Our first 2026 MWOBS Overnight Adventure offered such horrendous weather the Mt Washington Observatory (MWOBS) agreed with our assessment that we really needed to reschedule the event if possible to protect life, limb, and digits. Inasmuch it was moved to next weekend (wish us luck) and the event this week ended up being the first of the season. This time the event was a resounding success. The team this weekend was lead by Redline Guides Mike Maciel and Chase Hall (with Redline Guide Rhonda Willette along for the ride), and ended up enjoying amazing weather featuring acceptable winds, acceptable temps, blue skies, and sunshine. The rest of this post is the wonderful summation and the accompanying photos offered by Mike Maciel…
Team Building On The Fly
It’s not easy to build teams. Work, Sports, Olympics. In some cases it takes years to build a successful one. We didn’t have years, we had from the Cog parking lot to treeline. Either way, the rules of backcountry problem solving still apply, you do the best you can with what you’ve got. So we used our limited time wisely and I gave a group of relative strangers some things to work on, so we could practice being good teammates before we got into areas of potential consequence later on. We worked on pacing, by always being responsible for the person behind us in the group. Putting the responsibility on the person in front to know where the next person behind them in line is at all times. This matters above treeline in low visibility. We practiced hand signals. Thumb up for I’m good (green light), thumb sideways for I’m ok (yellow light), and thumb down for I’m not ok I need to stop (red light). This matters if the wind is blowing, you are covered in hats, buffs, and hoods, and you can’t hear each other.
We worked our way up the Cog into the abyss of a lingering fog that stuck around a little longer than expected but eventually the improving forecast that we had planned for became the actual improving conditions. Similar to the Wizard of Oz, the world suddenly switched from black and white to vibrant color. The contrast was awesome. What did we see with our newfound visibility? Home for the night. What a treat to get to temporarily live at the top of the northeast hiking world. Sunset just out the door. Stars. Sunrise to begin the day, no alpine start required because the work was already done.
We were served breakfast, dinner, snacks and even happy hour by two wonderful volunteers who specialized in making a notoriously inhospitable summit a very hospitable place. We got to nerd out on the weather with some incredibly intelligent staff and interns who were kind enough to let us share their home and their workplace. And Nimbus, we got to hang out with the famous alpine mouse hunter. The home of the world’s worst weather delivered everything but the world’s worth weather. That was on its way though, so after enjoying our breakfast we hit the road (or more accurately the path). Pics taken. Memories made. Lessons learned. Bonds created. Team built. —Mike M.
