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2008-06-20 17:10:35.000 – Ted Letcher,  Summit Intern

Valley Fog to the Northeast

After three shift weeks of my internship I am finally beginning to realize that I am already almost half way through my internship. So before I have a “mid-internship crisis,” and start ripping my hair out over worries that I have accomplished nothing in the past few shifts, I would like do a short recap of my summer thus far.

My shift weeks have been getting progressively smoother. Tasks that once scared or intimidated me have become more or less perfunctory. Sights and weather that once seemed exciting have become all but mundane. Now that is not to say that I have grown weary of Mount Washington’s infamous weather. For example this morning I saw my first undercast. Actually it wasn’t really a true undercast, but merely valley fog that covered a good portion of the landscape to the south and east of the higher summits. However this weather was new to me and again I found myself lucky to be able to work here on the summit, if only for a brief stint.

Alas, my shift weeks only account for half of my experience as a summit intern. Too far away from my home in Maryland I spend my weeks off drifting, specifically mooching from friends. I never stay in one place to long. I have slept in motels, cars, tents, and houses. Always weighing the ever increasing cost of travel against the cost of food and shelter for the week, I spend long hours on highways and mountain roads, stopping only to refill my coffee and to grab a quick bite. Tuesday I was driving back to the summit after a day of hiking in the Adirondaks and I had to take a ferry across Lake Champlain (thanks to some less than efficient directions). However the whole ride across the lake I couldn’t help but smile because I applied, and accepted this internship for the experience and adventure. While taking a ferry might be tiresome to many, it was new and exciting to me.

I apologize for rambling on about my experience as a summit intern, but it helped me feel like I’ve accomplished something this summer. In fact just now as I perused my comment in search of grammatical mistakes I have seen how much I’ve neglected to mention (including experiencing a direct hit from a supercell thunderstorm). I realized that I have accomplished more than I thought. So as I prepare to move into the next part of my intern project, and finalize my plans to spend my week off in Chicago, I have to say, this internship has been an adventure thus far and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for new experiences.

Ted Letcher,  Summit Intern