Early in the morning Friday our luck finally ran out. The hurricane that was making its way up the coast finally caught up to us.
This was not entirely bad because we needed some rest. Every time I woke up I would check the radar and if there was no end in sight I went back to sleep. It was frustrating because we were on the westernmost side of the storm, almost out of the rain, but the storm was moving pretty much straight north.
The rain finally cleared up around 2:00, so I packed up and headed for the mountain. I thought Mark had already left, but when I got top the mountain he texted me asking when we were going to leave. I told him I was already there and I would wait for him. While I waited I talked to this lady:
She gave me a bunch of inside information about the area and was really nice to talk to. I was a little worried because their signs were kind of scary:
She said “Just stay away from the edge and you will be fine.” That seemed like good, solid advice to me.
After a while Mark showed up.
By now I was just itching to get to the top. We started up and the higher we got the worse the weather became. Mostly fog and rain with a decent amount of cold thrown in and a bit of wind. Here is some video of the ride up.
It was very strange at the top. It almost felt like we were on another planet.
A lot of folks chose to ride the train to the top or ride in one of their vans. I think that would have taken much of the fun out of it.
The tracks just seem to drop right off the side of the mountain.
After we had explored the top we were very cold and wet and decided to head back to the bottom. I think the weather was actually worse on the way down.
If you are ever in the area this is a place that you need to visit. It was an amazing thing to see, and I hope I can do it again on a clear day. The ride looks scarier than it actually is on the video, and any reasonably skilled rider on most any motorcycle should be able to make the ride safely. The few hours at Mt. Washington will always be one of my fondest memories.