Mount Washington

Mon 12th Oct
Early start to go to the Mount Washington cog railway, the first mountain cog railway in the world (1869), though the technology had been developed earlier in Europe for mines, etc. The mountain is only 6288 ft high, but it is said to have some of the worst weather in the world, in particular reputedly the highest wind speed ever recorded - 231 mph. The cog railway still has one coal-fired steam locomotive - with an angled boiler for efficient heating on the slope (37 deg. max.), but the rest of the engines are biodiesel. Speed ca 5-6 mph, so we made the ascent in about 40 minutes, with 50 others, many very loud French Canadians. Several other trains that day, so probably about 500 people in all. During the summer, many more make the ascent via the railway and there is a road to the summit that can be driven in good weather. However, we had, initially, overcast weather, with the mountain covered in cloud. At the summit, the wind was very strong(ca 70-80mph) and it was bitterly cold (ca -9 deg C.), with freezing fog.


Gradually the cloud lifted to reveal a spectacular vista of the Presidential Range. After visiting the small but interesting museum about the mountain range geology and the establishment of the weather observatory on the mountain, our descent took about 35 minutes into a clear sunlit valley.

The weather was perfect, allowing magnificent views of the mountain and the trains, and in the afternoon we had a beautiful drive around the forest park on minor roads.