A weeks Experience.

2007-10-02 15:34:25.000 – Frank Link & Al Sukowaski,  Summit Volunteers

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As first time volunteers on Mount Washington we weren”t sure what to expect other than that we had hoped that being later in September there would be a chance to see some of that infamous Mt. Washington weather and winds.

As volunteers we’re here to help the WMO staff, our main job is is to make sure that the staff has a good dinner every night and that the living quarters are maintained. It was fun cooking for them- hopefully they enjoyed our meals. But what ever we served was eaten – especially those deserts! We also helped where ever we could with other tasks around the observatory. Still there was plenty of time to enjoy the summit and the surrounding mountains – as well as the staff here.

The week started with amazingly warm weather, close to 80 at the base Wednesday morning. On the drive to Mt. Washington that morning I had an almost full setting moon lighting my way. I hoped that tonight I would get to see the full Harvest Moon from the summit.

But that wasn’t to be, as warm and sunny as it was at the base, as we arrived at the summit we were in the clouds, but still warmer than we had expected. There would be no view of the moon tonight. Or for the next 3 days. We stayed in the clouds through Saturday. But it’s an experience walking around on the summit in such low visibility, especially in the evenings when there was no one else around. There were days walking in the clouds that the winds were gusting up to 74. That was an experiece to be remembered, but I wonder how the observers are able to move about in the winter when that’s the normal wind speeds. Then on Sunday we woke up to a great sunrise and 100 mile visibility that was astounding.

It’s a great mix of people working here on the summit, and seeing how well thier working habits and personalities mesh is amazing, They need to work and live together for a week at a time. Every one of them made us feel welcome, and more than that, made us feel we were part of the team. So Brian, Ryan, Stacie, Aubrie, Peter and Sharon – thank you for making our stay so pleasurable.

And you may ask – would we do it again? You bet we would! And hopefully we will be able to do it for a week in the winter.

Frank Link & Al Sukowaski,  Summit Volunteers