MT WASHINGTON ANYBODY?

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MT WASHINGTON ANYBODY?

Post by Joe Gopan » Thu Apr 12, 2018 3:52 am

Anyone ever climb Mt. Washington in their stock WWII Jeep or MV? How was it? Would you do it again?
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Re: MT WASHINGTON ANYBODY?

Post by Destructo6 » Thu Apr 12, 2018 5:12 am

I don't think you are talking about the Mt Washington here in SoAZ, so tell us about your Mt Washington...
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Re: MT WASHINGTON ANYBODY?

Post by Joe Gopan » Thu Apr 12, 2018 5:24 am

Do a search on MT WASHINGTON NH AUTO ROAD. The summit is 6288' and is an 8 mile journey. Scary for some, fun for others.
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Re: MT WASHINGTON ANYBODY?

Post by 70th Division » Thu Apr 12, 2018 3:24 pm

Hello Ben,

What a great idea !!!
Having been a NH Native, I didn't ever get up there.

I have heard it can be an interesting drive with no guard rails, but I imagine you had better have like new brakes on the vehicles !!!

Plenty of history in the area, such as the Bretton Woods Conference, in 1944 at the Mount Washington Hotel .
The second coldest place recorded on earth in the winter, with windchill recorded at -94F .
Mount Washington holds all sorts of weather extreme records !!
The weather must be good , even in summer, for the trip !!

It would be a great adventure , and they also have the Cog Railway going up there to the top.
There is a weather station up there as well.

Hopefully someone local in New Hampshire could elaborate on the feasibility of a Jeep Convoy to the top :D :D :D

Best Regards,

Ray

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Re: MT WASHINGTON ANYBODY?

Post by Wolfman » Fri Apr 13, 2018 5:38 am

Do to the weather conditions you just posted, Ray, I would check ahead before planning the trip.
I believe it is only open to the to the peak, to the public, in certain "summer" months.
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Re: MT WASHINGTON ANYBODY?

Post by Joe Gopan » Fri Apr 13, 2018 6:27 am

The weather does not stand still on Mt Washington. The summer weather was in the 70's and on that morning it was sunny and 65F at the bottom and 23F with 87 MPH gusts at the top. The trip up and back down was mostly in 2nd Gear, compression braking in 2nd Gear was used to avoid brake fade. Brake fade gives the same feeling as having ball bearings for brake lining, and it never jumped out of gear once during the descent even at 20MPH.

Again, compression braking is a MUST as brake fade will leave you helpless and the parking brake is a "no, no" especially on the M-38A1 as it can lock the driveshaft and flip the JEEP.

I made the trip with the doors off and wore my flying jacket. My wife did not wear her jacket, but wore mine when she started to freeze. The M-38A1 Heater kept her hands and feet warm. The 9 mile climb was full of hair pin turns and drop offs that could not be viewed from the drivers seat. There were long hooded cars like Cadillac and Lincoln that turned around and aborted.. The weather changed constantly during the climb, clouds, rain, sleet, snow flurries and sun was the norm for the trip We drank a lot of hot chocolate at the top.
If you plan to take your Jeep (or any vehicle) up Mt Washington, do a complete PM on the brakes, a tune up on the engine and if your Jeep jumps out of 2nd Gear during compression braking, do not make the trip.
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Re: MT WASHINGTON ANYBODY?

Post by Marty, SoCal » Fri Apr 13, 2018 11:15 am

They once recorded a 231mph wind at the summit!

There are some restrictions on the vehicles they allow on the road and weights loaded in them:
https://mtwashingtonautoroad.com/drive- ... strictions
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Re: MT WASHINGTON ANYBODY?

Post by tamnalan » Sun Apr 15, 2018 12:45 pm

I rode a bicycle up the toll road twice in 2003. First in July on a practice, and the second on race day. 1:22:?? (I forget the seconds). My time was good enough for a top 20% finish. The overall men's winner, Tom Danielson, did it in under 55 minutes. He holds the men's course record at about 51 minutes, eclipsing Tyler Hamilton's prior record. Mt Washington helped launch Hamilton's pro career. The weather conditions are a huge factor. Danielson was a pro who raced for Lance Armstrong's US Postal team. Yes, Tom was doping. He later had to forfeit the win.

The race organizers won't let cyclists ride back down the mtn. My wife was "sagging" for my friend Mike Arciero and me - we had a van. Another rider asked us for a ride down. Turned out he (Todd Balf) was writing an article about the 2003 Mt Washington bicycle hill climb for Outside magazine. He briefly mentioned Mike and me in his story, which was published in the same issue that featured the fellow in Utah who had cut off his hand to escape being pinned in fallen rocks.
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Re: MT WASHINGTON ANYBODY?

Post by sjalbert » Mon Apr 16, 2018 7:25 am

Destructo6 wrote:
Thu Apr 12, 2018 5:12 am
I don't think you are talking about the Mt Washington here in SoAZ, so tell us about your Mt Washington...
I didn't know about that one. Mt Lemmon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Lemmon is a better drive. You can drive most of the way to the summit on a narrow (paved) road. Elevation is 9,171 ft. The vertical rise is 5,157 ft. The unpaved road on the back side is more fun :) I'm not sure how well it's maintained. When I drove it about thirty years ago I was very happy to have a saw.
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Re: MT WASHINGTON ANYBODY?

Post by Mark Tombleson » Mon Apr 16, 2018 12:03 pm

That looks like a cool drive, Joel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Was ... Hampshire)

I was on a trip up Mt. Princeton in CO last year in a CJV-35/U.

Image

The road goes up to 12000 or so as I remember as I looked on my iPhone. Top is at 14000+. Now that is a mountain! :D
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Re: MT WASHINGTON ANYBODY?

Post by tamnalan » Mon Apr 16, 2018 12:22 pm

Mark, was that part of Mike's superb Fall Colors Tour?

Here's a shot of me on Mt Antero, at around 13,000 during Mike's 2016 FCT. I was the only one in an open jeep for some reason. Maybe it was the snow. I'm hoping to return this year and give Mt Princeton a go.

Image
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Re: MT WASHINGTON ANYBODY?

Post by sjalbert » Mon Apr 16, 2018 1:00 pm

tamnalan wrote:
Mon Apr 16, 2018 12:22 pm
Mark, was that part of Mike's superb Fall Colors Tour?
I had a 2 week meeting in Denver back in the Summer of 2011 (or thereabouts). I got with him on the weekend in between to pre-run that years tour. We saw plenty of snow. I was glad that we were in a Cherokee and not an open jeep :D
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Re: MT WASHINGTON ANYBODY?

Post by Destructo6 » Mon Apr 16, 2018 2:35 pm

I didn't know about that one. Mt Lemmon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Lemmon is a better drive. You can drive most of the way to the summit on a narrow (paved) road. Elevation is 9,171 ft. The vertical rise is 5,157 ft. The unpaved road on the back side is more fun :) I'm not sure how well it's maintained. When I drove it about thirty years ago I was very happy to have a saw.
The north (dirt) road to Mt Lemmon is well maintained. I did it a few years ago in my 2015 Wrangler and didn't really need to put it in 4wd. The paved south road has a ton of traffic on the weekends, making it less than fun even in a modern vehicle.

Taking Duquesne Rd over the top of Mt Washington to the closed POE and ghost town in Lochiel. Lots of ghost towns around here.
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Your parents, a body.
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Re: MT WASHINGTON ANYBODY?

Post by Beers » Mon Apr 16, 2018 7:37 pm

tamnalan wrote:
Mon Apr 16, 2018 12:22 pm

Image
That is one cool photo Alan. Looks like fun! :mrgreen:
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Re: MT WASHINGTON ANYBODY?

Post by Mark Tombleson » Mon Apr 16, 2018 10:18 pm

sjalbert wrote:
Mon Apr 16, 2018 1:00 pm
tamnalan wrote:
Mon Apr 16, 2018 12:22 pm
Mark, was that part of Mike's superb Fall Colors Tour?
I had a 2 week meeting in Denver back in the Summer of 2011 (or thereabouts). I got with him on the weekend in between to pre-run that years tour. We saw plenty of snow. I was glad that we were in a Cherokee and not an open jeep :D

Mike and the guys are good folk! I had fun. :wink:
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