large dining hall, big kitchen and sleeping quarters consisting of 12 bunk beds, 3-high and 4 in a row.

 

 

We walked through the Observatory Building which houses a Gift Shop, Restrooms, lots of pictures of years gone by and living quarters down below for those who stay here.  

 

This is where they record all of the weather statistics and today's 62 degree record.  By the way, the wind speed today is 47 mph. 

 

We walked all around the Summit, trying to keep clear of the windy side. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

View from Mount Washington



The Cog heading down Mount Washington

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Close Knit Sisters

After leaving Mount Washington, we drove through one charming little town after another.  Along the way, we encountered a wonderful covered bridge.  We stopped in the middle of the town of Jackson where we found a Pergola and some park benches alongside a babbling brook.  This is where we ate the picnic lunch that I packed this morning.  We also (accidentally) came upon a yarn shop, Close Knit Sisters, in the town of North Conway.  George stopped to let me check it out.  Someone had knitted an adorable cable cowl so I bought the pattern and some yarn and the rest is history....one more project to add to the ever-growing list. 

In closing this post, I want to mention that, everywhere we went today, the flags were flying at half-mast.