A Week of Volunteering

2014-08-13 16:08:52.000 – Sue Barnes,  Summit Volunteer

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Well, it has been a good week up here. The weather has been fairly quiet, which allowed for some hiking and I got to see the Alpine Garden. This is a great place to hike from if you want to see other areas around Mount Washington. Also, it really befuddles other hikers when I say my hike is ‘down and up’ for a day trip, instead of up & down the mountain. We had some really sunny weather on Saturday and Sunday, and it was busy up here. It amazes me how many people come to this summit on a weekend day. When you add up the hikers, the drivers, and the Cog Railway passengers, it feels like it can be well over a thousand people. It feels like the busiest place in the Northeast.

We got to see the mountaintop in moonlight, too. It was a full moon a couple of nights ago, and we were lucky enough to have a clear night. It was neat, and slightly spooky, to walk around without a flashlight at 10 pm, and still be able to see everything. The moon was so bright, and there were no other lights to distract from the effect. This is a great place to visit, if you want experiences that you can’t readily get elsewhere. While we don’t usually get weather extremes during the summer, we did have a 15 minute hailstorm on Sunday which was really neat. I have always been a weather watcher and this is certainly the ideal place for it, especially with Observers who can explain what is going on and why. Everyone here is great, and I got to work with another volunteer that I had not previously met. I will definitely be coming up again, perhaps during the winter months to see the rime ice again and the snowstorms.

Sue Barnes,  Summit Volunteer