45 Hikers From Sundance & Chiltern (Many Also AMC) Climb Highest Peak In Eastern USA, Mt. Washington, & Camp At AMCs Highest Mountain Cabin, Lake Of The Clouds Five hikes for almost all ability levels, from relatively-easy … to extremely-demanding-&-strenuous On July 4th weekend, our group of 45 outdoor enthusiasts - members of Sundance and Chiltern enjoyed a fabulous trip on Mount Washington, the 6,288 foot star attraction of the White Mountains' Presidential Range. One of the most remarkable features of Mt. Washington is its extreme weather conditions that change unpredictably and rapidly. Because of its notoriety for fierce storms arising without any warning, snow has fallen here in every month of the year, Mt. Washington has been dubbed as having the “worst weather in the world”. Therefore, on a hike here when you get great weather you know the weather God’s have been kind and they were very kind to us. We had great weather and an all round tremendous trip. The Adventure Begins All Sundance memb ers met at the Hikers Paradise hostel in Gorham, which is the nearest town to Mt. Washington. Part of our group arrived there on Thursday July 3 and others arrived on Friday July 4. Most Chiltern members arrived on July 4 and some stayed at Hikers Paradise while most camped at Barnes Field. We were luck to have enough cars (and matching work-schedules) so that everyone who needed a ride from NY, NJ, CT, or MA, on the day they need it, had one. As we drove into Gorham after an extremely comfortable ride, we saw the tail end of the July 4 parade, and went looking for a chilled beer. Later when we got to the hostel we met the group who’d arrived a day earlier and they told us about a river swimming hole in the forest. So we all piled into one car and that’s where we went. The forest swimming hole was every bit as amazing as the guys had described. It really was a great find and a great way to kick-off the holiday. Within a few moments of arriving there it seemed that civilization was a million- miles-away. I loved the sense of seclusion. The river current was gentle enough to slowly float or to happily sit anchored between rocks & let the water flow over ones shoulders. For those who wanted to remain dry, there were huge smooth boulders for sun bathing & relaxing. There were a few other people playing in the water but there was almost no noise - what a far cry from the noise of Manhattan that we had left behind only a few hours earlier! For dinner we all met for a Potluck at Chiltern’s campsite at Barnes Field. This was a great evening for meeting everyone after all the months of planning. It was wonderful to meet the people whose names had become familiar after the many months of exchanging e-mails. Five Exhilarating Hikes From the beginning we wanted people of almost every level of ability to participate and the many different options allowed this. Next day after an early breakfast, we set off on five different hikes. All hikers enjoyed climbing over very steep and extremely jagged terrain. The toughest hike required almost 10 miles of hiking on extremely difficult terrain, with lots of ups and downs, and very few “out” options; while the easiest hike in contrast was for 2 miles. The most strenuous hike was The Presidential Traverse led by Dan, which was an exhilarating physical challenge … the most historical hike was on the country's oldest continuously maintained hiking trail, the Crawford Path, which has been in use for over 175 years, and it was led by Judy …… two other great hikes, the Great Gulf hike was led by Mike, and the Ammonoosuc Ravine hike was led by Steve … the relatively-easiest hike was my group that hiked exclusively in the arctic tundra landscape above the clouds above treeline; after first driving up on the Auto road to the peak. Mt. Washington has one of the largest areas above treeline because of its extreme weather, and it offers a unique opportunity for easy & moderate level hikers to enjoy this extraordinary landscape; that is normally accessible only to the most athletic-hikers. Each of the hikes offered a unique experience for admiring the many different landscapes of Mt. Washington (which are dramatically different in different sections) – they vary from Tuckerman’s Ravine, which looks like a gigantic crater from outer space, ….. to the Great Gulf Wilderness which from the peak appears to be endless Amazon forests … all the way to the Arctic Tundra Alpine Garden flowers and krummholz (wind-stunted trees) eking out a living among the ice-shattered rock and gail-forc e winds. Sundance & Chiltern Mt. Washington Trip July 4th weekend 2003 Page 2 of 4 ….. although we were a large group, we had plenty of opportunity to enjoy moments of private reflection. Lake Of The Clouds Hut Each hike started from a different trailhead around the mountain’s base, but we all met up at the mountaintop at the Lake of the Clouds Hut. There we had nametags for all our “family” which made it easier to meet. Later I enjoyed sitting on the rocks outside the hut & admiring nature’s work of millions of years in creating this spectacular beauty. Dinner at the hut was a really fun time. We’d built-up a good appetite after the hikes, there was a lot of laughter, and just an all-round-great- atmosphere. Afterwards, we had the “traditional” entertainment by the crew (the young guy’s & gals that work at the huts) who put on an entertaining show every day! WOW! What a bunch of talented people! All the food at the hut is carried in by these people …. And! all garbage is carried out!! Later that night we had a cloudy sunset; and it even began to rain when we had to rush inside. But, amazingly, after dark the sky cleared-up completely and as a result we saw the most incredible fireworks display which was taking place far below in the valley at the Mt. Washington Hotel. It was very strange to see the fireworks bursting below ones head instead of on top! Unbelievably, the display was much-much-much better than the Macy’s display in New York … who would have imagined that from the highest peak in White Mountains we’d see spectacular fireworks! Sundance & Chiltern Mt. Washington Trip July 4th weekend 2003 Page 3 of 4 Next Day Our “wake-up” call was two of the crewmembers singing by torchlight. This was a very touching scene with a wonderful sense of family about it, and family we’d become, all 45 of us. It was wonderful how well everyone got along. After breakfast, we gathered in the misty morning outside to bide our farewells. On the way back, people had the option of going down on a different hike than the one on which they had come -up to enjoy the many dramatically different views of this magnificent place; and many took advantage of that. As we went on our final hikes, we again basked in the dramatic & ever changing scenery of on the granite cliffs, steep ravines, tumbling cataracts, endless terrain of jagged rocks, beautiful meadows, rare alpine flowers blooming … and added to our store of already incredible memories as we ended the trip. A Huge Thanks To Everyone For Making This Trip Terrific Some Very special Thanks An Incredible Trip Like This Owes Many Thanks To Many People: Dan Nelson: The incredible outdoorsman for his leadership, and for the Krzystoff and Shawn: For being wonderful about incredible amount of help & advice he provided me in all stages of the trip, providing rides from New York, which allowed so many and of course for leading the Presidential Traverse. Sundancers to be part of the fun. Paul Campbell: Whose terrific guidance and support started me to first Michael Walsh, AMC Outdoors Expert at Pinkhan think about leading this kind of trip …… and throughout the different Notch: For providing me endless hours of invaluable stages as this trip kept ballooning-out and becoming a lot bigger than I ever advice that helped to make our trip the success it was. imagined his help was always amazing. AMC Crew & Resident Volunteer at Lake Of The Mike Boisvert: For his tremendous help during my scouting-hike on Mt. Clouds Hut : Dan, Ben, Julia, Jon, Catharine, Oopey, Washington three weeks before our full-group hike, a whole bunch of other Iona, Lyne, Mike, and Anna, (hope I got all the names!) terrific advise, and for leading the Great Gulf hike. Dale Geslien & Leo Kelly, AMC CT: For the Steve Pinkham: For arranging the wonderful Potluck dinner which was an outstanding wilderness-leadership & first-aid workshops outstanding opportunity for the group to meet, and which really set the tone — as a result we had a totally safe tremendously fun trip. for a wonderful experience at the mountaintop the next evening; and for Sandy Dunn & Peter Broderick, AMC Narragansett: leading the Ammonoosuc Ravine hike. For the terrific winter hiking program — on the pre -trip scouting-hike to Mt. Washington it was blisteringly-hot at Judy Hawkins: For her wonderful generosity in showing us various sights of the mountain – from a 4 am watch-the-sunrise hike to climbing Mt. the base while full winter gear was required at the top! Monroe, and for leading the Direttissima & Crawford Path hike.