Day 46: Climbing Mt. Washington

We've taken on a few ambitious tasks in the last month and a half, but none was more physically taxing than yesterday's challenge: a climb to the highest mountain peak in New England and the most prominent peak east of the Mississippi. Mt Washington is a part of the Presidential Peaks and is home to some very intense weather patterns. After weeks of watching, we finally found a day without 50 MPH winds or thunderstorms and decided this would be our day.

The day started off with a 4:30 AM alarm as the peak is more than a few hours away. We stopped off to pick up some breakfast/lunch and were ready to tackle the mountain at 10:44. Not two minutes into the hike, Ellaine nearly "lost her life" trying to cross a "river". Check out the video below to see her harrowing experience (you'll have to forgive my laughing, Mini found a stick bigger than her and was playing with it while Ellaine was crossing).

After that, we climbed a pretty uneventful, albeit beautiful, 3 miles through forest. We laughed as we told stories and fought through the elevation, about 800 feet up each mile. Eventually the trees cleared and we were presented with some amazing views. While we did take breaks for lunch and hydration as we climbed, we made pretty good time finishing the first 3.7 miles in 3.5 hours.

Here's where it all went a little sideways. We were expecting the peak to be at this 3.7 mile mark. The mistake was entirely mine, but we both had to own it as we were still 900' elevation and 1.4 miles from the actual peak (I don't know how to read hiking guides). Akin to finding your paycheck $800 lighter than expected, we had to figure out how to summon the energy to finish the last push.

Worse than the extra distance was the venom that was flowing through Ellaine at this point. She was not a happy camper and made sure that I was well aware of it.

-C: Honey, we're almost there. You're doing great!
-E: You keep saying that. We're not almost there. I hate this.

-or-

-E: I hope you know you're buying me something expensive tomorrow. Like really expensive. I'm not kidding.
-C: Of course babe. What are you thinking? Like a purse or something?
-E: No. I have enough purses. Jewelry.
-C: Sure, something white gold?
-E: No, silver.
-C: Ok... something that's like a fine mesh chain?
-E: No, thick band (she had David Yurman in mind).
-C: Ok, let's go look tomorrow.
-E: Oh, we will. I hate this. This sucks. 

I know why she was so cranky too. The trail was no longer a trail. It was a collection of boulders that had been chewed up by some giant and littered across the trail. We were constantly trekking past hikers going the other way telling us, "almost there, just a mile to go!" (Seriously, dude, not helping here.)

It took us a little over an hour to get the first half mile in with the terrible landscape and constant shuffling around the other hikers. We made the most of the trail where it finally opened up and got another half mile in about 20 minutes. We could finally see the peak just ahead of us and had one final push to get to the top.

What we found was well worth the trek. We could see for miles in any direction. We watched as huge clouds would blow in out of no where and disappear almost as quickly as they formed. With a little food and being able to refill our water bottles, we were again at ease with the world. Mini who made it every step of the hike with us was officially tired and would lay down every chance she got. The rocks were a little rough on her, so we were able to smuggle her on the cog railroad down (officially dogs were not allowed) and we were able to shortcut the return trip.

I'm super proud of my wife, and us in general, for completing the hike. It was harder than any hike I've ever been on before, and I grew up in Colorado. Despite our struggles up the mountain, we never gave up and pushed each other to keep fighting.