Mt. Washington sunrise – beware of Fog!

With an opportunity to experience and photograph sunrise atop Mt. Washington, the highest peak in the Northeast, a 1am departure time from Amherst was a no brainer. Watching the weather all week, my buddy Mike and I, along with his 7-year-old son Peter, figured a forecast of clear skies in the Mt. Washington Valley meant prime photographing opportunities.

We departed Amherst on time, made it to the Auto Road early, which worked out well since it opened a few minutes before the scheduled 4am start time. Stars remained visible the entire ride up to the North Country and most of the way up the mountain – well past the tree line. Things were looking good for a 5:19am sunrise.

We knew it would be cooler at the top (41 degrees with wind chill reported) and were prepared. The one thing we hadn't counted on: FOG! Pea soup fog with a driving wind, which made for a tricky ride for the first 1000 feet of decent. Turns out, the summit is covered in fog some 60% of the time so prime sunrises are not an everyday occurrence. One of the museum attendants (yes, the museum is open at 4am on those three days a year they open the Auto Road early) told us the night watchman will wake the observatory residents early if conditions merit a spectacular sunrise.

However, the staff directed us to head back down the road to a slightly lower elevation where the fog would be lessened and the chance of seeing the sun come up greater. We moved down to just below 5000 feet, to a spot on the eastern side of the mountain and above the treeline. Fog still blew down the mountain at us and a front moving in created some clouds, but every once in a while things cleared up just long enough to get shots like this:

You can see fog and clouds in the valley below. Leading up the trip, part of me was hoping we'd ascend the mountain and come out on top of the clouds, providing a cool plane-like vista. It wasn't to be, but the clouds didn't completely disappoint:

While it's not the summit, the trip was not a complete loss. I got a few good photos and memories that will last a lifetime.

The Auto Road is open again on August 30 for sunrise. There's a 1 in 3 chance that the weather will cooperate at the top of the mountain. Might have to role the dice, forgo some sleep and make the trek again.

Here's to a brighter second half of '09

The first half of 2009 is officially in the books and I have to say, it will be a memorable one for all the wrong reasons.

First came what seemed like endless snow followed by a washout of June (I think it rained 33 of the 30 days – that's how bad it was). On the personal front, I lost my grandfather to cancer and my job to the utterly crappy economy. Both happening within 24 hours of each other.

Obviously, things could have been worse. I have great health, wonderful family, the best dog in the world and a nice roof over my head. But, let's face it – the first half of 2009 sucked.

Beginning today, I am hoping things are upward and onward from here – both with the weather and on the personal front. To help change my luck, I am switching up my “avatar” that I use on all my social networks. Like a batter switching to a new piece of lumber, I am hoping the new avatar will bring good luck. So be on the lookout for this photo, taken by my talented photo buddy Karl, cropping up on a social network near you: