Observer Comments

03:12 Thu May 8th

April 2nd, 2008 was the last time I stepped foot on the summit of Mount Washington, NH. Flash forward roughly 35 days to May 7th, 2008 and my return to an altered summit. Rest easy though, the summit itself remains as true as it did when I left. It still rises to the notable 6288 feet as always and the buildings remain steadfast. It is the weather and the climate that have changed. Let me relate what I mean:

April 2, 2008: The high temperature for the day was 17 above which occurred around 1 am that day before decreasing through the day to about 10 above when I left. It snowed about an inch and there was about 5 inches of snow covering the entire summit with deeper drifts, accumulated from the past season. Winds during my last shift and on the trip down were gusting to 100 mph. We rode the snow cat from summit to base with about 3-4 feet of snow on the valley floors. The auto road had cleared snow from about a quarter mile of road at the base in preparation for their opening date. Almost all the ski resorts around the summit remained open. Everything visible from the summit (about 120 miles) was coated in white with near record snow pacts remaining from this season. My house in Berlin, NH had about a foot or two of snow around it. In short, the tail end of winter. Clothing: Down jacket, thermal underwear, wool socks, winter boots, snow pants, goggles and gloves.

May 7, 2008: The high temperature for the day was 40 above with a low of 26 above occurring around sunrise. It was raining during most of my shift. The snow pack…what snow pack? The summit has a few tiny blotches with streaks visible on the surrounding summits. Most of these streaks, although shrinking, will remain into next month though as these packs are very deep. But the even blanket of white visible across our five state viewing area has been replaced with a neon green hue as trees begin to bud. The auto road is practically clear and is actually open up to half way for tourists, but check their site before planning a trip. We drove from base to summit in our van with chains and four wheel drive to get through the mud and patches of snow that still remain to be cleared but everything looks to be on schedule. I was told the cog started coming up last weekend, which agrees with their website. The state park side of the building is painted and lacquered with tables and chairs ready for their opening day with a few more chores to do. All surrounding ski resorts are closed despite the ribbons of snow that remain, but Tuckerman Ravine still looks good (snowbladed it last Monday, but that’s another story). My house has flowers blooming and this morning, I was kicking myself for not mowing my lawn yesterday. Clothes: Hiking pants, soccer shirt, wool socks, summer boots.

So, hopefully this paints a picture of the changes I saw and felt. But, I remember the wise proverb I learned in junior high: “A picture is worth 1000 words.” So, I took 8 pictures to show the view from our parapet the week before I left and today when I returned. The 8 pictures represent North, Northeast, East, Southeast, South, Southwest, West, and Northwest. And in case you are wondering why I took these pictures before I left, it was not a coincidence. I usually formulate what I am going to write in these observer comments days, weeks, or months before I write them. I just jot down ideas and snap pics that I think might be useful and fun to use in the future. But I may delve into that in another comment. So listed below are the directions I took the pictures as well as a label of “Winter” and “Spring” to show the contrast.

North
Winter/ Spring

Northeast
Winter/ Spring

East
Winter/ Spring

Southeast
Winter/ Spring

South
Winter/ Spring

Southwest
Winter/ Spring

West
Winter/ Spring

Northwest
Winter/ Spring

Ryan Knapp – Staff Meteorologist

07:00 Wed May 7th

no words necessary

Winter returned to the Summit for our second trip as volunteers to the Rockpile. It was great to see the crew again. However, the look on their faces when they discussed the return of winter after a two week hiatus was one of understandable resignation. Back to winter gear for the trip up. We were blessed with beautiful views until we hit near the peak and the snow cat was required for the final leg of the journey. This was a wish answered for my husband Mike and me as we wanted to experience the fun of going up in the snow cat. Wayne’s expertise was greatly admired as we hit a few unexpected washouts in the road from the previous day precipitation.

The week proved memorable with a potpourri of visibility somewhere just beyond your nose, offset by glorious sunsets and 100 mile views of mountain majesty. We were able to get in a couple of days of hiking. Traveling down the Tuckerman ravine trail on dry boulders one minute and across bright and sunny snowfields the next was memorable. The need for wearing your sunglasses while traversing the snow fields was driven home permanently. The view of the bowl from Lion’s Head provided entertainment sporting ant like creatures on skis having a fine time.

Back at the bunker water restrictions were in force at this time secondary to the tanks not being pumped out during the winter months. Hat hair and a protective crust is the norm for the folks pulling duty this time of year and showers the most anticipated and joyous moment when one comes down the mountain after a week of work.

Food preparation is a joy up here and the opportunity to provide nourishment and goodies is a treat for those who volunteer. I’m convinced that anything we served the crew would be met with smiles and they would say it was the best they’ve ever eaten but it’s the silence at dinner when they first dig in that makes you realize they truly do appreciate all that the volunteers provide when they come up to help out. The fun for us is sitting around the table listening to all the good natured bantering after spending a whole day working with the weather.

No report would be complete without the mention of the latest full time obs member, Marty. Marty rocks, he is awesome and be warned…one must be careful of where they sit when he is around. Stealth kitty army crawls over the chairs while they are positioned under the table, several of us when sitting down for a meal have been more than a little taken aback by the yellow eyes that suddenly light up from the “shadow” that has parked itself on your anticipated seat. I swear I could hear him quietly giggle as the sitter almost connected with the sittee.

It’s a beautiful day to head out and back to the real world but with a measure of sadness too. Ryan Buckley, the summit intern will be leaving the Rockpile to return to life as a student at Wentworth Institute for Technology in Boston and as all have told him, he will be missed. Good luck Ryan, may the winds be always at your back!

Mike & Sue Zlogar – Summit Volunteers

06:38 Tue May 6th

I'm working nights this week. It has been quite a lot of darkness, hardly able to see the A-frame when I walk outside. We spent a few days in the fog, and that coupled with the fact the moon was rising in the wee hours of the morning and was approaching new moon, made it very dark.

Yesterday morning, just after my shift ended at 4:30 AM EST, we moved in and out of the clouds for sunrise making for some ephemeral moments. Not long after, we broke out of the clouds revealing a partial undercast, brilliant sunlight, and brisk (but invigorating) temperatures at 36 degrees. Sunlight has an interesting effect of giving one energy, and I was now wide awake. Wide awake and off shift…the only option I really had was to go for a hike, because I clearly couldn’t go to bed. So I hiked on down to Ball Crag, hopping from rock to rock, avoiding the alpine vegetation covered in white rime ice. In time, I made may way down to near the Alpine Garden, when I noticed I was getting sleepy. I’d been up since 2:30 the previous afternoon, so that made good sense. I also happened to be in an area with calm winds and a nice flat rock, so I set out my half pad and rested back on my pack as a pillow, catching a half hour or so of sleep in the alpine tundra, the sun nearly causing me to overheat. When I woke, I walked over to some snowfields, figuring they would be faster to descend on, and glissaded on down. As always, this was quite a lot of fun. I wandered on over to Cow Pasture so I could catch a glimpse into the Great Gulf, since I had been looking towards Tucks all morning. Hiking through Cow Pasture, I followed a dilapidated wire fence and old posts. This led me to an interesting rock – an erratic perched atop a commoner. I then walked home, falling asleep by 11:15 in the morning.

Ay, but the story does not end there…I woke up to find Kyle wanting to head to the East Fields for a few runs, and as I had walked by them that morning, knew I couldn’t really pass up the opportunity myself. In another month or so, I would do anything to take a run down those slopes, so I left myself few options than to go. There was not a track on the frozen granular surface until we laid a few long turns down it. Conditions were favorable to booting back up as well, so I made one more run for good measure.

I then hiked over to see Kyle, Stacey, and Michelle who were hanging out atop Ball Crag. We took in the views among good company, then hiked on…to home for some, to work for others. Now I’ve worked another full night and it’s 6:30 on another beautiful day. However, I’m pretty tuckered, so I think I’ll just head to bed and count some sheep. I love ewe.

Mike Finnegan – IT Observer

13:14 Sat May 3rd

“What’s it like being the only girl on the summit?”

This was the question asked of me by one of our volunteers this week. For some, I think living on the summit, in the winter, with boys might be a trying experience. None of us shower for the duration of our stay, due to the limited waste water storage (ick, cooties). I must admit, there have been some occasions when I’ve wished there was another girl up here. For the most part, it’s just like living with three brothers; sometimes I have to put the seat down and pick up dishes, but the overall feeling is one like a family. I grew up a tomboy, hanging out with my brother and his friends. We would go on adventures in the woods, play baseball and basketball, go fishing and biking. Getting dirty was never an issue with me, and the lack of girls never bothered me. In middle school I played kickball with the boys and was always the first girl chosen to be on sports teams.

There are certain rituals that take place before I walk into the summit building. The first is that I mentally turn off the female part of my brain. This is so I don’t get offended by the copious gaseous expulsions and the smell of not showering for a week. Then, I settle in for a comfortable week as one of the boys. (This is particularly funny, due to a mistake on my current license). There is a fair amount of good-natured teasing and bickering and B-grade action movies. All in all, it’s good fun, but it certainly is nice to turn the “girl” back on when I get off the summit.

Stacey Kawecki – Observer

15:06 Fri May 2nd

A bit hazy, but a nice start to the day!

It has been a pleasant day upon the summit this lovely Friday the 2nd of May. Temperatures have been hovering near the freezing mark and winds have been light and variable. Halos increased and decreased in intensity with the ever morphing upper level ice crystal clouds. Sunglasses have replaced goggles and snow pants are hanging on the clothing racks. It may be just a tad below freezing but the strong spring sun is more than enough to overcome a slight chill in the air during the afternoon hours. The snow is melting slowly but that has not stopped people’s spring skiing ambitions. Ice from the most recent storm is starting to come down but some structures have not yet shed the bulk of it. Keep that in mind if you plan to hike to the summit. Luckily most of these problem areas are not ideal resting spots or great places to picnic anyways.

In other news, two State Park trucks made it up to the summit earlier today with four wheel drive and chains. Some of the washout areas along the 6 mile that we saw during shift change on Wednesday have been repaired allowing for improved travel. The Auto Road will open this Saturday for it’s 147th season and allow travel up to treeline. For more details visit their website. To see how the whole process unfolded and what work still remains check out their Road Blog for stories, pictures, movies, and comments.

Kyle Paddleford – Meteorologist

07:39 Thu May 1st

Temperature: 8 degrees F

Wind: W 71 MPH

Wind Chill: -23 degrees F

Visibility: 1/16 mile

Weather Conditions: Freezing fog, light snow, and blowing snow

These were the conditions when I checked the Mount Washington Observatory’s website just before leaving my house to drive to the base of the Auto Road. I quickly threw on a pair of snow pants, ascertained that I had my hat, gloves, face mask and goggles before starting my car and heading north. 7.2 inches of snow fell on Tuesday, and the summit was once again covered in a blanket of white.

This was quite a change from last Wednesday, when we recorded a new record high temperature and only patches of snow, many puddles, and lots of miniature rivers littered the summit cone. Even though we are supposed to understand that weather on Mount Washington is, at best, fickle, I think we all were hoping for a slightly warmer welcome to the summit. With May here, I think we were all just a little disappointed that snow pants and insulated boots would once again be adorned and Carhartts and sneakers put on the hook for another day. Even though it’s a little chilly today, it won’t be long before the sounds of the Cog Railway chugging up the tracks, cars driving up the Auto Road, hikers and tourists milling about the building overcome the sounds of winter.

Stacey Kawecki – Observer