Maine Vacation 2022, Part 9
In my previous post, I was a bit concerned about our time. Would we make it to the Mount Washington Cog Railway in time? We did by the skin of our teeth! We were greeted by a man sitting inside a small building. He informed us the train would leave soon, that we’d need hurry, and told us where to park. We parked the car, jumped out, grabbed our ball caps and jackets then ran all the way to station at the top of a small hill, presented our tickets, and climbed on the train totally out of breath.
Going to Mount Washington’s summit is something we wanted to do for years. As time went by I began to feel like this would never happen, so it was simply a thrill to experience this. I had trouble understanding everything our guide was saying but he was a very entertaining fella. I credit him for making the trip all the more enjoyable. Taking pictures from the inside of the train proved more difficult than I imagined. They didn’t turn out fantastic but they are memories nonetheless. Hopefully you’ll enjoy the ride.
I took a short video of the train coming down. You’ll find that a little later. 
Our guide demonstrates how steep the grade is at this point at Jacob’s Ladder 
The Frog Rock is used by the train crew in bad weather as a location marker. At this point, we’re above the tree line at 5000′ above sea level. 
The top just in sight 
This is our train on the way up. 
With only an hour at the top, we raced to take our picture at the summit. Okay that’s not us but we did get a selfie. 
Despite the fog, it was exciting. 
It wasn’t nearly as cool as I was afraid that it would be and the wind was relatively mild. 
That’s our training heading down the mountain. 
Visibility was low but that didn’t bother us. 
The observation deck above the Sherman Adams Summit Building 
Sherman Adams Summit Building 
I’ll provide a link for those interested to learn more about the Tip Top House 
The rocks were really tricky to walk on. It made me quite nervous. 
Our feet beside the Mount Washington Summit geological marker. 
Our stay is done, our train has arrived to carry us down the mountain. 
One final look at the Cog and cloud shrouded Mount Washington 
Marshfield Station
The hour spent at the top wasn’t long enough. We got some pictures and even found time to buy a few souvenirs. Before I forget, as promised here is the Tip Top House link where you can read more about it.
Coming back down the mountain, we got into a conversation with the couple sitting behind us. They were really nice people. My picture taking was limited but that’s okay because what I got wasn’t all that great.
We went into Marshfield Station to check out the gift shop. It was nice but nothing grabbed our eye. We got a couple of Slushie-type drinks before leaving. I wanted to go to nearby Brenton Woods to see the Mount Washington Hotel. It’s now under a slightly different name. This is one of those places if you have to ask about the rate then it’s probably not for you. The last time we were there was June 1989. DD#1 almost a month short being a year old. Mount Washington Hotel is an old historical site. The hotel staff was quite hospitable, welcoming our presences to tour the grounds. One of my fondest memories is how DD#1 loved the staircase. Every time I put her down, she’d crawl to it to climb the stairs.
It was a full day already and we still weren’t done. We now turned our attention to Rangeley where we booked two nights at the Loon Lodge and that was about two and half hours away. I could go on but I think I’ve kept you long enough.
DH is off the next two days as he has some vacation time he needs to use. This got me to thinking how busy things are fixing to get with Christmas around the corner and then again in mid-December, he has another week of vacation time scheduled so that we can enjoy doing holiday things in our area. I’m going to put this series to rest until January. Although, I won’t be online I do have a Christmas themed BOTB scheduled for this Friday, December 1st. I hope you’ll decide to swing by to cast a vote for your favorite cover artist. Have a wild and wonderful day! X💋X💋, Cathy
Check out these mid-week connections hosted by a few of my good friends…. Sandee, Natasha, & Wordless Wednesday!
11 Comments
Eugenia
Wow! What a cool ride! Thank you for sharing, Cathy!
Natasha
Hope you got my comment, in the other post, love.
Natasha
What a lovely trip.
It’s good to be back in your cosy corner, but no Monday Mewsic moves, or am I unable to trace the post?
I’ve been away and I missed you all. Here’s something that I wrote after a 2 month hiatus.
https://natashamusing.com/2022/11/istanbulu-seviyorum-i-love-istanbul-wordless-wednesday/
Also Madonna has a new album; re your other post this week.
Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones is a remix album by American singer Madonna, released through Warner Records
Hugs <3
John Holton
This was great stuff! I love trains …
messymimi's meanderings
That looked like a great time!
Brian
That’s a super cool train ride, glad you caught it on time!
Kathe W.
Thanks for sharing your fun adventure! Very cool!
Kinga K.
Life is an interesting adventure <3
Sandee
Love the train ride and love that hotel. It’s most beautiful. What an adventure you had.
Thank you for joining the Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous Wordless Wednesday. Love and hugs. ♥
Thomas Anderson
Hi, Cathy!
Happy Wild, Wacky and Almost Wordless Wednesday, dear friend! I hope you and DH are having a good week. When I sent you that email yesterday, the news services were saying that Tuesday would be the day for the tornado outbreak across a large area of the south including your area. Later in the day, most articles were saying today (Wednesday) is the day tens of millions will be under the threat of twisters. I hope you and your family will remain safe. I also hope your DD’s health is improving. I’ve been thinking about her and LA.
I am happy to tag along again this week as you and DH proceed on to the next stops on your tour of Maine and NH. What an adventure to ride the Mount Washington Cog Railway! I’m glad you took your jackets along, because I know Mt. W. is one of the coldest spots in North America during the winter. I read that it holds the record for lowest temp (-50 degrees) and incredibly high wind speed as well. Combine the two, and you can imagine that a visit to the summit during winter would be like exploring the surface of an inhospitable planet far from the sun. I’ll be they close the train ride plenty early in the fall to avoid problems with ice and snow. The pictures you took and the video certainly give us a sense of what the train ride was like. Those small buildings marking your progress toward the top and the elevation are a wonderful idea. My heart would be racing by the time I was climbing Jacob’s Ladder. And look at that rugged, rocky terrain marking the tree line at Frog Rock! The sky above looks hostile, too. What would they ever do if the train stalled in the middle of the route? Can you imagine being stranded in such a remote spot? Did you have problems breathing or getting out of breath at the 6,288 foot summit with the air so thin? The shroud of clouds and mist at the top added to the mystery. I wouldn’t want to miss the train ride back down the mountain and wind up stranded on those rocks. I’m sure they did a precise head count before starting the return trip. So, I just read that the Tip-Top House hotel is open from May to early October. That must be the same period the train ride is available.
The Mount Washington Hotel is spectacular as well. Thanks for sharing memories of little DD1 enjoying your visit in 1989.
For me, this was the most exciting part of your Maine trip so far, Cathy. A ride to the top of the highest peak in the NE United States! It makes Clingman Dome seem like an ant hill, doesn’t it? 🙂 I look forward to following the rest of your journey when the series resumes next year. I will also come by to vote in Friday’s band battle.
Once again, I hope you and your loved ones will stay safe during the rough weather outbreak scheduled for later today. Enjoy the extra time with DH this week. I’ll see you soon, dear friend Cathy!
Cathy Kennedy
Hello, Tom!
DD#1 is much better and returned to work on Monday. So, far she hasn’t reported that LA is sick. I hope this is a good sign that she won’t. As for our weather. I think we’re going to be okay. It’s a wet, dreary morning with falling temperatures expected all day. I do appreciate your concerns and prayer, my friend.
Taking the train to Mt. Washington’s Summit was one of my top highlights from our vacation. You’re so right about the weather conditions being extremely wild. Our guide mentioned this having to do with two or three jet streams that cross and that makes for the unpredictable condition for Mt. W. We didn’t have any problem breathing. Clingmans Dome is 355ft. higher than Mt. W. The Cog is open to ride year round pending weather conditions but doesn’t run to the summit after Oct. 31 instead it goes to the Waumbek Station (elevation 3900′) where passengers can get out to enjoy the views and get refreshments.
I’ll probably be MIA for the rest of the week. I happened to have a few minutes to spare this today and thought I’d reply to your comment before I get busy doing other things. Thanks for stopping by this morning, my friend. Have a wonderful day!