Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1893-09-28
MT. W tSHINGION.
Climbing New IIampsh!re'> Massive Pile
How to do II How to enjoy 1t.


I Climbing New IIampshirr'~ Massive Pile
How to do 1t How to enjoy 1t.
Written for TIVE AMERICAN ~ +. +. O-sood
List week the writer had the pleasure Of
yi,.tug MI Washington. the highest
rlpuu in in New England, and a. it is an
o'j.c, ~ interest not only to- tourists but
q other people a. well, short description
may ~ " interest.
m dry late somewhat from my subject.
| Will say that there are several ways Of
ascending The mountain, but there are
three ordinarily employed The hr>t /, by
the mountain railroad which connects
with the Maine Central another i. hy
carriage road On the opposite Side of the
mountain, AMI the third i by Tuckerman's
Rayinc. | took the second way, hut the
carriage was wanting.
We started from the place where the
Glen house used To be for it burned last
mouth) about two hours before midnight,
ia order u cover the eight miles % the
SUNNI. before sunrise. For sunrise on
Nj ashiustou on a clear mornlu. Is =
thing Of besuty and a JOY forever We
took the most primitive mode of convey
auCe with which al are familiar, and
made the CLIMB by ciFcuitou- course ar
risns AZ The lofty ga! Of eur ambition
with some time d spare.
DE-
make only few limited observations.
After We had gone about half way up, the
all became cooler aud q slight bre, Le be-
gan 70 blow. The vegetation became
more rare, aud the water that flowed from
the mountain side Ia rivulet- was icy cold.
Soon few gentle clouds passed by and I,
became clear again.
When We reached the summit the atmos-
pheTc was comparatively clear, but the air
was very chilly until some time after
sunrise We edid not STE the sun rise 10 all
lis spcndor, a. a small cloud Ob,truCtel
! our View somewhat; still We had better
view than falls 70 the lot Of most visitors
The buildings al the top of the mountain
/ are all in cluster. and have numerous
chains passing over them 50 Is 10 keep
them In place during the violent wind
storms that are prevalent 10 mountainous
regions. The chains were not taut, ow-
IN 70 the fact, | presume, that it was
summer there, and should infer from the
looseness Of the chains that the mercury
must run very low at certain periods Of
the year. Although the law Of expansion
and contraction holds with reference to
material bodies, the miles Of our journey,
as we approached the summit, did not con
tract, but seemed rather TO expand.
The most conspicuous building as you
approach the top is the Summit house
/ where We were accommodated, and can
boast Of eating and sleeping at an eleya-
| tion OF $500 feet above sea level. 4 tow
| er situated few rods from the Summit
] house affords an unobstructed view In all
! directions.
/ There are among this group Of buildings
round house belonging to the Mountain
\ railway and also a stage office. cOmmo-
4 dlous stable makes comfortable the equine
\ guests, although it was built especially for
/ the convenienccs Of the stage line. To
cap the climax, daily newspaper is pub
lished there, and has building of its own
| with steam press and other facilities.
| The name Of this paper is .Am0nge the
/ Clouds, and boasts that it is the only news
| paper published al 80 high an altitude. 1t
contains all the events that transpire there
| during the day, with the arrival and de
parture of guests.
The last, but by no means least, build
ing in Importance to be mentioned is the
original summit house. If it were not for
the wooden roof, one might suppose that it
was erected by the mound builders. 1t
was built in 1858, and for many years
stood alone in its glory, the only refuge
for travellers. Only few rods from this
house, if you may call it such, is q slab
held in place by large pile of bouders.
1t was placed there in memory Of Lizzie
Bourne, who died at thi. point on the
| mountain when the stone house was the
only shelter in existence. She, with an
uncle and another relative, started to climb
the mountain, and when they had nearly
reached the top a heavy storm overlook
them. They lo1 their way, and after
wandering about some time Miss Bourne
became exhausted and died frcm the in.
clemency Of the weather.
The old stone house, although close at
hand, was of no service, as they had no
knowledge of the fact at that time. The
thought Of this sad event lives in the
minds of those who visit the spot, and
seems to be the only blot to mar the con.
temptation Of this vast panorama.
1t is impossible to describe the view that
one gets from the summit; one looks across
valleys upon lesser peaks, and the distance
appears to be only few rods, while in
reality it is several miles. Far in the
distance one can see clouds floating along
and it would take some minutes to deter
mine whether they were clouds or actual
lakes SO close is the resemblance One
might write almost indefinitely on the
description Of the mountain scenery, but
its beauty cannot be described; it must be
seen with the eye.
We will now go down the mountain by
the same route that we went up. and will
stop at The same place where we started
Although tired when we came to our jour
ney's end, we felt that we were amply re.
paid and could say what but few can, that
we walked up Mt. Washington and back, q
distance of sixteen miles.
August 25.