Mount Washington Auto Road: Going up?

It's a 4,727-foot worthwhile climb to the top — but bring a sweater

Bob Dunn--story and photos

The original name for what we now know as Mount Washington was ”Agiocochook” (Home of the Great Spirit), named by the Indians prior to the arrival of the white settlers. It was later renamed Mount Washington, as part of the Presidential Range of the White Mountains. The mountain was first climbed by Darby Field of Exeter in 1642, and the first hotel, The Summit House, was built more than 200 years later in 1852 and was so busy that another hotel was built to open the next year.




The Tip Top House was constructed in 1853, and this building still stands today. It's an absolute must to visit when you reach the top of the mountain. Originally, these buildings were hotels so people could spend a relatively comfortable night or two to relax after their trip up the mountain — either climbing or, after 1861, riding the stage up to the top on the Coach Road. A mere eight years later, in 1869, the Cog Railway came up the western side of the mountain, and riders could spend the night if they wished. The Cog Railway is three miles long, and the Coach Road is seven and a half miles in length.







The Mount Washington Observatory of the National Weather Bureau has had a site on the top since 1932. In April of 1934 the Bureau officially recorded the wind at 231 mph, and to this day this stands as the record for the highest recorded wind speed in the western hemisphere. A faster speed of 253 mph was recorded in 1995 on Barrow Island off the western coast of Australia.




The Observatory building still stands and is another spot to visit. The chains that loop over the top of the building were common on all the older buildings at the top of the mountain to hold them from blowing away. The chains were anchored in concrete and are now a popular spot to have your photo taken as you hold onto one of them.




The Sherman Adams Summit House is a large building with a U.S. Post Office, snack bar, State Park information counter, restrooms and gift shop. At the top of the Adams building is a large Observation Deck from which on a clear day you can see the Atlantic Ocean, the Mount Washington Hotel down in Bretton Woods and all the other mountains and valley for miles.




The Coach/Auto Road climbs 4,727 feet to the top elevation of 6,288 feet, and the current owner has been operating the road since 1907. There are no guard rails, so it is best to take the Van ride up if driving the road would make you nervous. The temperature difference from the base to top can be quite drastic, so even in hot weather bring a sweater or jacket so you can spend time exploring the top of the mountain.




Driving up is great, and there are many pull offs to stop and enjoy the view; these are used also by cars coming down to give the up-going cars the right of way if necessary. The way up in the early days took about four hours as the horse and carriage wagons were the only means unless you wanted to hike a trail. The first Stanley Steamer up the road was driven by Feelan Stanley in 1899, and I bet that was quite a ride with many stops to add water. The first gasoline-driven car was in 1902. Today many cars tackle the trip to the top each day.

I have been on top of the mountain many times, but this June was my first trip up the Auto Road, and it brought back memories of my first time reaching the top of Mount Washington. I was working as a bellhop for the summer of 1944 at the Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, at the base on the west side of the mountain. The Cog Railway was not operating that summer due to the war, and a fellow worker and I thought it would be great to go to the top of the mountain.

We checked the various trails up from the west side, and, while the Ammonoosuc Trail seemed the closest, it wandered back and forth up the mountain on the map, so I suggested that the shortest way up would be up the Cog Railway. We left the Hotel and hiked up to the base of the Cog Railway with no one around but the two of us. It was a warm summer day, and we knew to take a sweatshirt along to keep warm when we got to the top.

Treading up the individual ties went smoothly until we had gone about a mile. Then they began to get very tiresome, and it was very warm. We spotted a railway water tower up ahead. When we got there we pulled the rope, and water came down. There was no one around so we stripped and had a quite warm shower as the water had been sitting in the tank for maybe a couple of years. We stayed there until we dried off. It was probably a good thing that we didn’t drink any of the water.

When we arrived at the turn on the Cog that is called “Jacob’s Ladder” we were very careful taking each step as the drop down to the ground seemed a long way. We made it to the top, but both agreed that we would definitely find another route down. We did not have any money, so we started walking down the Auto Road and hitchhiking; and after a while one of the van drivers stopped and gave us a ride down. We then hitchhiked to North Conway and the conductor of the train, whom we knew, gave us a ride back up to Fabyan and the Hotel.




The Auto Road has many yearly events. Two of them have already been held for 2010: the yearly motorcycle climb where only bikes are allowed on the road; and the foot race to the top. This year was the 50th anniversary of the foot race, with 916 finishers of the 7.6 mile race. The men’s winner was Chris Siemer from Chicago, whose time was one hour and 22 seconds; second was Ernie Blake from Connecticut, who had won the race in 2006 and 2008. The women’s winner was Shewarge Amara from Ethiopa, who set a women’s record of one hour 8 minutes and 21 seconds. Coming up in August will be the annual bike race on August 21, with a limit of 600 racers — already sold out for this year. There will also be a Sunrise Drive to the top on July 25 and August 28th with the road opening at 3:30 a.m. so bring your cameras to catch the sunrise.

A definite must is to visit the Museum at the Glen House Red Barn at the base either before going up or after. The old photos and various antiques are worth the view to imagine what it was like back 100 years ago.

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July, 2010

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