Mount Washington

Dear Diary,

I had to make a quick trip to Boston yesterday and on my way home I stopped to photograph The Mount.  For 15 years, when I was commuting to Maine from my teaching job in Massachusetts (a three hour drive) on weekends and school holidays, I would know that I was almost home when I came over a hill and saw Mount Washington.

I live in the western part of Maine, right on the New Hampshire border so we can see The Mount from many locations.  That is, when we can see it at all!  The Mount creates its own weather and often when the rest of the sky is clear, The Mount is surrounded by clouds.  Today it was there in all its glory.  The highest wind speed ever recorded on earth was clocked on The Mount at 231 mph on 12 April 1934.

At 6,288 feet, The Mount is the highest mountain in New England but it doesn't have the dramatic pointy peak the Rockies boast.  That's because it is far, far older, geologically speaking than the Rockies.  Its peak has rounded off.  The native Americans in this region called it Agiocochook, "Home of the Great Spirit" and those of us who live near it feel a special affinity for it.

I am sounding a bit like the teacher this morning but yesterday's ride back reminded me that The Mount is an important part of my life and I want to commemorate it in this journal.  You can log onto the Mount Washington observatory website and check out the live web cam.  You can drive to the top along the auto road or in the summer months take the famous cog railroad to the summit.  It is well worth a visit.  Herein endeth the lesson...