This November I was fortunate enough to actually summit Mt. Washington in New Hampshire and the highest peak in Northeastern United States.
According to Wikipedia “Mount Washington is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at 6,288 ft (1,917 m). It is famous for its dangerously erratic weather, and long held the record for the highest wind gust directly measured at the Earth’s surface, 231 mph (372 km/h) (or 103 m/s), on the afternoon of April 12, 1934.” “The mountain is located in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains, in Coos County, New Hampshire. It is the third highest state high point in the eastern U.S. and the most prominent peak in the Eastern United States.”
I was lucky enough to have some friends who have frequently summited the mountain, Shireen and Joan. Joan is also search and rescue for the area and a certified Mountain Guide. This was great except for the fact Joan was not going to let us summit in shorts and a T-Shirt, no matter what the weather. This translated into a 25 lbs. pack filled with everything we needed if a full blown winter storm hit or we got hurt. Although I totally agreed and understood, it sure was hard to watch the other people skittle up and down that mountain in sneakers, shorts and a camel back.
When asked if I would like to go I asked how long was the hike. My answer was “about 4 hours.” Little did I know that was one way.
On the way up Joan told many stories about the mountain, it’s history and the people who have summit-ed or died there. And believe me, many people have died on this mountain. One thing I got very clear from her stories was that we were truly blessed with incredible weather. Perfectly blue skies and only a light wind. A week or so before there was enough snow on the ground to require much more gear. Much snow had melted and we were only met with some icey wet rocks and some snow patches hear and there, making for interesting climb and decent.
Many of Joan’s clients have never summit-ted over years of attempts due to weather. And, here I was, my first time at the mountain and met with perfect blue sky climbing weather. Now that is luck. The views were amazing. We could even sea the edge of the Atlantic through the mountains. It was incredible how Joan could point out to the horizon and name what seemed like every peak.
After it was all over I thought Joan might like something for the wall. I love to print. There is nothing more satisfying then having ones work actually out of the computer and hanging on a wall. I created a 12X12 Collage and printed on a Standout Mount. They loved it. Bright, big, easy and ready to hang print at a much more affordable price then framing.
An incredible season in New England came to a close with that decent. I look forward to what’s next.
A big thank you to Shireen Khavari for taking the time to take all the end product pictures below. I am always sending this stuff out and it’s a great pleasure to see the finished product.
HP
