
View of Mount Washington from Bed & Breakfast
The greatest and most simple summary of our trip was uttered by our guide Jim, “Matt’s sick and Sue’s out of shape but it’ all good”. We should probably note here, that Jim has the patience, inner-fortitude and physical strength of a Greek god.
We started the trip in a bitter cold snow storm, swerving our way up Route 2 in New Hampshire. We arrived at the beautiful Mount Washington Bed and Breakfast around 2 a.m. Not only was the light left on for us, but the innkeeper’s father waited up to show us to our room. There were freshly baked brownies on our dresser and warm, clean cotton sheets to crawl into – we loved the inn immediately. (Check out our shameless plugs to find out how to stay there, it is well worth the drive!)
We woke to a clear New Hampshire morning on Friday and decided to check out the Pinkham Notch Visitor Center, spend the rest of our life’s savings at EMS buying my new, sweet North Face jacket, and drinking coffee at Starbucks. We ended the day at Moat Mountain Smoke House and Brewery, where we had good beer and things that have been smoked. I have never been so happy to be a carnivore. It is a beautiful thing.

Matt enjoying coffee and the view at Starbucks
Saturday morning found us back at the visitor center, checking out the avalanche reports and meeting our guide Jim. We spent 2 hours unpacking and repacking our bags. This involved countless trips to the gear shop to, again, make additional purchases. All were well worth the money, since we didn’t freeze while on the mountain. We set out around 11:00 to reach our tent site.

Pinkham Visitor Center
En route, I realized that walking in winter hiking boots and snow was less enjoyable than it looks in movies. I promptly had what Jim and Matt diagnosed as a panic attack and had to rest on one knee. It turns out that I am not in as good of shape as I believed.

Beginning of trail, when I realized it was all uphill
After a lot of walking, we came to the trail head for Lion’s Head. We opted to follow the fire road, set up our tent and do a winter mountaineering course for the rest of the afternoon and evening, then summit on Sunday morning.
We set up the tent and I was able to practice using snowshoes to stomp down a place for us to sleep.

Flattening campsite
Unfortunately during this process Matt came down with a nasty fever and we were forced to take him into the caretaker’s cabin (know as Harvard Cabin). This is where our adventure took a most interesting turn. While Matt was able to recover from the fever and hike the next morning, his illness allowed us to take respite overnight in the cabin with George the Caretaker and a gaggle of French Canadian climbers. As the only female of the group, I was subjected to sights, stenches and sounds not fit even for the web. Viva la Harvard Cabin! George turned out to be an invaluable resource and one of the kindest souls I have ever met – if you happen to travel to Harvard Cabin this winter, please bring him a bottle or two of wheat beer. We will gladly reimburse you for your trouble.

George, caretaker of Harvard Cabin

Matt sleeping as Jim takes care of him
Up bright and early the next morning, Matt was well enough to make us both a delicious cup of oatmeal. The water was pulled from some a nearby stream using buckets that at some point probably contained pool cleaner… I just hoped there was enough bleach left in them to cure whatever else they might be hosting.

Buckets for drinking water
The trail to the top was more difficult than I thought it would be and warranted many breaks on my part. The good news is that we finally were able to rock the crampons! Crampons are the coolest invention ever and they make you feel like a real mountaineer, however out of shape and clumsy you might be.

Learning about crampons
We were also able to use our mountaineering ax. Interesting fact: a mountaineering ax is different than an ice ax. We learned several ways to climb using different steps and ax techniques. It was difficult, but so much fun.



I had decided somewhere along the trip that I had reached my limit and would stop at the top of the Lion’s Head and turn around. Matt and Jim were very supportive of my decision, even though it meant they would not summit that day. After reaching Lion’s Head, I was coaxed into walking along the Alpine Garden, which I had read about online and was anxious to see. It is so beautiful! Once at the Alpine Garden, it was less than a mile to summit and I was coaxed into going to the top – albeit without my backpack, which Jim put on his back and carried for me.

Taking a break in the Alpine Garden

Trail for summit
The hike to the summit was amazing. A storm came in and we had snow showers. As we climbed higher, I kept my sights on Jim’s bright yellow jacket and my feet as firmly as possible in his snow prints.

Snow showers en route to summit
We reached the summit at 1:35 p.m. The temperature was 12 degrees with a -12 windchill. Winds were 40 mph. The view was not very clear due to the snow, but it was interesting to see the structures at the top of the mountain.

Reaching the top of Mount Washington

Snow-covered structure at top

Summit

Summit
Coming down, we were hit by more snow. I was afraid coming down some of the steeper routes, especially when groups in front of us were able to use ropes to go down. Jim taught us the correct way to move down the mountain in the snow, and while I was literally shaking in my boots, I am glad to now have the knowledge of how to do this safely without a rope.

Coming down from summit

Sue, covered in snow

Matt, covered in snow
After a tedious hike down the mountain and stop at the Harvard Cabin to collect our things and bid farewell to George, we walked out of the woods in darkness. The trail was beautiful at night and, barring a few small pairs of eyes peering at me through the trees, very peaceful.

Coming down from Harvard Cabin
Some Subway sandwiches and a quick shower later, we were safe, sound and asleep at the B&B.
Thanks, Jim, for getting us up (and down) the mountain!

Sue, Jim and Mat after climbing Mount Washington