A fellow from Pennsylvania reached out knowing he’d be in the area and wanted to take on the notorious Mt Washington (a.k.a. The Rock Pile). His plan was to climb up and meet his family at the summit; they had driven up the Auto Road and were going to take him down after exploring the top of New Hampshire a bit. As it turned out this Pennsylvanian was a cut above pushing early on at a blistering pace. We’ll let Redline Guide Debra McCown take it from here and provide some details:
When today’s guest from Philadelphia arrived to hike Mt. Washington, he approached it as a challenge. He said a buddy had told him that if he was successful on his attempt of the Northeast’s highest peak (Mt. Washington, 6,288), he’d bring him along on a hike for the highest U.S. peak east if the Mississippi, North Carolina’s Mt. Mitchell (6,684). His buddy wanted to be sure that he could keep up. He also planned to meet his family, who were driving up, at the top — so he had a timeline in mind.
He started off fast out of the gate — a common occurrence for folks visiting Mt. Washington for the first time, though always a concern to a guide who wants to see their guest succeed at a potentially ambitious objective. But he seemed to be doing fine on the lower part of the Tuckerman Ravine Trail at well above 2 miles an hour, so I just rolled with it.
After a mile or so, I noticed some indications that — like most people from relatively flat places — he wasn’t pacing quite right for the amount of steep terrain ahead of us. So, as tempted as I was to just keep on going, I decided it was a good idea to set a slightly slower (but still super respectable) pace that I thought he could sustain. That put us on track to summit in about two and a half hours from the parking lot.
I shared some numbers about the elevation gain on this mountain — more than three times as much as the tallest thing near southeastern Pennsylvania — and how the difficulty of the terrain here in the White Mountains typically cuts daily mileage in half for hikers coming from other Appalachian Trail states.
As we went up the rocky trail and then the even rockier bowl of Tuckerman Ravine, he told me a bit of his story: At the start of this year, he’d resolved to improve his life and heath. He quit drinking and took up running — and he’s stuck with it. In the eight months since, he said he’s lost 70 pounds and has steadily worked to improve his VO2 max, training with a 30-pound weight vest and on a Stairmaster. I told him that we have the best Stairmaster there is here in New Hampshire — and that he was on it. He was impressed by the scenery, and he said he’d definitely be back. His training was clearly paying off.
Just before the top of the ravine, he decided to take his speed down another notch, pacing himself for the mile of rocks that still remained. When he tagged the Mt. Washington summit sign, it was just about three hours after we left the parking lot at Pinkham Notch.
He took some great photos with his wife and kids on the summit. To celebrate his accomplishment, he bought a Mt. Washington hoodie in one of the gift shops and promptly put it on. As for that North Carolina hike, I hope his buddy’s been training — because the buddy may have to worry about keeping up with him. —Debra
