Dolly Copp was the closest to the trailhead and quite frankly, the cheapest. We elected to stay at the Dolly Copp Campground. And lucky for you I am here to answer the questions. So the question soon became, where, how close and how much. Combined with the fact that I like to be outdoors, we had the dogs, and hotels are stupidly expensive, we planned to camp the night before and the night after. I wanted to hike Mt Washington, and the drive to the mountain was roughly five hours from my home in Stonington. And then there is the shuttle (for one way only) one way up or one way down from $31 to $50 one way depending on when you purchase the ticket (or even higher if you are up there after the last shuttle leaves). A beautiful historic train ride but again costly at $69 round trip or $48 one way.Ĥ. One hour up, one hour at the summit, and one hour down. You can also take the train up, the historic Cogg Railway.

But don't worry, that fee includes the bumper sticker.ģ. The 2016 rates are $29 for the car and driver, and an additional $9 for adult passengers (and $7 for kids). You can drive up your car, earning the famous 'This car climbed Mt Washington' sticker, but it will cost you. However, if hiking isn't your thing, you may be reading the wrong blog there are other ways to stand on the top of Mount Washington to feel the hurricane force wind blowing through your hair.Ģ. And we get into all the nitty gritty of that later.

Of course, you can hike to the summit (4.3 miles one way about 3-5 hours) which is my preferred way to see the summit. There are a few ways to get to the summit.ġ. To date, 135 people have lost their lives on or around the mountain since 1849 (more than on Mt McKinley - the tallest mountain in North America). However, many hikers choose to climb this mountain and a large number are very unprepared. The point is the mountain is very accessible (yep, not too far from an amusement park even) and every year a quarter of a million people visit the summit - most drive the auto road to the top or take the cog railway. Washington is within one day’s drive of 70 million people. Add in its popularity and proximity to so many people and you have a dangerous scenario.Īrticles state that Mt. Washington Observatory located at the summit sees on averages 256 inches of snow each year. Hurricane force winds occur on average about every three days at the summit, which is also covered in dense fog 60 percent of the time. The Mt. The highest wind velocity ever recorded at any surface weather station was at the summit of Mt Washington at 231 mph on in 1934. So the mountain is very steep, you get it, but it also has some crazy weather. Mt Washington earned its status as #59 on the Ultra Prominent Summit List (A list of summits with over 5,000' in prominence). So Elevation : 6,289′, Prominence : 6,148′ - read 'this is going to be a tough hike'. It's not how high you are from sea level, but how 'prominent' you are. Think of it as a 'more fair' way to evaluate a peak. But for the quick and dirty, ' Prominence is the elevation difference between a peaks' key saddle and the summit, measuring how far a m ountain rises above the lowest contour that it encircles, and not a higher peak'. One of my Utah hiking friends Girl On A Hike has a great post all about prominence. However, it is ranked at #24 by prominence and is an Ultra Prominent Peak. Washington is only ranked at #413 for the USA Lower 48 High Points. The mountain summit is at 6,288 ' above sea level and is no giant compared to some of North America's summits. If you are scratching your head trying to figure out why (because it's just New Hampshire, right?), grab a coffee and let's have a quick chat about the peak, the weather and its proximity to the public. We reached parking lot and our cars around 2 pm.The summit of Mt Washington is known as the 'most dangerous small mountain in the world'. The first part, about 2 miles, of our descend is above treeline and since sky started to clear out we were able to enjoy some amazing views. We had lunch at the summit and started descending on Gulfside trail and Jewel trail. It was pretty windy on the summit but wind opened some great views. We took a short break at AMC Lakes in the Clouds hut and continued to the summit. This trail is fairly difficult and offers some great views on Mount Washington valley, but visibility was really poor due clouds and fog.

We started early around 5 am from Ammonoosuc Ravine Trailhead. Me and few friends participated in this year's Seek the Peak Challenge which has a goal to raise money for Mount Washington Observatory. Washington via Ammonoosuc Ravine trail and Jewel trail.

Mt washington observatory