Escaping a Hurricane in The Whites

Dad and I had a great time hanging out in town and getting our gear ready to hit the Whites. We parked at the southern end, Franconia Notch, and started the long, grueling hike up into the mountains. The fog hung low, and we entered it within the first hour of hiking. We had hoped to make it further the first day, but the rain pinned us down below treeline at 2pm. We were confined to our tents with reading and napping...I'll admit, it was a much needed break for me. The next morning, we packed up and finished the insane bouldery climb up to Franconia Ridge above treeline in the fog. As we traversed, the clouds began to break offering endless views as if we were in a plane above the clouds. It was a surreal experience. The clouds slowly faded away to beautiful blue skies the rest of the day. We were so thankful.

The trail got increasingly more difficult with massive boulder-strewn climbs of 1,000+ feet or more. It was impossible to hold more than a 1/2 mph at times or you would surely break an ankle. My dad did some crushing miles as if he were half his age...I was continuously impressed with his endurance and speed over such exhausting terrain.

As we hiked, the word spread of Hurricane Irene having a greater chance of hitting us directly. A mandatory evacuation spread throughout the mountain range and even the rangers were leaving. There was talk of 100+ mph winds on the summits, certain blowdowns and impassible streams, and no hope of search and rescue if something were to happen. Of course, being the stubborn males that we are, it took me and dad a while to finally decide we should head out too. We hiked a brutal 17 miles today over staircases of rocks to make it to a road. My dad never skipped a beat, but we were truly exhausted when we hit the highway at dusk. It took 30 minutes in the dark before I could wave down a car to get us out of there. A nice guy picked us up and we made it to a hotel tonight just in time ( thanks Matt!) The hurricane is projected to pass right over us...just a few miles south of Mt. Washington: "the worst weather on Earth!" If we hadn't been able to get out, we would have been in seriously trouble. It's nice to have an unexpected hotel stay with a good hiking buddy. I'll keep you updated on how our plans change, but we are safe for now. What a day...