what's in a name 2009-05-04 08:42:38.000 - 'Stakey',  Observer and Meteorologist NULL 'What's in name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet.'The distressed Juliet Capulet utters this famous line as she deliberates over the conflict between her heart and her family's desires. A name is merely a word; it doesn't change the character of the being. I bring this up because names are simply assigned to variables (or people). It is the way we distinguish others by more than just, 'that dude with red hair' or 'that girl with the green eyes'. However,

SD 2009-05-03 05:20:52.000 - Mike Carmon,  Observer and Meteorologist The Badlands of South Dakota If I may, I'm going to shift the focus of my comment from goings-on at the summit. In fact, I'm going to shift the focus about 2,000 miles away. On our last off week, Stacey, (now former) intern Jordan and I took a road trip out to the Black Hills of South Dakota. Why? Well, besides the obvious pleasures of spending a total of 72 hours in a car with a couple of people you live with for a week at a time already, one of

Super size me 2009-05-01 16:36:23.000 - Stacey Kawecki,  Observer and Meteorologist NULL I was able to celebrate the coming of May by going for my first hike without crampons since October yesterday before dinner. I had planned on taking the Gulfside Trail to Westside Trail and up the Crawford Path. Unfortunately, as it happens, I have completely forgotten how to hike on rocks! It took me a lot longer than I anticipated to hike about one mile down the trail. For the first time ever, it took me longer to go down than to go up. Instead, I merely hiked

Summer Coming 2009-04-30 10:58:08.000 - Steve Welsh,  IT Observer My first sighting of a Cog train this year. I haven't been on the summit for three weeks having missed last shift due to a vacation break. Things have certainly changed during this time. When I was last up here it was still mostly winter with crampons needed when venturing outside. The summit cone and surrounding peaks were still covered in snow and ice and the wind still had a bite to it. Yesterday, thanks to the recent mild weather, we managed to make it all the way up the auto

Mike's Mom on the Mountain 2009-04-29 06:25:29.000 - Robin Kay,  Summit Volunteer Ah, it is the dreaded Tuesday night ... perhaps not for everyone here, but for me ... it came to soon. Hello, I am Mike's mom, aka, Robin. This is my second time as a volunteer on the summit and it just keeps on getting better. Two years ago, during my first trip, the weather was lovely (late May) and I had just the best time cooking and baking for the Obs crew. Again this year, the weather has been outstanding and the crew still loves to eat!

Fun with convection! 2009-04-28 15:55:24.000 - Ali Boris,  Summit Intern Mike observing convection (and some higher clouds) Yet again, we've seen a dramatic change in weather up here on the summit in only a few hours. This morning, convective clouds began building near the summit after a nice, blue day and warm night. I followed Mike out to do a couple of observations since I'm working on figuring out cloud heights and approximate cover (few, scattered, broken, overcast). Marty, in turn, followed us, scampering from rock to rock in an effort to keep from being blown away. He has now

A Beautiful Day 2009-04-27 21:55:17.000 - Mike Finnegan,  IT Observer Today was a beautiful day, filled with warm temperatures, lots of sunshine, and just enough wind to keep things refreshing. With such pleasant weather (with the exception of the snow pack disappearing rapidly) at the end of April, we took the opportunity to do a number of things outside. As you may have read in Ali's comment, my Mom is the volunteer on the summit this week. She's been having a great time playing in the high winds earlier in the week and baking innumerable cookies for us all. Unlike

Thats plates, not pilates. 2009-04-26 16:50:15.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Meteorologist Last month I became a year older, which in New Hampshire, means car registration is due. I paid my fees and went on with life as usual but it did get me thinking about license plates in general. In New Hampshire, with the exception of government and veteran plates, there are only two types of plates to choose from: the standard "Old Man of the Mountain" plate or the vanity "Moose" plate. But why only two when our closest neighbors have multiple? Maine has their standard plate and at least

Too much mountain, too little time 2009-04-25 18:42:59.000 - Ali Boris,  Summit Intern A sunrise well worth the early morning wakeup It's always exciting to be up on the summit because there's a never-ending list of things to do. From hiking to hanging out with the observers, there is never a dull moment nor enough time to sleep. This week has begun as no exception. On Wednesday, Ryan, Mike and I passed a soccer ball around out on the Obs deck while light, clumpy snowflakes fell on us. The winds were minimal, but continued to increase into Thursday afternoon when

Springtime Hazards 2009-04-24 16:30:03.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist Lots of snow + lots of wind = big drifts This time of year can be a particularly dangerous one on Mount Washington. Not necessarily just because of the harshness of the weather on the summit, but even more because of the drastic difference between the weather in the valley and the weather on the summit, as well as how quickly things can go from tranquil and spring-like to ferocious mid-winter conditions and back again. The weather over the last few days, as well as the next couple days ahead,