Thoughts from a Volunteer

2014-07-30 18:26:15.000 – Aylmer H. Given III,  Summit Volunteer

Lakes of the Clouds AMC Hut

It is quite an honor to spend a week volunteering with the Mount Washington Observatory staff. Just listening to the conversations in the tower and at the dinner table gives you just a peek into how much combined knowledge there is among the interns and weather observers.

As we arrived on our first day, the volunteers were invited to listen in on part of the transition meeting. When the interns were told that there was a low pressure system forming and that there would be a significant weather event (thunderstorm) later that afternoon, you might have thought that you had told a kid that he’d just woken up to Christmas morning. There is so much to learn up here. As the week progressed, for me that kind of excitement was easy to get caught up in.

We even had some time to do some hiking from the summit. Lakes of the Clouds is just a short hike and well worth the time. I can’t believe how fast the week has gone by. I look forward to coming back in the future and I highly recommend if you are thinking about it to volunteer some of your time up here. It is good for the soul. Until next time! Thanks for a great week.

Observer Footnote: The Mount Washington Observatory will be hosting the seventh annual Science in the Mountains lecture series this summer! This free, informative lecture series is open to the public. The next presentation, Forecasting Wind Gusts at Mount Washington, will be tonight, Wednesday, Aug 30 at 7PM at the Weather Discovery Center. We hope to see you there!

Aylmer H. Given III,  Summit Volunteer