Mount Washington, N.H.

By Carey Kish

Copyright © 2004 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

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Trail name: Mount Washington Nearest town: Glen, N.H., near Pinkham Notch Region: New Hampshire Length: approximately 4 mile trail with 4,000 feet elevation gain Difficulty: Advanced Elevation gain: 6,288 feet Other: Begin on the Tuckerman Ravine Trail at the Appalachian Mountain Club's Pinkham Notch Visitor Center at the base of the mountain, which is 12 miles north of the junction of Routes 16 & 302 (at Glen, NH). Maps: Get driving directions from MapQuest. View a topo map from Maptech MapServer.

P.T. Barnum (of circus fame) once called the summit of New Hampshire's Mount Washington "The Second Greatest Show on Earth." Make a visit there on any given summer day, and you'll understand why. The mountaintop bristles with human activity, a busy scene worthy of any amusement park.

The summit is crowded with buildings and dotted with communication towers. There's a weather observatory, two museums, several gift shops, a cafeteria and even a post office.

The Cog Railway chugs precipitously up the south side of the mountain, depositing eager sightseers by the hundreds on top. Thousands of other visitors drive their cars eight hair-raising miles up the north side on the Auto Road. A dozen trails lure countless hikers up the mountain's flanks, mixing with throngs of camera-toting tourists on this high elevation playground.

So why should hikers bother with all the hustle and bustle of Mount Washington?

Because at 6,288 feet high, Mount Washington is the tallest mountain in the northeastern United States and a natural draw for peak-baggers. It's a physically demanding hike regardless of the route you take, requiring more than 4,000 feet of lung-busting elevation gain over at least four miles of challenging trail. The mountain's weather — notorious for being the worst in the United States — presents its own challenge, even in summer. Mount Washington is at the heart of the extraordinary alpine terrain of the mighty Presidential Range. Stand on top and you'll witness a grand panorama of seemingly endless mountains and valleys — a view unrivaled on a clear day. And on what other mountain are you so apt to mingle with hikers and travelers from all over the world, making the trek a truly unique human experience.

I made my annual pilgrimage to Mount Washington two weeks ago. When I arrived at the Appalachian Mountain Club's Pinkham Notch Visitor Center at the base of the mountain, the parking lot was chock-full — a telltale sign of things to come. It was a spectacular Sunday morning of bright sun and blue skies, and I fully expected to have plenty of company on the trail.

"Mount Washington is a vortex of outdoor activity," said Judith Felman at the AMC Information Desk. "With all the rain recently, hikers are pretty frustrated. They're all here today, though, and ready to tackle the mountain. They want it real bad."

I headed up the beautiful Tuckerman Ravine Trail, a wide track that climbs several easy, pleasant miles to Hermit Lakes. I relaxed briefly on the porch of the caretaker's hut, tucked below the steep mountain walls that rise more than a thousand feet up to Boott Spur, Tuckerman Ravine and the ramparts of Lion's Head.

Above, the trail climbs into the open, beneath a series of waterfalls cascading hundreds of feet down the mountain face. After a strenuous ascent up rock steps beside the falls, the route makes an exhilarating traverse along the lip of the ravine.

The trail was relatively uncrowded thus far, but near Tuckerman Junction, I finally caught up with the masses. Ahead, hikers snaked their way up the summit cone in a steady stream, while off to my right, many more hikers were trudging up Lion's Head.

Jennifer Wallstrom, a U.S. Forest Service backcountry ranger, was just coming down from the summit. Wallstrom told me she had stopped counting hikers at 100 but figured there were easily two or three times that many just on the Tuckerman Trail.

"There's trains, cars and people everywhere up there," said Wallstrom.

Undeterred, I took my place in the long queue of hikers and happily followed the rock cairns upward to the top.

As expected, the summit was a madhouse. There was a long line for the cafeteria and an even longer line for the restroom. It was full-contact shopping in the gift shops. The dining tables were jammed with crisply dressed tourists, so I stood by the big windows and watched the Cog Railway and hundreds of cars come and go. Elbow-to-elbow with people at the observation deck railing, I looked out over miles of mountain splendor. I chatted briefly with visitors from Iowa and Missouri, Germany and the Netherlands. Propped up against a boulder, I dozed in the sun. In all, I spent several hours milling about, observing and, quite honestly, enjoying the scene.

Before descending, I scrambled the 20 feet up a pile of rocks to the true summit of Mount Washington. Politely picking my way through the crowd gathered for their triumphant photographs, I touched the sign just for good measure, then slipped away quietly.

Carey Kish of Portland is the proud owner of a T-shirt that reads "This Body Climbed Mount Washington." He can be reached at:

maineoutdoors@aol.com