Mount Washington Cog Railway

Travel Day from Maine to New Hampshire. We made a big and silly deal about leaving I-95. A lot of RVers say that freeway is horrible. For us, it was a great road and we were on it a lot from Florida to Maine. No pot holes and traffic was never bad for us. So thankful. (Perhaps the sections are bad in places where we weren’t on that road.)

The two lane road meandered through…trees…and small towns. Then we saw long hills. Soon we were in New Hampshire, a first time for both of us. Pretty quick we saw some baby mountains. We were only 460 ft above sea level but saw some peaks that were nice to see through the trees. There are ski resorts around here, too. As we headed north through White Mountain National Forest, we reach elevation of barely 2000 ft and then back down again. Then we saw Mount Washington. This mountain is the highest mountain north of the smokies and east of the Mississippi River. The top is 6288 ft above sea level. I kept checking cell service and we had it right until after the turn off to the campground. HA Kevin set up the Clam because there are tons of bugs here. A nice walk in the evening, just up the road, down to the river behind us, and back. We are in bear country and lots of warning signs on what to do with food, trash, etc. You even have to lock your vehicles because bears can open the doors. Wow.

One day we decided to drive about 5 miles to Gorham library. I had read the history of the library when looking for it. The town had a library, it burned, books put in a city building for a library. Years later a man donated his fancy house, “a mansion” to be the library and it was moved to town. It was fun to see the different rooms inside. 

For dinner I had planned Campfire Pizza – obviously made on a campfire – but we were hungry and didn’t want to wait for the fire so I made it in the oven. It took a long time to get a fire go and going. On the way home (footnote 1) from town we had stopped along the side of the road to buy firewood that was $5 a bundle. Yep, it is so wet it won’t burn. A guy in a campsite across from us must have felt sorry for us because he came over and gave Kevin 6 pieces of tiny starter wood. I asked Kevin if it was wax and he said no, he thought it was soaked in diesel. That did the trick, plus, Kevin walked to the camp host and bought a bundle of wood for $8. This was dryer and did better. Four hours later we had a good fire and a few coals and Kevin said I could now cook dinner. 😂 Good I cooked inside earlier! 

Each Train Car Has An Engine. Mount Washington, NH 07/24

Around 6:45 a.m. we headed out to drive the almost hour to the other side of the mountain. Our campground is on the east side of Mount Washington and we were headed to the west side. Mount Washington Cog Railway climbs to the highest peak in the Northeast. It opened to the public on July 3, 1869. The Cog Railway climbs about 3 miles to the top with an average grade over 25%. One place the grade is 37%. You go 2.8 mph going up and 4.6 mph going down. We didn’t get tickets ahead of time but were early enough in the day to get them no problem. When we walked to the ticket booth, the guy said I had “the best and biggest smile he had seen.” Aww. The tickets are pricey, $84 each, but we felt it was worth it. Kevin then asked if there was a guide on the train who would be talking. Yes and then even before Kevin could ask the next question, the nice guy said they had a script and got me one. Oh, I was blown away! This place gets an A. (I am deaf.) The trip is 3 hours long: 1 hour going up, 1 hour at the summit and 1 hour coming back down. We liked this Cog tons better than a ski lift ride! The only one tiny disappointment was this: no where in the pamphlet or online website, that I saw, did it say what the script and guide told us – there are only 3 days a year that it is clear at the top. The website and pamphlet say how you can see several states and on a really clear day the ocean. Nope, it is covered in a cloud. It would not have changed our plans (although I suspect it would for some people) but would have been nice to be informed ahead of time.

Camera Is Level! That Is The Grade Up To The Summit, Mount Washington, NH 07/24

On the ride up, the guide said you could stand and what a funny angle people looked. People hike to the top of the summit but take the train down because it is just too hard to climb down. They buy a one-way ticket. The summit is so covered in clouds that people get lost quickly and I can see how that is! At the top, at times, we couldn’t even see the building right next to us. The top part is a state park and they have Carins every 50 ft to mark the trail. The Appalachian Trail actually crosses the top here. 

Falling Off The Edge Of The World! Or So It Looks. Mount Washington, NH 07/24

At the top we could barely see a few feet away. One train car is pushed by one biodiesel engine. They have a steam engine that costs more to ride and runs once a day. As we got off at the top, it looked like our engine was hanging off the edge of the world, into the great unknown. Inside the building at the top they have a place for hikers, large room of tables, small food area, bathrooms, and a tiny store. On the monitor we saw currently the wind speed was 35 mph gusting to 39 mph and the temp was 52.8° F with 100% relative humidity. Glad we knew to take our winter coats! I saw in the museum that it reached 72° as a high once. The buildings at the top are chained down because of the winds and can get 72 ft of snow.

Wind Speed 231!!! You Can Read Their Excitement! Mount Washington, NH 07/24

This place has 3 weather systems that converge here. That made the famous “Big Wind.” April 12, 1934 the staffed weather station observed the world record wind speed of 231 mph! It was only broken over 60 years later by a tropical cyclone in Australia. This is a fun read: https://mountwashington.org/remembering-the-big-wind/ The journal of the Big Wind is there in the tiny basement museum and is neat to read his words. You can “hear” the excitement and aww in his writing. 

Appalachian Trail Where It Crosses The Summit, Mount Washington, NH 07/24

Outside sometimes you could barely see a few feet in front of you. We had our winter coats on and I had my ear band/muffs on. We found the Appalachian Trail sign, took a picture and Kevin sent it to his brother who has walked a lot of the trail down south. There was fast AT&T internet on the summit.  

Engine Pushes Or Holds Back Cog Rail Train Car, Mount Washington, NH 07/24

Interested to read in the script and to see visually, the engines aren’t hooked to the cars. They either push or hold it back. The engine has a roller that goes up and down a plate on the train car. 

Camera Is Level! Going Down, Mount Washington, NH 07/24

This guide told us that a few years ago some hikers were protesting the biodiesel engines that crossed their path near the top of the summit. They would stand along the trail and “moon” the train going past. It was called “cheeks at the peak”. It got so bad that the New Hampshire state police had to come and ride the train and ticket the protesters. The locals dubbed the area “Moon Peak.”

Midnight Voting, The Balams Resort, Dixville, NH 07/24

I knew Dixville / Dixville Notch is where the first voting in the US happens at midnight on election day. From Autio (footnote 2) we learned the reason started so the railroad workers could vote before going to work. Good for them! They used to vote at what is now The Balsams Resort but it is currently closed for renovations. It is a huge and fancy resort there. Google says the population was 11 in 2018 and Autio said recently there were 5 votes. Only saw a house or two but those could have been in a different voting district. OH, we saw a sign that said “13 Mile Woods” and Kevin about choked with laughter. “Only 13 miles? How about the entire east of the US!” 🤪

Literally, Drying Out Wood Wet With Humidity! Dolly Copp Campground, Gorham, NH 07/24

Another late afternoon, Kevin started a campfire. We decided to not do packets because we didn’t want to wait for coals so we did hot dogs. Hum, the best hot dog is one cooked over a campfire! The wood here is so “moist” with humidity that Kevin actually place a bunch of the pieces standing up in the fire ring to try to dry out while the other was burning. It worked out perfectly! Much better than the campfire the other day. 

1. “Home” is where we park it. Home is our 2022 Alliance Avenue, 36 ft, 5th wheel.

2. Autio is an iPhone app that tells all sorts of history and stories about places all over the country. It is narrated and with my iPhone on accessibility, it shows captions of the words being said. So thankful!