Week Nine: Almost Time to Say Goodbye

Jim of State Park, Althea (a volunteer), Ryan Buckley (former intern), and Mike watching the sunset on Tuesday evening. An excellent sunset to finish off a gorgeous week.

This week was certainly a nice one --the weather has become summery, with convective clouds building on most days and even some thunderstorms in the early evenings. Since I've had such a good time the rest of my weeks up, though, I'm really buckling down these last couple weeks to get what I want done on my research project. I've been making all kinds of stat calculations on the boundary layer figures I've gotten from models, been reading up on what other people at other particulate sites have found, and have been comparing weather parameters and other data to some specific pollution events in our area. I still feel like there's an overwhelming amount of work to be done, and I hope that other interns are interested in continuing with these analyses in the future. I found out that the Alpine Project, which is being continued by the Appalachian Mountain Club (Georgia, my research mentor, works for them), the observatory, and several academic institutions, will be working on questions similar to those I've been asking. I'm hoping that the data I've put together will give a starting point to some of the work they'll be doing.


We had almost no snow on the summit at the beginning of the week... we got the snow and rime back, however, over the weekend!

Besides all that, I did get to spend some quality time playing guitar with Mike and out hiking with our volunteers, Althea and Paul. We got to go on a couple of good jaunts, and ended up walking down the auto road on Wednesday because there were lots of meetings that the three of us didn't need to be involved in. Some of the flowers and shrubs are starting to come up on the mountain, especially below treeline. Toward the summit, bright red bushes are intensifying in color and make for a really nice contrast with the lime green lichen on grey rocks. Farther down the mountain, we saw patches of crimson trilliums –the ones out west are primarily white. The auto road has opened to the public to halfway, and it was strange to see cars coming up. This weekend will be really full at the summit, as the cars will be allowed to come up all the way. Brian says there are maybe a thousand or two people who come through on a given summer weekend, and Memorial Day weekend (this weekend) is usually even more packed. It’ll be a big change having visitors around, gift shops and the museum open, and tours going on. I have to admit that I’m not all that excited about giving tours, but I’m really glad that I’ve had so much time to get to know the building and the area beforehand. An extra cup of coffee to get me going in the morning should make it easier.


Making our way down the road on (I think) Friday night toward Nelson Crag (the farthest point out to the right). We took the rocky way down and the road back up.


Brush (much brighter red in actuality) on the rocks out on Nelson Crag


Sedge on the rocks toward Nelson Crag. It's tough to avoid walking on this stuff, but the alpine plants are rare and very old.


A rainbow in the clouds over Carter Notch

I saw my first thunderstorm up close this week, which was pretty spectacular. The bolts were up close and extremely brilliant --bright pink and very broad. The lightning sounded different in that it was almost tinny (trash can lids being slammed together is the way Ryan put it), and it was often very dampened by the wind and moisture. The guys weren’t all that into the storm since they’d seen several before, but they did have to keep tally of the last bolt so that they could report the end of the storm. We were actually inside the thundercloud, so there wasn’t much to see between flashes, but it was still amazing to see. The night before, Mike and I had taken a stroll down the auto road, which ended at Nelson Crag with a spectacular view of a passing ominous cumulonimbus. We saw one flash from it, and watched the sun go down beyond it. There were too many phenomena to watch at once, ending with a glowing, and almost full moonrise to the east. Hopefully we’ll see more nights like that this coming week...


The convective clouds were really beautiful this week --this is, I think, the night that the thunderstorm hit the mountain.


Looking west toward Bretton Woods and green hills after our snow cover returned for a few days.


The obs deck covered in snow and rime once more, with a nice undercast to go with it.


Looking over the rimey rocks of the southwest end of the summit toward Bretton Woods


Looking toward Monroe and the South Presi's after our brief snow cover and clearing.


Paul and Althea, the week's volunteers


One last snowy self photo.


The snow cover brought back the wintry feel to the mountain for another couple days, but the convective clouds and blue skies above persisted. The cog (you can see the tracks here in the foreground) starting running this week, bringing people to the summit twice a day. The smoke from the cog looks pretty nasty, but apparently they've got a biodiesel engine and Mike made the point that the cars pollute the air a whole lot more. Althea, Paul, and I had a bit of a discussion on the walk down on Wednesday about what could be done to alleviate some of that. I'm not sure how I feel about keeping cars or some cars off of the summit, but I do think that the health of such a beautiful place should be considered before its value to us...


The ice climbing runs in Huntington Ravine, mostly discontinuous. You can see some of the East snowfields at the top, though, which some of the crew got a couple runs out of this week.


The view from Nelson Crag as we watched a thunderstorm roll by to the right and the sunset to the left.


East snowfields and the rocks on the crag, looking up to the summit at dusk.

This off-week, we hiked up Mount Chocorua (about 3500 ft) and I got to explore this area in its non-snowy season. The river out front of my house is flowing beautifully and the trees and brilliant shades of green all over the hills and valley. The North Conway area has a surprising number of vistas and parks to see in fair weather, including gorgeous, smooth waterfalls and rocky ledges overlooking the valley. Ed O’Malley, our volunteer from a few weeks ago, drove me around for a few days, finding new places to take pictures and take in the view. We even made it to the Maine coast one day –it was so nice to finally see the ocean! It’s going to be really nice to get back to my rocky west coast shorelines, but I’m definitely going to miss this place.


And now for the sappy part…


I’m hoping to go on a few more adventures next off-week before I head down to Connecticut, so I don’t know when I’ll be posting again. This has been one of the most exciting and changing experiences I’ve had so far, and I really hope that I can continue enjoying life the way that I’ve learned to out here. It’s going to be tremendously difficult to say goodbye to the people who have invited me into their homes and gone out of their ways to make my internship so wonderful. I don’t really think that I could ever tell them how much this has meant to me, or really express how thankful I am to have been given this time here. Mike, Brian and Ryan have become like brothers to me. Mike has taken me on many more hikes than I can remember, and taught me an incredible amount about being in the mountains. Despite my reservations about rock climbing, I know that I wouldn’t have been able to do that a few months ago –I’m certain that his free spirit and willingness to take on whatever adventure whenever it comes at him have rubbed off on me a bit. Brian has been a great mentor, answering all my questions and giving me a few physically challenging tasks, but nothing that I couldn’t handle. His work ethic and organization has kept me motivated to do my research and summit duties, but he’s also been extremely generous in giving me rides and inviting me to do things on off-weeks. While all three of the guys know a lot about weather, Ryan has been my go-to man for meteorology questions. He’s not only an expert on seemingly all phenomena that crossed our radar screen, but he’s also great at explaining them. From the basics of frontal movement to derechos and cloud coding, he’s the man to ask. I wish that I could have gone on more hikes with him (he was great to have there on the summit hike, but missed out on Chocorua), but I’m glad to have been on his shift and to have had someone to share my west coast heritage with. Cara, Chris, Jordan, Pontcha, Marty, Wayne and buddies, summit volunteers, state park employees, and everyone at the WDC and here in Glen have been so much fun to be around. I hope that I make it back here sooner rather than later because I’m going to miss you all so much. I’m certain that I’d go a little more nuts than all of you are living in this area, but I’ve felt very at home these past few months thanks to you all. May future interns get a similar, fantastic experience, and may the summit remain the lovely, lively place it has been for so many generations of weather and mountain dorks.

Sunset toward the end of the week --this was really good one, although Ryan only rated it a two. There's no way this was only a two. I've gotta wonder what kind of crazy sunsets he's seen on this mountain...

Virga to the southwest at sunset, dissipating as the sun goes down (another tidbit from Ryan).

Sunset at the end of the week overlooking two of the many lakes we can see from the summit.

An Off-Week to Remember: Montreal and Burlington, Vermont

Jordan, Mike, Chris and I at our front-and-center table at Upstairs Jazz in Montreal on Friday night

As I mentioned to Mike this week as we were driving back from a very eventful and fun off-week, I originally thought that this trip was going to be spent in a tiny town and roughing it at the top of a cold, snowy mountain. I wasn't sure what kind of people I would meet, and I wasn't sure that I would have anything to do but sit and read through my college class notes. While I certainly need to start studying for my entrance exams, I've been fortunate enough to meet a whole bunch of fantastic, entertaining people out here who have made my time in New Hampshire much better than I could have imagined.

Straight after getting off the mountain last shift change, Mike, Mike's mom and I drove toward Irasburg, Vermont where Mike grew up. It was the start of a full week of travelling, meeting new people, and experiencing New England. We made a detour to Littleton, NH on our way west to see the inn that my neighbor in Newport, Rudy Hoodaling, managed way back when. We took a couple pictures and enjoyed some stories from Robin about the town, then continued to Irasburg.

The Littleton Inn (now Thayer's Inn) in Littleton, NH

Particularly compared to the state lines of the west coast states, the cross over into VT is dramatic: the color palette of the land becomes a variety of bright greens rather than mostly browns and greys, and the hills become rolling hills rather than rocky ridges. Irasburg was spread out with fences marking extensive plots of land. We met some family friends, Rick and Amy, along with their kids Josh and Katie at the Finnegans' house. Chris, Mike's girlfriend, also drove up from Burlington to go to dinner. We decided on one of two restaurants in the area (although Katy begged for Chinese): Parker Pie, home of the infamous Scott Sauce and some very delicious pizzas. I got to have pizza with Scott Sauce and buffalo chicken on it, and met a few of Mike's good friends from home. The restaurant has quite a story, and was absolutely packed despite its seemingly being in the middle of nowhere. We headed back down to Chris and Mike's house that night in Burlington -I drove with Chris and got a nice little tour of the towns on the way.

Chris and Mike live in Richmond, which is just outside of Burlington. They share a nice-size house in a secluded caldesac complete with firepit and forest, with another couple. Tim and Martha will be getting married this August (we got to try out some of the celebratory fireworks), and are very cool people. After a quick hello and a bite to eat, Chris, Mike and I picked up Jordan (the other intern from the MWO who just finished up) and headed for Montreal. Again, the country border was a drastic change: Canada was a transition to flat fields headlined by quaint little farmhouses and French signs. Once in Montreal and checked into our extended stay (nice job, Chris) hotel in the middle of town, we wandered through Chinatown and into Old Montreal. We passed a few significant markers - churches and statues of various famous Montrealans, including some of Jeanne de Mance who started and single-handedly ran the area hospital for something like eleven years. That night, we took the underground system to the newer part of town for a very nice dinner at Au Pied de Cochon (Under the Pig's Foot). The restaurant had been recommended to Chris, so we all splurged on fancy French food: Soupe à l'Oignon Gratinée, Foie Gras Poutine, Duck in a Can, Blue Cheese, Apple & Endive Salad, Jarret d'agneau confit, Chocolate Molten Cake, Maple Syrup Pie for 2, and a variety of tasty drinks. The atmosphere was fancy but entertaining and boisterous, to be followed by a city walk home in the rain.

Getting ready for stepping out into Montreal: Jordan, Chris, Mike

View from the hotel room, looking toward the St. Laurence River. The newer and businessy parts of town are to the right.

A little bit of information about Rue St. Laurent and Montreal's rich ethnic history in general

This statue was outside of the big church we passed by on our first outing. I didn't notice other names of the figures, but I did see Jeanne de Mance.

Looking back from Old Montreal toward the more businessy portion of it

A very nice-looking building with a cloth facade painted onto the scaffolding on the left part of it. On the left, there's the cart where we got some delicious smoothies to tide us over for the amazing dinner ahead...

A big boat sporting a Canadian homeplace

Day two began with a nice few hours in the Biodome --a indoor zoo with several segregated ecosystems, including the Saint Laurance forest, jungle, and antarctic. I was particularly excited to see the various South American and African fish including cichlids, and the number of bird species throughout the building was also pretty spectacular. We met Josh and Amy (from Irasburg) at the penguins, on their way through for a field trip. The insectarium and botanical gardens were part of the package, so we continued on for another hour or two to see some really beautiful butterflies, creepy spiders, and lovely outdoor gardens. The flowers weren't quite in bloom yet with the exception of the magnolias, but the weather turned out to be much nicer than predicted, so we spent some time lying in the grass.

A large, flat-billed pink bird and me

Macaws in the jungle section of the Biodome --another check on the bird bingo sheet

Cichlid varieties in a tank at the biodome - we studied cichlids a bit in aquatic ecology, so it was really neat to see these guys in person.

Penguins! This particular group of Kings at the biodome seemed to be very interested in the wall. Jordan's theory is that they were guarding some sort of door over there.

Taking some time off our feet to lay in the shady grass at the botanical gardens

Mama and baby turtles

Jordan, Chris, and Mike on our way out of the botanical gardens

That night, we went back to the newer part of town for a tribute to Mingus by the Normand Guilbeault Ensemble at Upstairs Jazz, which was absolutely fabulous. We ate dinner and watched the first part of the show just outside of the window so that we could see the backs of the players and the music. I gave the drummer a thumbs up after a few great, tight but raucus charts, and we promptly moved inside as people filtered out and the rain began to fall. We sat directly in front of the stage, enjoying three sets of Mingus songs, none of which I had heard before. The group consisted of a very expressive bassist (of course), pianist, trumpet with a bit of an older style, drummer who was spot-on, crazy good and quick-fingered clarinet/bass clarinetist, and a bari/alto/floutist. The clarinetist talked with us a little after the show, telling us that they'd already done several albums of Mingus's music and they'd moved on to some more obscure pieces for this one (they were recording that night.... going to have to find that one online!). One of my favorite charts was called "All the Things You Could Be by Now if Sigmond Frued's Wife Was Your Mother" and Mike happened to catch a good bit of it on video, including a screaming solo by the clarinetist. I also really liked "Prayer for Passive Resistance". The next morning, we made our way up to Mont Royal, which overlooks the city. We spent a few minutes pointing out places we'd been and passing around a frisbee, then headed for home.

Dinner on Friday - I tried the steak et frites, which was very good.

Taken from our window seat, looking in at the drums, trumpet, sax, and clarinet

The piano and beautiful bari sax in front of our table

Back in Burlington, I went for a nice run around their neighborhood - the first one I'd been able to do in quite a while! The three of us (minus Jordan) enjoyed breakfast out at the acclaimed Sneakers, then walked around downtown to see the pedestrians only Church Street, see the Outdoor Gear Exchange (OGE) where Mike used to work, explore the shores of Lake Champlain, and taste some creamy ice cream and Vermont Brewery beer. Later, we cooked up some fish and fiddleheads that we'd picked on the side of the Winooski River.

Monday, we joined Tim (who climbs for the army) at rock climbing at Bolton - my first time ever. It was scary, especially the first two times (In the Pines, Harvest Moon). My third go (Wavy Goodbye) was a bit easier, and the spot had a bit less grade to it. The area was beautiful, with a nice view of the mountains across the valley. It was really cool to see the guys make it up so quickly, and I think a few more times up a rock with a bit of weight-lifting before will make climbing a lot of fun. When we finished up, we drove up a bit farther to Waterbury Wings for a beer and wings (which is now The Riviera; it changed over at five just in time for us to be the last order off the old menu, and Jordan and Sara to be the first on the new menu). A quick shower at the house and back up over to Burlington, where were had a few beers with Jordan at Three Needs followed by a sunrise sandwich at Kountry Kart Deli (KKD).

Mike, Tim, and Addison (Addy, Tim's dog) getting ready for climbing in their living room


Tim repelling down our first climb, Into the Pines

Me heading up Harvest Moon (more of a flat climb)

Mike belaying Chris up Wavy Goodbye

The view from the top of the climb

Our last day in Burlington was spent touring the free(ish) foods of the area: a tour and ice cream cone at Ben & Jerry's, cheese tastes at Cabot, chocolates at Champlain Chocolate, and cider and donuts at Cold Hollow. Mike and I ran some errands while Chris was at work, had a tasty lunch at Al's French Frys, and went to a cinco de mayo party at a house on the hill above Lake Champlain (gorgeous!). I got to meet several people from the OGE and enjoy a very festive party, crazy hippy wearing sombrero included. All in all a really fun and full week! It was great to see all the places Mike had mentioned to me, and meet all the people he'd talked about the last several weeks. It's still not the northwest, but I do really like Vermont. I've got to make sure that Mike makes it to the jazz festivals in Burlington and Montreal this year, as they'll be great and I'm sorry to have to miss them. It's going to be tough to leave this coast, but I'm certainly missing everyone and everyplace at home, too. I'll just keep wishing for a teleport technology in the near future.

Entrance to the Ben & Jerry's factory and visitor center

A cheesy photo opp at the end of our tour... a bit blurry, but worth the touristy humiliation

Mike and I as the brilliant med-school rejects themselves

Mike at the flavor cemetery, overlooking the factory and Vermont mountains

Week Nine, Beginning of the Big Melt

The Sherman Adams Building from Ball Crag, about 4:45 am (summit time --that's 5:45 EST) after our hike down to watch the sunrise. I think it was the best one I've seen yet! Lots of brilliant colors and nice clouds to light up. The hike was a bit treachorous without crampons, though. We've lost a lot of snow in the past few weeks so we opted for boots only. Brian is standing just above the rocks on the right there, and we had some pretty nice convective clouds going overhead already that morning as a thunderstorm dissipated to our west.


Exposed rocks looking down from the summit tower after a few days of moist fog. When the fog is wetter, it seems to melt more snow. This is counterintuitive for me, but Brian explained it as having to do with the vapor pressure of water --my guess would be increased adhesion of liquid water molecules when more liquid water is present in the air...?

I've forgotten until now to post this week -- I just got back from Montreal and Burlington, VT on my off-week so I didn't get much time to hang out on the computer. My last shift up was a warm one, with a lot of melting and even some thunderstorm warnings. I took a couple of hikes with Mike and Brian - one early morning sunrise jaunt to Ball Crag, and another toward Clay to watch the sunset over the valley.


The view from Ball Crag as Mike, Brian and I sat watching the sunrise.


Looking toward Nelson Crag, our initial destination (before we found out about the possibility of a thunderstorm) on our hike.


Feet and knees as we lounge on the rocks at Ball Crag.


Mike, me, and Brian (a really funny picture of him) at Ball Crag


The North Presidentials, lit up by Alpen light from the sunrise. This was taken on our way back up to the Obs from Ball Crag.


Shadow in the ice on the road near the East Snowfields, before our sunset hike


Mike walking up the East Snowfields after a ride, just before our sunset hike


Looking back up at the Obs from down below on our way west to watch the sunset


Mike standing at the edge of the Great Gulf, looking at the melt and what's left of the ski spots


Looking to the sunset on our hike down toward Mt. Clay in the afternoon


Before we shoveled the front entrance on Thursday (or so)...


....and after.


On some of the sunnier days, we spent quite a bit of time outside on the deck enjoying the sunshine. Mike and I sat out and read for an hour or so on this particular day. It got a bit windy, which made for an excellent hair shot.


Playing guitar out on the deck in the sunshine, with Mike's harps to my right. I've never really gotten to jam before, and certainly not on guitar --it's been really cool to have a harp player around who's willing to put up with my basic skillz. We're possibly planning an obscast, although the camera on the summit isn't working at the moment...


Robin and Mike at sunset on the Obs deck with the sun between them.


Marty enjoying (haha) some time on the Obs deck. A little windy for an itty bitty kitty on that particular day, but he did agree to come outside for a bit.


The sun shining behind the pitot before we got a little windier, lower pressure weather --almost ethereal.


Mike taking an ob on a pretty sunny day --we had a layer of stratus, plus a few convective clouds on the horizon pretty much all day.


The tower from the obs deck on a sunny day


More melt and convective clouds over the Northern Presis


Mike taking an ob (we have to sling in the shade) with his mom enjoying the sunshine and winds


Clouds rolling in toward the end of the week. This particular cloud was a cap cloud - it went over the top of the mountain, but didn't extend past that.


A great picture of Brian wearing his helmet and "cape" --if only I could've recorded a sound to go with this.

At the beginning of the week, we did have 13" of snow --not unusual for this time of year, but certainly strange between lengths of 50 degree weather. We shoveled the main entrance twice - once I did the entire thing almost on my own, which was a much needed chance for exercise. Mike's mom, Robin, was our volunteer for the week (quite excellent cookies and smoothies!) and really enjoyed it. She spent a while out in our 80 mph sustained winds and Mike and I joined her in a refreshing outdoor hair washing. The several sunny, blue days we had were great for being out on the obs deck playing guitar, passing around a soccer ball, reading, and climbing around on the rocks. The convective clouds were great to watch as they built in over the duration of the days. I got a bit more experience coding the clouds on our observation forms, which was more difficult than one would think and much needed after being up here for eight weeks. Unfortunately, the wet fog at the beginning of the week coupled with warm temperatures and sun hours melted quite a bit of the snowpack that all of the skiiers had been waiting to go down. Mike and Brian took a few good runs in the Great Gulf and Tuck's still has enough snow in it this week, but they think that we've currently got about the same amount of snow that we had a month later last year. We stopped using the snow cat completely as of our downgoing shift change, although we still use chains on the van above five-mile and there were some good packs of ice on the roads as we made our way down. The weeks are going by quickly, and I've already had to say goodbye to the other intern, Jordan; I'm hoping that I'll get to see Gus and Wayne, the cat drivers, again before I head out of here. Fortunately, Jordan was able to tag along with us to Montreal this week so I got to spend some quality time with him. More on that extraveganza in my next post...


Former Senior Staff Intern Jordan "Scampers" Scampoli posing with the pitot tube anemometer