Home of the World's Worst Weather

23-28 June 2026

View from the summit of Mt Washington

I had originally made reservations for Sugarloaf II campground in the White Mountain National Forest near Twin Mountain, New Hampshire, but there were no hookups and the weather was going to be too warm to leave Sage in the camper without a/c. The only (inexpensive) campground in the area with electric was Dolly Copp in Gorham. It's another national forest campground but the only sites available were first come, first serve so I had to get up early and get on the road by 7am.

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They don't call New Hampshire the Granite State for nothing. At the entrance to the park there were granite bricks used for the raised curb and guess what I ran over going around a curve? Yep, and the sharp corner of the granite brick ripped the sidewall of my trailer tire. Sigh. Just what I wanted to do, replace yet another tire.

I scored a really nice campsite though. There were only three available that would fit my camper so I'm glad I got there early.

Dolly Copp is a beautiful campground. The roads are paved which is unusual for a national forest campground. It's huge too with about 180 campsites.

Culhane Brook runs through the campground

Centennial Spiral

The White Mountain National Forest was established in 1918. This sculpture at the back of the campground was made to commenmorate the 100th anniversary. It was created by Quinn Morrissette from a 100 year old white pine tree that fell in 2017.

Peabody River also goes through the campground. Although I couldn't see the river, I could hear it from my campsite. It was so peaceful and relaxing.

Speaking of relaxing, I rode my scooter around the campground and Sage trotted along beside me. We visited just about every loop so when we got back to our campsite it was time for a nap in the hammock

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Later we went into town and they were having their weekly farmers market. I got these eggs, strawberries and a bag of spinach. The berries were so sweet and juicy. I kept getting these strange looks from people and couldn't figure out why. When we got back to the truck I then noticed the green sign to the left that said animals weren't allowed in the park. Oops!

Bucket List Item! Known as the "Home of the World's Worst Weather", I've been wanting to do the cog railway to the top of Mt Washington ever since I learned about it. You can also drive up to the summit on the auto road but I didn't want to put that much wear and tear on my truck. Plus, I just wanted to sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.

Peppersass was the original locomotive built in 1866

Other equipment on display. I didn't see any plaques telling what they were

The cog railway engine pushes the car up the hill. They are not attached. The car has a separate brake so, if necessary, it can travel back down the mountain on its own. They mostly use biodiesel engines now but still run the steam engine a couple times a day. The biodiesel is faster and you don't get the smoke and soot like you would from a steam engine. I chose the biodiesel train.

The brochure they gave us. It'll give you an idea of how the tracks are laid out and the sites along the way.

The 3-mile track climbs over 3,700 feet from the Marshfield Base Station to the 6,288-foot summit. Because the incline is so drastic, the cars are specially designed with tilted passenger seats to keep you level during the climb, and a mechanical toothed cog meshes with a center rail to safely draw the train up the mountain. While waiting to leave I felt like I was going to slide off the seat it was angled down so much.

The climb varies from 25 - 37.4% grade. It takes about 45 minutes to reach the summit. The guy sitting just outside the door is the brakeman. He narrates the trip and also serves as the engineer's eyes. The engineer can't see the track and can't tell if the switch has been pulled when the tracks split.

There are four different climate zones on the mountain. The first is the Northern Hardwood Forest which you can see at basecamp. It has both hardwoods and fir trees. This zone is the Boreal Forest. It has mostly red and black spruce and balsam fir. It smells amazing too!

These next two pictures were taken on the way back down because I couldn't get a good shot on the way up. This is Waumbek Station. In the winter, the summit is closed so the train stops here instead. It's also where the steam engine train stops for water before continuing up the mountain.

The water tank Waumbek Station. It reminds me of the start of Petticoat Junction where the girls pop up from the water tank. Remember that? Yes, I'm showing my age.

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It was hard to get a good shot of the half-way house showing how it's level but the little building on the right gives you a good idea. They look so crooked when you pass them by, but because of the steepness of the mountain they're actually level

Just before Jacob's Ladder there is Penny Rock. It gets its name from the generations of passengers and train engineers that tossed "lucky pennies" out the window and onto the rock to ensure a safe trip.

The Tree Line zone starts at about 4500 ft and is a transition between Boreal Forest and Alpine Tundra. You'll notice the trees are a lot shorter than the Boreal Forest. Jacob's Ladder is a 300 ft long trestle that elevates the train 25 feet above the ground and is the steepest section at 37.4% grade. This makes it the steepest railway trestle in the world.

The last zone is the Alpine Tundra. Gone are the trees and it's pretty barren. Those cairns (stacks of rocks) are there to guide hikers in foggy conditions

This isn't a very good picture but I was on the opposite side of the train and wanted to get a shot of the hiker on the Appalachian trail. I had no idea it crossed the summit of Mt Washington.

Lizzie Bourne was the first woman in recorded history to have perished on the summit after being forced to hunker down at this location during a storm. Because of thick fog and driving rain and snow, her hiking party had no way of knowing that they were so close to shelter at the summit.

Sherman Adams Visitor Center and Mt Washington Observatory

Sitting area where you can relax and wait for your return train or just soak in the scenery

I made it to the top!

There's always a line for pictures with the sign

And of course I stood in that line to get my picture taken. I had kept an eye on the weather at the summit for several days before deciding which day to go. God gave me the perfect day too! Mostly clear skies and you could see Canada, Vermont, New York, and Maine. The winds and the temps weren't bad at all. I couldn't have asked for a more glorious day!

The numbers

This display shows some of the equipment and the journal entry of the Chief Observer on the morning of April 12, 1934 during the world-record wind gust of 231 mph.

The journal entry where Chief Observer Salvatore Pagliua recorded the historic event

This is Anemometer #2 which clocked the record setting wind gust

This display shows rime ice and the difficulty of doing research at the summit. Rime Ice is when "temperatures fall below freezing, supercooled water droplets (liquid water droplets which exist at temperatures below freezing) suspended in the clouds enshrouding the summit instantly freeze upon contact with any solid object. These delicate, feather-like structures of rime ice grow into the wind, forming at the astonishing rate of up to 12" per hour."

This was where the Observatory was located from 1932-1937. The world-record wind gust was recorded here.

The Tip Top House is the oldest surviving structure on the summit. It used to be a hostel but is now a museum. It was closed when I was there so I couldn't go in.

One of the trains arriving at the summit

This is my ride back down. You do NOT want to miss your train. When you buy your ticket, you get 50 minutes at the summit. If you miss your designated return train, you have to go on stand-by and hope there's room for you. If not, you'll be hiking back down! I loved this excursion and would do it again in a heartbeat. There are tours you can do of the observatory but I I missed it on this trip.

I was tired of running Sage around the campground so I found these carriage roads at Great Glen Trails. I was able to ride my scooter on them and we both enjoyed the change of scenery.

So many ferns!

This was called Coffee Pot Rock. I don't see one but that's what it's called

This chipmunk wasn't at all scared of us. He stayed there while we passed right by him.

Lupine. It reminds me of Texas Bluebonnets (also a lupine)

That's all for New Hampshire. Next, we finally arrive in Maine!