On my recent trip with my mom to see New Hampshire’s White Mountains, we spent the night at the Omni Mount Washington Resort.  As you can see from these photos, the views are pretty spectacular and the star of the landscape is of course…Mount Washington.  While I DO like to hike, the conditions sort of need to be right; in this case, my potential hiking companion got a new knee only 6 months ago, so that ruled out any long or strenuous walks.  Aw shucks.

Imagine our delight, then, when we learned that we could actually take the Cog Railway all the way to the summit of Mount Washington!  Travelling at the breakneck speed of 5 miles per hour, the trip to the top takes about 45 minutes.

 On our train we were in the very capable hands of a knowledgeable and friendly Conductor…

train conductor

Who not only pointed out the sites and told us local lore, but also helped guide the engineer who was driving “blind” from the engine at the back of the train.

engineer

At 11:30 a.m. sharp, the engineer blew the whistle and up we started.

and up we go

In the woody terrain, we passed a moose…

Moose

While the steam engine train passed us on it’s return trip down the mountain.

Steam railway on the Cog line

Bye!

steam train goes by us

On a mountain known for some of the worst weather on the continent and only 62 days per year of clear skies, luck was on our side.

view from near the summit of Mount Washington

(They weren’t as lucky, missed the train and had to climb to the top by foot.)

hikers ascending Mount Washington

The ascent got steeper and steeper as we went…

almost to the top of Mount Washington

While the air cooled down nicely…

the view at the top from inside the train

And then we reached the end of the line.

the end of the line

On a clear day the visibility is 300 miles and encompasses 5 states!  So if you happened to be in New Hampshire, Vermont, New York…

top of Mount Washington

Maine, Quebec…

more heaven and earth

Or, even in Heaven yesterday…

seeing heaven and earth

I’m pretty sure I could see you!  

After an hour spent soaking in the sun and the views (hey, look Ma, there’s a train on that mountain…)

little train in the distance

It was “all aboard” for our crew, and down the steep descent we started.

hold on

We made sure to sit at the back of the train so that we could get a different perspective…

the long journey up

water tank

And I was grateful for the geriatric pace which allowed me to take millions of photos and say “hi” to the ascending trains.

friendly train conductors

And then we found ourselves back at the base station safe and sound.  Thanks to the Cog Railway for a lovely experience!

steam engine at rest

 

 

Comments

    • Joana says:

      Hi Helen,

      It certainly was beautiful and a lot of fun to have a “vacation within a vacation!” That area is spectacularly beautiful and the Cog Railway ride really was fun. 🙂

      I’m enjoying seeing your new lapel pins I think they really look great and I look forward to checking them out on your Etsy shop soon. xox – Joana

      On Fri, Aug 22, 2014 at 1:42 PM, JOANA MIRANDA STUDIO wrote:

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