Monday Oct 8, 2018
Map and road video – Bangor, ME to Franconia, NH
Today dawned with clear blue skies and I was hopeful that my main leaf-viewing day and a drive to the top of Mount Washington would reveal great views. Alas, the clouds rolled in to defeat my optimism but I still had a great time on Mount Washington.
The online fall color reports suggested that the leaves along route 2, which follows the northern edge of White Mountains National Forest, were just about at peak color and this also happens to be the gateway to the Mt. Washington Auto-Road which climbs to the summit of the tallest peak in the northeastern US. The leaves were, indeed, colorful but, by the time I had reached the higher altitudes of the National Forest where the most impressive displays were likely to be, clouds shrouded the hill tops. By then, of course, I knew I was not going to see fantastic views from Mt. Washington but driving up and down through two cloud layers was fun and I encourage you to watch the ascent or descent in the road video to get an idea of what it was like.
Mt. Washington is also a historic location for both meteorologists and physicists. A weather observatory was established at the summit in 1870 which is still operated today and, in April 1934, a wind speed of 231 mph was recorded there. This is the highest wind speed ever recorded apart from very brief gusts associated with hurricanes or micro cells indicated by Doppler radar to exist inside tornadoes.
During the 1960s the weather observatory and a station at the base of the mountain were used by physicists to conduct a series of experiments that were able to precisely confirm Albert Einstein’s formulae for predicting time dilation and length contraction as hypothesized in his Theory of Special Relativity. I used to have my students collect and analyze data from old film of those experiments, which showed the road, and that gave added meaning to today’s experience.
Unfortunately, clouds enveloped hill tops and limited nature’s colorful display in the White Mountains National Forest.
This photo of Tip-Top House, built at the summit in 1853 as a hotel, shows how the weather changed as I ascended the 6,288 foot peak.
and this brief video shows the “view” at the summit.
According to a display in the summit museum this is what the view is like on a clear day.
Thought Mt. Washington wasn’t on the agenda? Seeing Tip-Top House reminds me of the summit at McKenzie Pass in Washington. Going to check out that video now. Safe travels.
Mt. Washington was one of the first places I put on the itinerary for this trip. Have fun watching the video from McKenzie Pass (although I think it’s in Oregon). Cheers.
Used to see all the bumper stickers “I climbed Mt. Washington’. Did you get one?
The view looks similar to the last time I went to Shenandoah but without the wind! There were ropes just hanging off the cliffs going into the abyss!!!
Safe travels
Cathy
I got a “This Car Climbed Mount Washington” sticker but it’s in the trash already. I figured it wouldn’t really help the resale value.
When did you go to Shenandoah? They usually close Skyline Drive whenever there’s bad weather – I tried in January but all closed.
Our certificate for climbing Mt Washington (by car) is framed in our downstairs toilet… Never received a sticker all those years ago! I think we had similar views to you and the road closed soon after our visit as ski season approached.
I got a certificate, bumper sticker and a good audio commentary on CD to play while driving up and down. It was fun.
Yes, I got my states wrong. McKenzie Pass , Oregon. I did mean your video footage from Mt. Washington.
Misunderstood, I thought you had crossed McKenzie Pass on your epic bike ride with Miles and had some footage at the top.
The trip to Shenandoah was a few years ago in the summer. Very low clouds. The woods were fine but the scenic view wasn’t!