The Great Gulf

2006-07-06 08:03:51.000 – Jim Salge,  Observer

The Great Gulf Headwall and Spaulding Lake

After the streak that Ryan and I have had on our shifts for the past few months, it was nice to come up to the summit under clear skies yesterday. Though there is no logical reason for it, our shift has seen more of the rainy and foggy days of late, though in this weather pattern no one has seen it good per say. It just seems that the breaks fall on the times we’re off the hill. If we want to be real technical though, I just go ahead and forecast fog for when Ryan starts his 12 hour shift…

After shift, I took advantage of the surprisingly nice weather and went for a hike down to the headwall of the Great Gulf. The view from Mount Clay is, to me, unparalleled in the Whites, but I haven’t gotten down there since winter ended. The landscape has changed a bit since then. The snow in the gullies has been replaced with lush green growth, and the fragile snow bank plant communities were in full bloom. Spaulding Lake a thousand feet below was quite full, and the echoing sounds of the Gulf’s waterfalls were thundering and echoing off the mountains. All in all, a great walk in a nice change in the weather. And then I turned around and the summit was in the fog…Ryan had begun his shift!

High pressure is building in today, and it looks like nice weather will hold now, and into the weekend! Perhaps it’ll be a good weekend to get a good training hike in for Seek the Peak. Only a few weeks now until the Mount Washington Observatory’s annual fundraiser, scheduled this year for July 22nd. Be sure to get your registrations in early to ensure your goodie bag and event t-shirt. For full details on this great event, click here!

Jim Salge,  Observer