Mt Washington summit crowds

[bryan]

get up there during bike week. i believe there is one day in particular that the road is closed to any travel other than motorcycles. caught it by accident a couple of summers ago. i've never seen anything like it. they love to encourage the "crazy hikers" on the last pitch to the summit. it's quite a scene and it's easy to bum a post climb marlboro or maybe a budweiser. as for mini cooper day.....

bryan

 

[TMax]

I think Mt. Washington Summit is an amazing place! It does give people the opportunity to experience something they might not otherwise be able to. Including giving me the opportunity to share this very special place with my dad. And it makes the summit in winter even more amazing when no one is there and you think about the TONS of people who were there in the summer! I often hike up Mt. Wash and then go over to Clay (soon to be Reagan) to eat lunch. It's a rare event when anyone else is there! I think it's especially cool how the folks who hiked up it stand out so much from those who didn't. There ensues a certain unspoken connection there. I remember the first time I hiked it (up Tuckerman) and came to those awful stairs to the summit and thought "this is cruel!!" After I did the summit thing, I was standing at the top of those stairs contemplating the scene and saw another hiker emerge from the trail with that same "this is cruel" look on his face. Then he spotted me and we both just started laughing... the motorists didn't have a clue.

 

[Woody]

I like being able to get to the summit of the Rock Pile and having a coke and an ice cream. It's a nice reward. I would have to agree that I have had some interesting conversations with the folks that have taken the cog, or drivin up. They always seem a bit incredulous that hikers actually enjoy walking up that hill. My brother and I hiked up the Ammo trail a in 2001 with our father who was 64 at the time. My dad had several people (young and older) that asked him if he actually hiked the whole way up. He proudly wore his backpack on the summit that day. (He's still in great shape by the way.)

I took the cog up last autumn with my wife. She wouldn't hike up. We enjoyed the ride and the views from the summit. I won't abuse my car by driving it up and down that mountain, so the cog was the only way my wife was going to get to the summit. We did get mooned by a hiking couple on the way up. I had told my wife to expect it.

 

[jjo]

This is a very sensitive subject but I , for one[I], Avoid [/I] Mt Washington on my trips to the whites. The comments above are good ones and valid. The older I get, the more i realize access for all is a good thing. But I crave solitude in my wilderness trips. (Granted hard to find today) but going to Mt Washimgton is like choosing Fileens in Boston for shopping vs a small hardware store in Lancaster, N.H.Your chances are better on other trails if solitude and a true wilderness experience is your taste IMHO. Anyway my 2 cents . I do respect your opinions ..One man's meat is another man's poison..My post won't win any popularity polls..Just my humble opinion

 

[timmus]

THIS was my first Mt Washington summit experience...

But, what I didn't say on that first thread is that the golf ball thing happened the day after our hike up Mt Washington...Yes, we went up the auto road because it was such a beautiful day, compare to the crappy cloudy skies we had on our hike the day before.

And yes, I enjoyed the ride up (I was not driving), and the sticker is on my daughter's toy car.

 

[forestgnome]

Another vote for "summit crowds are okay". They are enjoying the area. Of corse, there are mental midgets in every crowd, like the golfers

The only jerk I've experienced on Mt Washington was an AMC guide who screamed at me from a mile away to get back on the trail. He thought I was endangering lichens by being off-trail on the summit cone. He was a "hardcore hiker" in his own mind, saving the world, assuming some type of authority, enforcing some fantasy regulation, but really just another eco-warrior idiot. No tourist on the summit has ever bothered me.

There are countless peaceful places, even open summits, in the White Mts. where hikers can be completely alone. It's all good!

Happy Trails!

 

[Tom Rankin]

I will shamefully admit I want one of those too Don't know if I'd go so far as to put it on my car, I just want it.

I saw one the other day that said my ass climbed Mt. Washington
Maybe they just altered a car one.

There was a legit one for cycling, so there could be one for walking too....

 

[giggy]

The only jerk I've experienced on Mt Washington was an AMC guide who screamed at me from a mile away to get back on the trail. He thought I was endangering lichens by being off-trail on the summit cone. He was a "hardcore hiker" in his own mind, saving the world, assuming some type of authority, enforcing some fantasy regulation, but really just another eco-warrior idiot. No tourist on the summit has ever bothered me.



Happy Trails!

I had a similar exp (couple times actually) from an amc dude in franconia notch - how did I know he was amc? - he was wearing nametag broadcasting the fact - and was literally correcting almost everyone for something. I held my tongure - but the next time I will tell someone like this that the AMC does not own the NE mts and their huts do more damage than any hikers boot. Another time another tag bearer one was getting upset that someone went "off trail" on the flume slide trail becuase they felt safer going down it that way.

Disclaimer: this is not an attempt to blast the amc - just an opinion on what I have witnessed and my opinion on the matter. IMO - anyone has the right to go off trail anytime they want in certain situations.

 

[dug]

Before they put in the new visitor's center, after summitting we were banished to the basement as we were too dirty to be around the upper class. I was only a 10 year old, but I've never forgot that. We were asking "Why do we have to go in the basement, we walked up here!".

When making traverses now, I generally avoid the actual summit. I love the area, and I agree you can get solitude, but I just stay off the last tenth of a mile around the top.

 

[Mark]

The only time I've been up to the Washington summit, I was surrounded by a "crowd" of 3 other people. OK, it was a 4 degree day in February and one of the other people was my hiking partner. If I hiked Washington during tourist season, I don't think the summit crowds would bother me. I'd probably just tag the summit sign and head back down to the Alpine Garden for lunch, but they have just as much right to be there as I do. And at least they are there (however they got up) and not sitting on their couch watching TV. And they do provide some entertainment. I love getting reactions from them by blurting out things like, "What? There's a road up here?"

 

[Roxi]

If I hiked Washington during tourist season, I don't think the summit crowds would bother me. I'd probably just tag the summit sign and head back down to the Alpine Garden for lunch

Trying to tag the summit sign during tourist season can take a half hour waiting in line for all the other people who also want to stand on the summit and have their picture taken. It's an interesting experience. I enjoyed the crowds during the Mt. Washington bike race, as it is really neat having so many people at the top cheering on exhausted family and friends cycling up one of the steepest 8 miles they'll ever ride. It's a neat experience!

 

[jfb]

I don't mind the auto road or the crowds of tourists, but I don't like breathing the cog fumes. I also feel disappointed that nobody can stand on the summit and enjoy a 360-degree view. It would be nice if the last 50 vertical feet or so were above all the other summit structures.

 

[Bob Kittredge]

I don't mind the crowds; gives me one of my infrequent opportunities to feel superior to someone.

On my first trip up the rockpile, my hiking partner, a Brit, complained about the grockles (tourists). We stopped by Clay on our way down, and he was much happier.

 

[sapblatt]

Trying to tag the summit sign during tourist season can take a half hour waiting in line for all the other people who also want to stand on the summit and have their picture taken. It's an interesting experience. I enjoyed the crowds during the Mt. Washington bike race, as it is really neat having so many people at the top cheering on exhausted family and friends cycling up one of the steepest 8 miles they'll ever ride. It's a neat experience!

uh oh -

Does this mean I did not actually complete my 48? I could not battle thru the cigarette smoke to actually touch the sign. Please - do not tell on me!

 

[pepsi]

I don't really care about the crowds either way anymore.

I have used the restrooms and if the restaurant wasn't there I would never have known what a Whoopie Pie looks like or more importantly what happens when your sister asks for a "little taste".

 

[Roxi]

uh oh -Does this mean I did not actually complete my 48? I could not battle thru the cigarette smoke to actually touch the sign. Please - do not tell on me!

I wish I could have gotten out of the summit picture experience, but the husband of the couple I was with insisted we ALL be in the picture at the top. It was the only part of hiking up Washington that I did not enjoy. The hike itself was great! The entire day was magical - sunny, warm, and not very windy - unheard of for Washington! The views of the Presidentials were priceless and I was very grateful to Mother Nature for the perfect day she gave us. But waiting in line to get a picture taken at the summit was something I could have done without....as well as the cigarette smoke.

 

[jbreen]

Oh - sleeping bear - and I did have a "This Body Climbed Mt. Washington" t-shirt at one point. That was about 10 years ago, though; I don't know if they still sell them.

My daughter picked up one two years ago when she was 10 and enjoys wearing it around since the closest any of her classmates came is the bumper sticker.

The only thing I hated about the summit was when we were waiting to tag the top, two "survivalist-types" in camo, bush hats, and wooden staffs cut straight to the summit sign ahead f about 10 people to get their picture.

The tourists were quite entertaining since it was about a 40 degree difference in temp with a 55 mph wind. The obs deck was quite clear.

 

[Mike P.]

Of the dozen trips to the top, I have four or five pictures of me or a friend at the summit sign, a couple at the 231 MPH sign & a couple of just the sign.

If you hit the deck & maybe step on a few rocks of the summit cone I'd say you did it on a busy summer weekend. If there is snow on the ground, you should go up, picture optional IMO.

 

[smitty77]

One of my best memories was made possible by the auto road and of the the "commerialism" on the summit. About 4 weeks before my wife was to deliver baby #1, we decided to take a day trip to Washington. She had never been to the mountain before and it was a sort of "last hurrah before kids" trip. On the morning of, I logged on to the MWO website at 5:30 am to check the conditions and the summit view. (So the summit buildings come in handy here). I wasn't about to drag the little woman on a 6 hour round trip car ride to look at clouds in 40 degree weather. Seeing the conditons were prime, we hopped in the car and made our way north. We arrived at the base at 9:30 am and were on the summit by 10:30. Conditons were perfect. We wandered around, popped in the gift shop to buy a small shirt for the new baby, sat down for a bite to eat, toured the museum, and then headed out. Just before starting down, I propped the camera on the hood of the car to take a timed photo of the two of us enjoying the scenery. It's one of the best photos of us together, and marks a turning point in our lives - it's the very last photo before our family expansion.

Without the auto road, my wife still wouldn't understand what draws me to the mountains. Because of that road and all the summit has to offer to the non-hiker, I was able to get her back up there with our little one to explore the Alpine Garden by utilizing one of the parking areas on the road.

As for the crowds, they don't bother me so much. I like the look on the faces of "tourists" as you approach the summit with a 40 pound pack in the middle of a 3 day trip. I enjoy the look even more when they ask "Where did you start this morning?" and we point to Wildcat ski area and say "We started 'there' yestrday, walked all the way down 'there' (Great Gulf), and now we're 'here'." The expressions are classic. Plus, if just one of those folks comes off the mountain with a desire to become "one of us" and ends up being a steward of the wilderness, then it is worth it.

 

[--M.]

This is one of the best posts I have read in weeks. There is nothing like a well-crafted argument. Reasonable minds may differ on the topic at hand, but this is a solid bit of writing.