Many Mountains Surrounding presents poetry and history of the Santa Fe Internment Camp, a prison camp administered by the US Justice Department housing mostly. Created in 1946 and kept secret ever since, The Diary is one of the most astonishing manuscripts to come out of the Second World War. It is the personal and private.
Wandering in the Mountains – Geology, Nature, and Adventure teaching lessons in life. Almost everything in nature, which can be supposed capable of inspiring ideas of the sublime and beautiful is here realized. Aged mountains, stupendous elevations, rolling clouds, impending rocks, verdant woods, crystal streams, the gentle rill, and the roaring torrent, all conspire to amaze, to soothe and to enrapture, Jeremy Belknap writing on the White Mountains in his book History of New Hampshire, 1. Silver Cascade; the southern most end of the Presidential Traverse in the White Mountains. This water fall is at Crawford Notch, a narrow gorge that is home to the Saco River. He wrote of the White Mountains: . It may be called the Switzerland of America”. Although much has changed since the dawn of the 1. White Mountains remain a magical place. Washington is the high point – in fact it is the high point of the entire northeastern US at an elevation of. Washington) as compared to 1. Washington. The White Mountains of New Hampshire as depicted on the “Cardigan map”, dated 1. The Presidential Range is represented on the map by the sort of strange stack of pancakes – not a very accurate representation of the actual topography. In the fall of 2. I signed up for. Washington often freezes, is extremely windy, and is shrouded in clouds. In 1. 98. 6 the record low August temperature of 2. F was recorded!). Map of the Presidential Traverse; from Hiway 3. Hiway 2 in the north it is about 2. Washington is the high point, right in the middle of the traverse. The starting point has an elevation of 1,1. The multi- day requirement was actually great – it meant more miles, more climbs, and more trails to explore. Rime ice is formed by freezing fog that is blown by strong winds – it first freezes on an object at temperatures colder than the air, and then forms long tails in the direction of the wind. I believe that my wife’s vision of the PT was shaped by a visit we took to Mt. Washington some 1. Washington is the deadliest mountain in the US – more than 1. When my wife suggested that going solo on the PT was not my wisest plan I responded with a Hunter Thompson quote: ! What a ride!” Seems that 6. Thompson quip was not received quite as intended. On the other hand, a hike along the Appalachian Trail over one of the most famous mountains in all the US was ample reward. The geologic provinces of the United States. The contiguous US has a varied physiography which is largely reflective of tectonic history. There are nine major provinces, and the eastern US is dominated by the Appalachian Mountains. Despite the appearance of being a continuous mountain belt, the Appalachians have differing and distinctive tectonic histories in the north and south. Making of the White Mountains. The White Mountains are ancient – they were formed long before the modern Rockies, the Basin and Range, or the very young. Yet, despite this primordial character, the White Mountains remain an imposing landscape. Washington one can see landmarks. The northern Appalachians mountains have a different record of collisions than in the south, but overall the accordion landscape is all that remains of the opening and closing of many ocean basins. This “high” elevation was created approximately 4. White Mountains began some 7. Rohinia, began to be rifted apart. About 5. 00 million years ago the. Although there are some large scale granite intrusions in the White Mountains, the structure is dominated by collision of island arc and continental crust and the accordion like stacking of sediments and crustal fragments. Eventually, the oceanic crust was completely subducted, and the edge of. The White Mountains were a direct result of this collision, which also accounts for most of the rock types that are seen along the Presidential Traverse today. Unlike the San Juan Mountains in Colorado, there was little volcanism (although there was some) involved in the original mountain building. The rocks that are mostly seen in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains are metamorphic – the Laurentia crust and. By the way, the zone of collision was much larger. Eventually the collisions assembled a new supercontinent, Pangea. Notional map of Pangea, circa 2. Almost all the landmasses recognized as continents today were temporarily assembled into one large “super continent”. Around 1. 85 million years ago, Pangea began to break apart along rifts and the modern ocean basins began to form. Around 1. 85 million years ago Pangea began to break up – rifts criss- crossed the giant continent, and Pangea was slowly pulled apart. This melting produces large granitic plutons – that may, or may not, have had volcanic vents at the surface. By 1. 60 million years ago the crustal melting had ceased; the rock building history of the White Mountains ended. Geologist define the Pleistocene epoch (the period of time from 2. Northern Hemisphere. The glaciation – or more correctly, the cold climate – was episodic, and the White Mountains were occasionally completely covered by a thick ice sheet (not unlike Greenland today). The most recent “ice age”, referred to as the. There are nine glaciers which are indicated by the gray regions. The largest was north of Mt. Washington and carved a cirque and glacial valley known as the “Great Gulf”The Laurentide Ice Sheet retreated as the climate warmed, and exposed the White Mountains again about 1. This boulder was moved some 2. It is named after a teamster that sought shelter beneath the rock’s overhang during a blizzard in the early 1. The rugged topography of the White Mountains is only a part of the challenge of any hike or run across the Presidential Traverse. Much of the fame of the White Mountains, and Mt. Washington in particular, is associated with. Washington towers above the surrounding New Hampshire landscape, and by elevation rise alone has temperatures 3. The lowest recorded temperature on Mt. Washington was - 5. F (January 2. 2, 1. F (January 1. 6, 2. Major storm tracks for the US – storms form in the west and “track” across the continent, usually strengthening. Three of typical tracks (the red below is known as the Alberta Clipper, the blue is called the Pacific, and the light red is called the Texas) converge on the Northeast – the White Mountains are in bull’s eye of storms for the entire year. The weather conditions of the White Mountains are controlled by. Air cools as it passes up and over high terrain; as the air cools it loses it ability to hold moisture (first forming clouds or fog, and then rain and snow – this is called the Foehn effect). Washington receives the equivalent of 9. Mt. Washington receives 2. Washington 6. 0 percent of the time! A view of the summit of Mt. I am standing about 1. Hiking the Presidential is as much about weather as it is tough trails. The White Mountains are both a geologic marvel, and a most amazing coincidence of circumstances with regards to weather patterns. I say reputed because academics love to argue if Field actually climbed to the top, or even climbed at all. It is hard to image what that first ascent was like; primitive gear, no appreciation for the weather changes, and likely no real planning for the ascent. However, if Field could make it to the top, then clearly a modern man armed with geologic knowledge, an keen eye for weather, and lots of snacks in a pack could cross the Presidential Traverse! Artistic rendition of the northern Presidential Range (postcard circa 1. Mt Washington, in the center of the image, has an elevation of 6. The Franconia Range is southwest of the Presidential Range within the White Mountains, and most of the rocks that are exposed are younger in age – primarily the granites associated with the breakup of Pangea. Lincoln Loop is along the Falling Waters Trail – homage to the numerous waterfalls on the first half of the climb. The hike up to the Franconia Ridge is quite rugged – it is steep, rocky, and occasionally slippery. Quad busting, ankle biting rocks. The high peak in the middle of the profile is Mt. Lincoln, and the high point is Lafayette. The 3 mile climb to the ridge is a constant 1. It was a warm day (it was 8. Haystack. Cannon has an elevation of a little more than 4. The large exposure of rock is exfoliating granite – which also created the Old Man of the Mountain. Once on Haystack the trail follows Franconia Ridge, and is mostly class 1 (maybe a class 2 section here and there). Lincoln and Franconia Ridge. I really had to do this loop to get Mt. Lincoln – the greatest President, and did not want to disrespect him in any run of the “Presidential Traverse”. I was hoping for a good view of the Presidential Range from Lafayette, but the haze associated with the humidity precluded an impressive visa of “towering” Mt. In the distance is the northern part of the Presidential Range. It is a tough 4 mile slog down with 3. Lafayette to the Franconia Trailhead is a slog. Washington, and I was going to have a miracle hike. Self delusion is an important skill for ultra runners – only equalled by the importance of a very short memory for pain and discomfort. Washington because it was shrouded in thick fog. The climb from the trailhead to Mt. Washington is about 5 miles and a gain in elevation of 3. The distance ridgeline is Monroe, Franklin, and the final “hump” is Eisenhower. The dark skies were a harbinger of things to come. The PT is one of the classic American mountain routes – it was first done in September of 1. George Sargent and Eugene Cook. They hiked the PT from north to south in about 2. The fastest known time for the traverse was made by Ben Nephew in 2. I had no illusions about being “fast”, and after taking 2hrs 3. Mt. Washington I was pretty sure the FKT is fiction! Above 4,4. 00 the fog rolled in and the wind began to roar. The visibility was 1. The trail is marked with cairns which is the only way to not get lost. Along the trail are large blocks of white bull quartz – eerie ghosts in the fog.
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