It was a chilly day in early November, even in town there was a nip in the air. In the mountains it was like winter. High winds and temps in the teens conspired to make a dangerously low wind chill — well below zero. The rocks this mountain is known for were covered with rime ice, regular ice, and a bit of snow in pockets making them slick and a challenge to hike on.
All of it pretty normal for Mt Washington. It’s not the crazy weather conditions that make this story unique, though. It’s the fact that, like two ships passing in the fog, our guest ran into a fellow Australian she served with aboard a submarine. In one of the photos you will see him, his cohorts, along with our guest. They weren’t here together so this happenstance was pure chance. She on holiday, he on a training mission. How cool is that. Proof that it’s a small world.
Of course we weren’t there, Redline Guide Debra McCown was so she can give us the details…
It’s a Small World
When we reached the summit we ducked behind a building to get out of the wind. There, we dug into our packs to pull out essentials like mittens and snacks. I told our guest that once we had what we needed for the descent, we’d snap a quick photo with the summit sign and then we’d head back down. ‘Really?,’ she replied. She was hoping to get photos of the scenery — especially a sweeping undercast view that was trying hard to peak out of the clouds.
But after just a few minutes feeling the full force of the wind on the summit, she said, ‘I want to get out of here,’ and we began our hike back down into the fog. When I asked what she thought of Mt. Washington, she said she might like to try it in the summer — when there’s more time to linger and look at the scenery. By then, like the landscape, we were coated in rime ice: our packs and outer layers had developed a coating of white much like the surrounding rocks.
It was the first hike I guided this season where I carried a full winter pack. Despite the lack of a snowpack, we were in legit winter conditions.
She had picked Mt. Washington for its reputation as both the tallest mountain in the northeast and the one with the most extreme weather — and, with chilly seasonal temperatures and persistent wind, she got a taste of what she came for. Also on her list to see while visiting the U.S.: Mt. Rushmore, historic Salem, New York City, and Washington, D.C., where she planned to visit a variety of museums and observe the U.S. Presidential election process, which she said she finds fascinating.
In a strange coincidence, our guest, a submarine mechanic, ran into a group of Australians on the mountain, one of whom recognized her because they’d served on a submarine together. They were here to participate in a submarine training program and asked what she was doing; she told them she was on holiday, and they marveled at what a small world it is. Here, on the literal opposite side of the world from home, two people who knew each other well happened to cross paths on the frozen side of Mt Washington.
It was a cold and windy day, but it was definitely a good one. —Debra
