climbed to the clouds

"OPPOsaurus WRX" (opposaurus)
07/18/2016 at 08:29 • Filed to: None

On my first visit to a few years ago, I didn’t really understand the name ‘Climb to the Clouds. Sure there were clouds but it didn’t really look and different from any regular sky on lower land.

This weekend I climbed the Tuckerman Trail up Mt Washington. Damn, that was a hike.... which didn’t really feel like a hike at the top but more like rock climbing. It was the longest 4.2 miles I’ve ever experienced. o its also 4200' of elevation gain to 6289 ft.

The start of the hike was hard. we were is some dence woods and it was hot and humid. 1/8th of a mile and i’m starting to drip sweat. We saw a Volvo in the woods.

the “trail”... I think that is the peak in the far far distance, it could have just been one of the many ridges that tricked us into thinking we were almost there.

there are still tress, we’re not close

at this point there were no tress, we’re less far

Enter Sci-fi movie setting. We could see a cloud over the ridge coming at us. As it overtook the mountain it rolled down the valley like a fog coming to eat your flesh and leave your bones in the mountains. It there weren’t a ton of people around it probably would have been pretty scary.

visibility was 20-30 feet at some points. (not me)

but we finally made it. this was the first car I saw

we also did Storyland. that was exciting too. here is the other moose we saw in the woods

and my old WRX just for the memories....

DISCUSSION (6)

functionoverfashion > OPPOsaurus WRX
07/18/2016 at 08:43

No matter how many times I hike up in the Whites, I’m always amazed at how different it is up there than down in the valleys, so to speak.

One thing that keeps it in perspective for me, is that for all the heat we experience here in the summer, the all time record high temperature on top of Mount Washington is 72F. Right this moment it’s 8:40am and it’s 72 degrees here about an hour away, while it’s 52 on the summit with 37mph winds and clouds - more like a hypothermia-inducing howl at that rate. But this is normal, 35 is the average wind speed all the freaking time up there.

In any case that hike is spectacular, especially the Tuckerman Ravine part. I’ve been skiing up there lots of times, it’s always an adventure. This year sucked, I didn’t even try to go.

OPPOsaurus WRX > functionoverfashion
07/18/2016 at 08:45

yep, i think it was in the 80's at the base when we started and 52 and windy at the top when we finished. The last guy to die on the mountain was mid-may from environmental hypothermia or something like that. I think he was #157 on the board.

Sam > OPPOsaurus WRX
07/18/2016 at 08:48

I went to the Rockies and got to experience eye level clouds. It’s really just like being in a dense fog, but certainly a neat experience.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Sam
07/18/2016 at 13:08

it definitely added another level of excitement to the climb. It started right about the same time as we passed a group of the oddest people i’ve ever seen on a mountain. They were somewhere between emo and German satanist or something. It was the type of people you’d expect to be hanging out in an cemetery or abandoned morgue. I’m pretty sure one of the women had a Hitler stache tattoo and they were blaring some type of weird emo/death metal music you would expect in a vampire movie..

Dusty Ventures > OPPOsaurus WRX
07/18/2016 at 17:15

Go figure, I hiked Tuckerman’s a week ago. That trail is an absolute bitch. Definitely not using it for Oppomeet 2017. Of the four trails I’ve done Jewell is the easiest, planning on using that one. And taking the Cog Rail back down for the sake of time.

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OPPOsaurus WRX > Dusty Ventures
07/18/2016 at 18:27

Lol that moment was about 1/4 Mile in. We took the van down. There will have to be some messed up stuff to keep me from that in 17