WOW! I expected the sunrise from the summit of Mt. Washington to be awesome, but it blew my expectations out of the water! We couldn’t have selected a better day for it. After some yard work on Saturday, we headed up to NH at 6PM, we stopped for dinner and then arrived at Pinkham Notch around 11:30PM. Here we met Shawn, Dave, and Noam. They were just as syked as we were about the climb so we got on our way at 12:15AM. We cruised up the rock strewn Tuckerman Ravine Trail to the junction of Lions Head Trail. We selected this trail because it gets you above treeline quickly. As we popped out of the trees we were greeted by a cloudless sky and super bright stars.

While climbing to Lions Head, the first streak of light from the impending sunrise lit the horizon. We climbed to Lions Head where we took a good break and snapped some more photos and got some water and food. The race was on though, so we packed up and headed for the summit. The sky was getting brighter by the minute as we crossed the Alpine Garden. At this point I slowed down with one climber as the others raced to the summit. We caught the sunrise about 150ft below the summit,The others made the summit with only a few minutes to spare. Their hard work and fast pace was rewarded. The descent felt long and arduous, which I blame on the lack of sleep. We had been awake for a full 24 hours at that point and we had a good 4 hour descent ahead of us. Despite being exhausted, we were in great spirits. We reached the bottom after 10 hours of climbing and 28 hours of being awake. What else was there to do but nap..Post nap, we took a group photo and headed to the Moat Mountain Brewery for some burgers before driving home.A climb to remember full of incredible sights, good exercise, and even better company!
Oh.. and did I mention… Dave’s shoes disintegrated and he lost the souls on both feet but persisted in reaching the summit and back down without a complaint.. That’s serious determination.

The winners have been decided! 1st place goes to Arianna Photopoulos and second pace goes to Mike Mulford. They will receive a $300 gift card and a $100 gift card for any NEM climb. Well done guys! Great shots! And thanks to everyone who submitted.

The 2012 Photo Contest is now running on our Facebook page. The entries highlight our 2011-2012 season on Mt. Washington. Visit the site and check out the photos and “like” your favorite. Voting is from May 7-14. Winners will be announced on May 15th. $400 in gift cards are on the line!
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.328799170527247.74315.229190683821430&type=3&l=bd5b6c03a8