The Summit!

(More blog entries from ryan)

We're ready to go!

It's official: The Auto Road will open to the summit Friday morning at 8:00 a.m. for both private vehicles and guided tours. So come on up, and head straight to the top.

Thank the Road Crew when you see them.

See you this weekend.

Comments

Re: The Summit!
by mike h. on May 24th 2007, 3:39 pm

Any skiing availible in the great gulf ?

Re: The Summit!
by Sgt. Bob on May 24th 2007, 11:36 pm

There should be a prize for being the first commercial vehicle up the Road in the spring. I want to win it.

Re: The Summit!
by Ryan on May 25th 2007, 7:25 am

mike h. - The word on the street is that there is snow in the Great Gulf, but I haven't heard any ski reports. Apparently, the snowfields are pretty bony. Sgt. Bob - Then we'll see you in 25 minutes!

Skiing Accessible via the Auto Road
by Jonathan S. Shefftz on May 25th 2007, 8:53 am

The Northeast summit snowfield, which can sometimes offer almost 800 vertical immediately accessible to the road, never filled in well this year (was already getting narrow when I was last there May 8) and is probably almost gone by now. Some lines in Great Gulf might still be partially skiable (Airplane was good when I skied it two weeks ago, yet fading fast), but any discontinuities will represent potentially dangerous steep downclimbs over larger boulders, loose scree, and slippery moss. And be ware of undermined snow. (When I was there on June 4, 2005, a skier somehow augured into some collapsing snow and found himself upside down, with his head entirely submerged in fast running water -- he survived only because skiers just behind him extricated him immediately.) Ammonoosuc Ravine will still have some small but pleasant snowfields (they've broken up since I skied them two weeks ago, but the wx obs web cam still shows some large patches), which you can access by wrapping around on Crawford or Gulfside to Westside. Whatever you do, do NOT attempt to downhike into Tuckerman Ravine, as this would entail either a crevasse minefield (headwall), 50-degree loose rock (Left Gully), or 40-degree loose rock, tricky shrubs, and maybe also running water (Right Gully). And just keep in mind that despite the automative access, and the nearby presence in Tux of ski patrol, AMC, USFS, etc., skiing some of these lines off the road is real backcountry, and if anything bad happens, you might be really on your own, with assistance a long ways off. (Hope this doesn't come off as too high-handed, etc., but as a ski patroller and avy instructor I feel obliged to add some cautions to the conditions updates.)

Re: The Summit!
by Chris F on May 31st 2007, 8:20 pm

I love Mt. Mt. Washington, the summit is great! MT.WASSHINGTON is the best place ever!

Re: The Summit!
by Chris F on May 31st 2007, 8:23 pm

I have a camp in Waterboro Maine, I ride my 4 wheeler to Ossipee ranger watch tower. I can see Mt. Washington from there close to 100 miles away, its great!

Re: The Summit!
by Jim McClarin on Jun 17th 2007, 7:26 am

One of the most amazing discoveries (for me at least) came from an impromptu visit with Tom Murray to the summit on June 8th. We went there armed with a permit from the Forest Service on a quest to find the extremely rare beetle Pytho strictus, which was reported from Mt. Washington well over 100 years ago. Although the presumed Pytho habitat peters out between half and two-thirds of the way up the mountain, the fact that it was a very nice, warm day and that I had never been to the summit of led us to drive all the way up for a brief look-see. That's not exactly what happened though. All over the rocky summit, buildings, trails, parked cars, and people were millions of insects that must ritually come there to meet and breed on warm spring/summer days before descending to their habitats at lower elevations. Most numerous were pentatomid stinkbugs of several species but there were also flies, ichneumon wasps and many beetle species that were new to me. Tom and I collected there for over an hour. I grabbed one large Carabus ground beetle that I suspect was there for other reasons, dinner probably. It's hard to imagine that so much protien-on-the-hoof would not attract birds as well but we only caught a brief glimpse of one above the timberline. Maybe the hesitancy of birds to visit the peak has played an evolutionary role in the establishment of this mass insect rendezvous phenomenon. My guess is that distinct rocky peaks are most conducive for such bug hook-up conventions. Further, I'd guess the season and weather must be just right for this phenomenon to occur but when it does it presents a golden opportunity for the insect collector/photographer.

Re: The Summit!
by Howie on Jul 2nd 2007, 2:52 pm

Jim, I'd like to discuss your summit visit and your knowledge of the bug world if you see this comment. Would you email me at howie@mt-washington.com?