Arctic Wednesdays 2026: Week 1 Post-Trip Blog

 Mt. Washington Post Trip Blog
Brian Winslow, Winnisquam Regional School District STEAM

January 7th, 2026

My morning started early in the day with a notice that Winnisquam Schools had a two hour delay, as well as another that my children’s school also had a delayed opening. I could hear the sleet hitting the window, and although I had more time to sleep, the excitement and anxiety about what the day held in store didn’t allow me to capitalize on it. 

After cleaning the vehicles and triple checking the gear in my bag, I decided to head out early due to the icy road conditions. It was a long and somewhat slow ride to the base of the Mt. Washington Auto road, however I got there without incident and with about a half hour to spare. I noticed an out of state plate in the parking lot and assumed that it was the other teacher for the day, Kate, who I knew had traveled from Kansas. I introduced myself and we immediately hit it off, and I learned that I was actually an hour and half early. We decided to get some coffee at the Pinkham Notch Visitor Center and chatted about our jobs and our day ahead.

Gradually people arrived, volunteers, employees, everyone was excited to be there and pleasant to be around. Jackie arrived at some point, introduced herself, and shared the MWOB Kestrel weather meter, and gave us a quick lesson on how to use it. I took my first temperature and elevation reading for the day, and took some pictures to share with my students. A little before 11:00 we started to load up the snow cat, and around 11:30 we set out. There was very light snowfall and a comfortable 33 degree temperature. 

The ride up the auto road was great, aside from the occasional jolting and constant window rattling of the snow cat. Those inconveniences were easily overlooked by the beautiful sights of fresh snow on trees, which changed to kromholtz and then alpine terrain. We stopped somewhere around 5,100’ at a bend in the road with a particularly good view. Portions of Huntington and Tuckerman ravines were visible. We were between cloud layers, not able to see the valley or the summit, but able to see the slopes of wildcat across the valley. I took my second temperature and elevation reading as part my data collection lesson for second grade. 

We reached the summit with low visibility, light winds, and the rather warm temperature of 27 degrees. Due to our late departure we went inside to the observatory room quickly and started to figure out the logistics for our Zoom meetings with students. Jackie acted as our liaison, showing us around and making sure that Alex (one of the observers who had ridden up with us) would handle the Zoom logistics. Jackie explained the “hall of fame” items, answered our questions about all manner of things, and made us feel welcome. I had not realized beforehand that this was her role for the day, but I was very appreciative of how the Observatory was structuring our experience with a dedicated staff member. 

After a slight connection delay my Zoom meeting went well with all of my expected classes attending. Alex was eager to help answer student questions and her expertise in weather, mountain ecosystems, the logistics of running the Observatory, and everything else that eight year olds could throw at herl. As Kate carried out her Zoom meeting, Jackie showed me the living quarters for staff and volunteers and answered more of my questions. 

After the zoom meetings we climbed through the “cold room” and to the top of the observatory tower. I took a third elevation and temperature reading from the cage on top. We climbed down and went with an intern to the observatory deck, and met a climber who had summited the mountain via the right gully, a somewhat technical snow climb. 

Soon afterwards it was time for the return trip in the snow cat. We did not get to sit in on the changeover meeting as our schedule was compressed, but that was a choice in order to visit the observation tower. Next time. We loaded in the snow cat with the observers and volunteers who were ending their shifts and started to head down. There were slightly more views on the way down (breathtaking views), and lots of conversation about the trees. Those coming off their shift commented about how nice it is to see trees again after a week on the summit. We got out of the snow cat around 4:45, I took my final elevation and temperature measurement, and returned the weather meter. 

We said our “thanks yous” and “goodbyes” and headed out. The roads were in much better condition than the morning, and I spent most of the drive home without the radio, just thinking about how cool all of that was.