– WONDERFUL DAY. After
talking to a few people about the advantages/disadvantages of taking the train
to the top of Mt. Washington vs driving the auto road to the top, we decided to
drive. The advantages of driving were
that we could stop when we pleased and we could stay at the top for as long as
we wanted to. The train, naturally,
doesn’t stop going up and you have one hour at the top and then you must go
back down on the next train. The drive up
was dramatic since the road was 2 lane and barely wide enough in some places
for two cars to meet. There are no
guardrails and the drop off is dramatic. Even so, it was wonderful and we did
stop several times and admire the view.
The time at the top is indescribable. It was wonderful. The view was absolutely beautiful. This is the highest point east of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina.
It also has extreme weather. We learned that the highest wind EVER
recorded on earth was recorded at this weather station. It was as strong as a category 5
hurricane.
We also learned that during
the winter the weather people have to go outside and knock the ice from the
weather instruments. To do so they must
be sure that every bit of their body is covered because frost bite can hit
immediately. We also saw how the weather
people lived in the 1900’s in a building called the Tip-top house.
They now have much better facilities,
underground. They work 8 days on and 6
days off. In the winter they are brought
back and forth to the station in a snow-cat since the roads are not cleared of
snow. They told us to notice the markers
on the road side as we went back down – these markers (some 10 feet tall) are
used to show where the road actually is.
While we were there I called Stacey.
She was trying to clean out her car and the temperature was 100 degrees
in the shade and she was miserable. It
didn’t help when I told her I was cold since the temperature was 49 with a wind
chill of 45. I think she hung up on
me! We stayed on the top of the mountain
approximately 2 hours – I sure am glad we didn’t take the train! On the way down we stopped several times to
cool the brakes and they still got hot.
The incline is very sharp – much sharper than the road in the
Smokies. It is also 8 miles from top to
bottom and there are no straight, flat runs.
When we got back to the hotel we took some time and made pictures with the beautiful flowers they have.
This is
an extremely nice motel that has not only been kept up – it has been modernized
with indoor pool and a wonderful, beautiful restaurant.
The fact that it is adjacent to a real nice
golf course has helped with its business over the years and we heard several
golf groups checking in for the weekend. This has been a great day and is one
of those unplanned stops.
The time at the top is indescribable. It was wonderful. The view was absolutely beautiful. This is the highest point east of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina.
It also has extreme weather. We learned that the highest wind EVER
recorded on earth was recorded at this weather station. It was as strong as a category 5
hurricane. We also learned that during
the winter the weather people have to go outside and knock the ice from the
weather instruments. To do so they must
be sure that every bit of their body is covered because frost bite can hit
immediately. We also saw how the weather
people lived in the 1900’s in a building called the Tip-top house. When we got back to the hotel we took some time and made pictures with the beautiful flowers they have.
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