Date: 2016-06-12
From: Bretton Woods Lodge

To: Lodge
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I was beaten off the trail on Thursday afternoon amid driving rain and only a single contact, a woman who runs theWillet House one mile west of the trailhead. In an earlier phone call she had offered me food and a possible shuttle if I showed up there and knocked on the closed historical site. I do think she was surprised when I did just that. Luckily she remembered my name and did indeed find me an hotel and drove me there, about 5 miles further down the road. It was a nice but modest two story building with a small breakfast area, very small food market, and a long line of rooms. The price was not cheap but my options were limited. I negotiated a two night stay and gratefully showered and lay back in the bed to consider my future. From what I was told my "lodge" was a satellite of a much bigger Omni hotel. There was a shuttle that took guests around to the other facilities and I need to eat so I took it to the main hotel for dinner. The hotel was amazing; like a palace. The restaurant was formal but did deliver a fine steak dinner and I began to recover. Looking at the weather for the area and the summits it was obvious that the upcoming weekend was going to be a disaster; cold, rain, and high winds. This seems almost typical for this particular microclimate. Perhaps I could find a way to Gorham or some other town and settle in for awhile. By morning I had given up on that idea and decided to wait out the weather where I was. I added Sat and Sun to my stay and the next day added Mon as well. Tuesday looked like the start of better times. So here I was for four whole days with little to do but rest and eat. Oh, and keep track of the weather hoping for no major shifts. What was this hotel? I recalled something about very old attempts to build a hotel on top Mt Washington. That's where the cog railroad came from. Could this be related to that project? I took their historical tour and found out the facts. Quite different from my memory but even more remarkable. The main hotel was built in 1902 by Carolyn and Joseph Stickney. It's a huge building but it ion my took 18 months. Joseph died a few years later and Carolyn became the overwhelming personality associated with the hotel. Without question she had to be the most pretentious and high maintenance women I have heard of. Every part of the hotel was tailored to her whims. Built for the wealthy, there were written rules requiring no one could enter the main dining room after Carolyn arrived and no one could leave until she left. Her place, which is permanently set today, was at the dining room entrance and she didn't want to feel the breeze of people walking by. The hotel had a storied existence and many owners. When Carolyn died it passed to a young man who used it primarily for parties. This is a hotel that had over two hundred guest rooms. He finally lost interest in it and left it to decay. Because of its remote location it was chosen after WWII for an important conference of over 700 officials. The government brought in a renovation team that whitewashed everything, including mahogany doors, gold plated trim and Tiffany glass. The conference accomplished many things, including setting the gold standard of $35 an oz. most of the whitewash has since been removed. The current owner is relatively new. Omni acquired the property in 2006 and today it is a prestigious property to say the least. The cog railroad still runs up the mountain and I have seen golf, skiing, tennis, and horse riding here. In many ways the decor and ambience reminds me of scenes from Titanic, high elegance and upper class attitudes. Back in my simple lodge room, watching movies and eating snacks, I still feel part of the magnificent past of this place. It has been a unique way to spend my halfway break.