(updated June 11, 2009)

New  Hampshire's  White  Mountains

Mt. Lafayette and Cannon Mountain - Franconia Notch

I only live minutes from these wonderful mountains.

This is where I grew up and learned to really appreciate the wilderness.

Hiking is something that I have always done, since I was a little kid.

I never get lost or afraid in the mountains.  That only happens to me in cities.

What's really nice is that I can have breakfast at my home

and easily have lunch on some distant summit.

You may also want to visit My Hiking Page, which covers my hikes in the White Mountains in the summer of 2003.

Page Menu:   |   Hiking   |  Mt. Washington   |  The Old Man   |  Links

My brother actually backpacked in the middle of winter, including sleeping out in a tent overnight.

He and some friends once backpacked up Mount Washington in February,

spending the night in a tent, above timberline, with temperatures well below zero.

The next morning they backpacked on to the summit, where the wind was blowing so hard

that they could barely stay on their feet.  He said that it actually sounded like a jet engine.

They later found out that at the time they were crossing the summit of Mount Washington,

the average wind speed was about 90mph, gusting to 110, and the temperature near 30 below.

He said that they were dressed more like astronauts than hikers, but it was still a wee bit chilly!

Warning Sign at Timberline on Mount Washington

From the Mount Washington Observatory website:

"Home of the World's Worst Weather"

Mount Washington presents the most severe combinations of wind, cold, icing and

storminess available anywhere in the world  where people are on hand to take measurements.

The summit lies in the path of the principal storm tracks and air mass routes affecting the northeastern United States,

and it is, because of its elevation, biologically and ecologically similar to the subarctic zone.

May 3, 2003: "The Old Man of the Mountain, the enduring symbol of the State of New Hampshire, is no more.

The stone profile that draws hundreds of thousand of visitors to Franconia Notch State Park each year

collapsed early on the morning of Saturday, May 3rd . . .

The weather had been extremely harsh in Franconia Notch over the weekend.

High winds, fog and heavy rain, along with freezing temperatures overnight, may have all contributed to the collapse."

Before May 3, 2003                                 Before/After Composite Image   

On the morning of May 23, 2003 the news that the Old Man had fallen spread rapidly through the neighboring town.

Like many local residents, my best friend and I immediately drove the short drive up to the notch to say our goodbyes.

It was sooo sad.  People were walking around and staring up at the spot where he had always been.

It felt like a funeral, and I felt like I had lost a close friend.

I know that may sound like I'm being over dramatic, but I'm not.

You have to understand how much the Old Man had meant to us.

He was the symbol of our state.

His image is everywhere:

on our license plates . . . on our road signs . . . on our public vehicles . . . and on our driver licenses.

He was supposed to last forever.

But nothing lasts forever . . . not even mountains.

My Hiking Page - my hikes in the White Mountains in the summer of 2003

Old Man Museum - History and information

Mount Washington Observatory

Mt. Washington.com

Mt. Washington Volunteer Ski Patrol - Tuckerman's Ravine

Views from the Top - Northeast - Hiking

White Mountains Server - Hiking

Appalachian Mountain Club - NH Chapter

Sierra Club - NH Chapter

Dartmouth Outing Club

New Hampshire State Parks - Official Site

Page Menu:   |   Hiking   |  Mt. Washington   |  The Old Man   |  Links

Continued on: My Hiking Page