Throughout the entire week, I had no access to internet, hence the delay.
I'd also like to explain my statement about Mt. Washington being no easy task. It is a mountain (like any other) that happens to be the highest peak east of the Mississippi. It's notorious for its weather and is known by many to have the "worst weather in the world". The highest wind speed on the surface of the earth was recorded there in the 1930's at 231 mph. Whether or not this whole "worst weather in the world" thing is true, the fact is that 135 people have died on this mountain since the late 1800's. That is more than Mt. McKinley, the highest peak in North America. Hurricane force winds attack the summit at least once every 3 days and it's covered in dense fog 60% of the time. Temperatures at the base of the mountain are often 25+ degrees warmer than those at the summit. Just thought I'd lay out some background info.
We started our climb around 9:30, expecting to be up and down in around 7 hours. I had no idea what to expect, and my dad wouldn't fill me in on any aspect of what was coming our way. I had my new Merrells on, which I was very thankful for. Ankle support helps out quite a bit when all you have to walk/climb on are beachball-sized chunks of granite. As we made our way up the first slope, I was surprised how "easy" it seemed. A dirt trail led to a set of huge set of granite makeshift stairs. All I could hear was the thundering of what I thought was a river. It turned out that at the top of those stairs was an overlook that happened to sit adjacent to a 100-foot multi-tiered waterfall. It was a pretty good start to the day. From that point on, everything went downhill (yes I just thought of that). The trails got steeper and the rocks bigger.
It was probably around 55 degrees at this point, a good temperature. As we ascended, we passed a few fellow climbers, but it seemed that we were the only ones that had planned on making a round trip. The others all informed us that they were staying at a lodge somewhere on the mountain or that they were getting a ride down from someone (there is an auto road that comes up the opposite face). It had been raining for a few days prior to this so everything was soaked. All I have to say about that is that smooth rocks and water are not a good combination. It got to the point where we were climbing rather than hiking; hand over hand up jagged rocks that had what resembled footholds in them. As we continued, the trees got shorter and eventually stopped all together. An odd phenomenon that occurs, known in New England as the Alpine Zone (a mix of temperature change, constant wind, and lack of soil prevents the trees from growing).
At this point we were above the trees, but the fog was thick to the point that we could only see 20-30 feet in front of us. The wind was also whipping; hard. A woman down at Pinkham Notch said that there were constant 35 mph winds at the summit, but I'd have to say that some of the gusts had to be closer to 70. A few nearly knocked me over. We couldn't see a thing, temperatures had dropped to the low 40's (windchill likely in the mid to low 30's), and we were both wearing shorts. Regrettably, we decided to turn back, knowing full well what this mountain was capable of, and how quickly the weather could go from bad to life-threatening. It was quite the adventure.
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