Date: 2018-07-06
From: Lake of the Clouds Hut

To: Mt. Washington Summit
Miles today: 1.5
Weather: broken clouds

We did it! We summited Mt. Washington in 50mph winds and under 1/16th of a mile visibility (mild for this Peak) and were more than glad for the bunker-like visitors Center at the top with its full snack bar and gift shop. Ha! We promptly stuff ourselves with nachos and hot chocolate before going back for pizza, chowder, chili and ice cream. As we eat we sit and marvel at the number of tourists pouring into the visitor center, that we had struggled mightily to reach by trail, having come up the mountain via the auto road winding up its eastern face or the cog rail the ferries hundreds at a time straits up the western face. What a difference in experience. We had hoped that our prolonged snack break would give the weather some time for visibility to improve and winds to calm but, upon a speaking with a ranger and the on staff meteorologist, we learn wind speeds are only increasing and with a cold front moving down from the north things are only going to get worse. Our first thought is that it's now or never, we need to hike down from this Peak before things get worse or we'll be stuck. We pack up quickly and step outside...into winds gusting between 70 and 80mph. We take one look at one another - hiking poles and feet planted, struggling just to stay upright - and turn around. Back in the calm of the visitor center we reassess, asking a ranger what our options are. This Peak being so accessible (by trail, road and train) we have quite a few, but they are expensive and becoming less viable by the minute. As we speak to her she is alerted that the train has just stopped running because when Summit wind speeds exceed 80mph it is prone to structural failure. So now our options are the road or the trail. We can try waiting for the weather to calm but the forecast isn't optimistic and the AMC shuttle (our only sure ride down) stops running at 4PM, so we can only wait so long. As luck would have it, as we stand there discussing our options another ranger ending her shift for the day is about to head down and offers us a ride. We conclude this must be the best (and least expensive) option and take her up on it, feeling very lucky. As we ride down the auto road we feel extremely certain that we made the right decision as visibility seems to be merely feet in from of the truck and winds rage around us. Once at the base we now have to consider our options for the night. To hike on from here would cut off approximately 14 miles of trail that we would either have to revisit or consent to skip and I am not exactly open to that option. So we look at lodging in the valley and consider how to return to the summit tomorrow. Luckily we are near the town of Gorham, NH and can stay at a Hostel there relatively cheaply, so that's settled. To get back to the summit tomorrow is now the main concern. Again, our options are trail, road or train. The trail, at first, seems like the worst option, we would have to re-climb the entire mountain from the Notch and then continue on from there (adding 4 tough miles to our day tomorrow) ugh. As we research, however, it begins to look like our only viable option. The shuttle up to the summit costs $31 per person (a weeks worth of food for each of us) and the train is even more! Hitching up is not realistic as every car heading up the mountain has to pay a toll (with extra for every person in the car) so additional riders are generally unwelcome. So it looks like we'll hike! For now we're just glad to be safe and warm in the valley, as we were told many times today: "The mountain will be there tomorrow".