Country roads, take me home, to the place, I belong, the White Mountains! Howdy, my name is John King and I am the new summer summit intern. I am originally from Barkhamsted, Connecticut. I have spent the last 3 years at West Virginia University studying environmental and energy resource management. Before you ask, yes it is a state, and no it is not the Western part of Virginia. With grandparents doing 60 years of volunteering on the AMC, and parents who have strong passions for walking among the tall trees, I basically was born into the wild. In my free time I spend my days surfing, snowboarding, hiking and rock climbing. As an adrenaline seeker, I have spent countless hours checking surf reports, and reading radars for the best windows to make it outside. I have a very strong passion for wind and wind turbines, you could even say I’m a big fan. With the summer internship on Mount Washington conducting research on wind anemometers, I hope to make a direct connection when I head back to West Virginia in the fall.

When arriving to the base of the auto road on Wednesday, I was welcomed with snow on the summit and a welcoming staff. The cold temperatures were quite a shock considering West Virginia was 90 degrees when I had left in early May, but luckily I was well equipped thanks to the Obs. We stayed in the clouds that whole day and a majority of Thursday; later though, after dinner when staff was lounging around in our very homey common room, we could see light shining in and we all rushed up to the observation deck. I was welcomed to my first sunset on Mount Washington. The view was breath taking. I have climbed Mount Washington before but was welcomed with the typical foggy conditions. I was knocked back with how amazing my view is at the place I get to spend the next several months.

Weather has been up and down here since I’ve arrived. I have gone from twenty degree weather where I had the opportunity to deice in May to 50 degree temperatures accompanied by peak gusts of 80 mph! It is truly the “world’s worst weather” and I am very excited for all the experiences I will have from now till August.

The pictures below are from the first sunset I saw on May 16th, and my first time deicing on May 18th