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Fourty-Five Chiltern and Sundance Hikers Climb the Highest Peak in the Northeast - Mt. Washington
By Ravi Gupta.
Because of it’s 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 very kind, and they were very kind to us. We had great weather. Most Chiltern members arrived in New Hampshire on July 4. Most camped at Barnes Field, while some stayed at Hikers Paradise hostel in Gorham, which is the nearest town to Mt. Washington, where all the Sundance members were staying. There was also a group that stayed at the GO Center. We were luck to have enough drivers with complimentary work schedules, so that everyone who needed a ride from NY, NJ, CT, and MA, on the day they need it, had one. As our group drove into Gorham after an extremely comfortable ride, we saw the tail end of their July 4 parade, and stopped for a chilled beer. Later when we got to the Hikers Paradise 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 many months of planning. It was wonderful to meet people whose names had become familiar from all the e-mail exchanges. Five Exhilarating Hikes The next day after an early breakfast, we set off on our hikes. We had eight different hikes going to the summit. Right from the beginning we wanted people of almost every level of ability to participate and the many hiking options allowed this flexibility. The most strenuous hike was The Presidential Traverse led by Dan, which was an exhilarating physical challenge … the most historical hike was up the 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 Each of the hikes started from a different trailhead around the mountain’s base, but we all met-up at the Lake of the Clouds Hut near the mountaintop. There we had nametags for all our "family" which made it easier to meet and greet each other. 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, and there was a lot of laughter with just an all-roundgreat-atmosphere. Afterwards, we had the "traditional" entertainment by the crew (the young guy’s & gals that work at the huts) who 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 in a remote part of the highest peak in Eastern USA we would see spectacular fireworks! 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 and make our way back down the mountain. People had the option of going down on a different hike than the one on which they had come -up to enjoy different views of this magnificent place; and many took When I was leaving, the head weather expert at the AMC hut remarked, "you are the most fun group who’ve stayed here"! Creating Two Milestones In Gay-Outdoor- History Looking back its feels good knowing we created two new Gay Outdoor History Milestones — We were the first all-gay group to simultaneously ascend all major routes to the summit of Mt. Washington — and we were the largest all-gay group to stay at an AMC high mountain hut ……… But ……by far …… the most memorable aspect of the trip was the immense fun we had hiking with a great bunch of people on the granite cliffs, steep ravines, tumbling cataracts, endless terrain of jagged rocks, and seeing rare alpine flowers blooming ………..…….… we saw incredible sights, made great new friends, & loved re-connecting with old ones. A Huge Thanks To Everyone For Making This Trip Terrific Next year hopefully we'll be a larger group and beat our 2003 record! In the last two days before leaving for this trip many people contacted Dan & myself to join our group and we felt terrible telling them that AMC huts get fully booked almost a year in advance. If you would like to join us next year please contact us early, as we’d love to take everyone! Happy trails & have a great summer. Ravi Gupta (mailto:RCG@MomentumDB.com)
The Adventure Begins
country's oldest continuously maintained hiking trail, the Crawford Path, which has been in use for over 175 years, was led by Judy …… two other great hikes, the Great Gulf hike was led by Mike, and Ammonoosuc Ravine hike was led by Steve … the easiest & most leisurely 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.
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-force winds … …………………. and although we were a large group, we had plenty of opportunity to enjoy moments of private reflection.
put on an entertaining drag show every night! 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 too!
advantage of that. As we went on our final hikes, we again basked in the dramatic & ever changing scenery and added to our store of already incredible memories as we ended the trip.
S o m e V e r y S p e c i a l T h a n k s
An incredible trip like this, where everything works perfectly, owes many thanks to many people:
Dan Nelson: The incredible outdoorsman for incredible help & advice he provided me in all stages of the trip, and of course for leading the Presidential Traverse. This trip happened only because of Dan’s leadership, THANKS.
Paul Campbell: Whose terrific guidance and support started me to first think about leading this kind of trip ……and throughout the different stages as this trip kept ballooning-out and becoming a lot bigger than I ever imagined his help was always amazing.
Mike Boisvert: For his tremendous help during my scouting-hike on Mt. Washington three weeks before our full-group hike, a whole bunch of other terrific advice, and for leading the Great Gulf hike.
Steve Pinkham: For arranging the wonderful Potluck dinner which was an outstanding opportunity for the group to meet, and which really set the tone for a wonderful experience at the mountaintop the next evening; and for leading the Ammonoosuc Ravine hike.
Judy Hawkins: For her wonderful generosity in showing us various sights of the mountain – from a 4 am watch-thesunrise.
Ravi Gupta is a long-time wilderness enthusiast who has explored the national parks from Acadia in Maine, to Sand Key at the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys, to the Cascade Loop in the Pacific North West.
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