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Mount Washington in New Hampshire by Nathalie Strassheim |
I spent 48 hours in the shadow of Mount Washington, the highest point in New Hampshire, and didn’t see the peak once from the valley floor. No spectacular backdrops for the Mount Washington Resort, no views from the 100-ft-high canopy tour platform, nothing. Too many clouds! If the peak’s not going to come to me, I might as well go to the peak. On a road, of course— the famous Mt. Washington Auto Road. Folks have been going to the top since horse-n-buggy days, so the path is well-worn, and it’s even mostly paved. I chose to take the “stage” (really a van, but the name hearkens to yesteryear). The drive itself isn’t especially harrowing, but I wanted to hear what the driver/guide had to say along the way. It was worth it: lots of details about the types of forest we climbed through, history of the road itself, anecdotes about midsummer hailstorms, all kinds of great stuff. Occasionally he’d pull over to let us passengers take pictures of particular views out the windows, as I did in that picture above. Van windows have to remain shut, but you can see that they keep them quite clean, so there’s really no issue with visibility. At least not on the window’s terms. Those clouds, however. The whole Auto Road operation works out of a nice building off Rte. 16, just north of the Pinkham Notch AMC Visitor Center. It also includes the Great Glen Trails recreation center, where you can bike and paddle with your own gear or rental equipment. All in all, well worth a morning’s stop.— Nathalie Strassheim
