On Tuesday August 28, Fr. Jeremy and I climbed Mount Washington in New Hampshire. We arrived in NH on Monday and camped out over night. Then on Tuesday morning we drove to the base of Mt Washington. We ate a hearty breakfast and started climbing the mountain around 10:30 a.m.We followed the trail through the pine trees. There was moss on almost every rock. It looked like a carpet on the forest floor. Ferns were growing around the moss and between the trees. It was really beautiful. Later we arrived above the treeline, where the air is too thin for trees to grow well. From there we could see for miles and miles. It was beautiful from the tiny details of moss to the vast majesty of the mountain ranges. God really has made beautiful creation! St. Francis would say: Praised be you, my Lord, through sister mother earth!
We encountered many people along the way. One man has made a car that gets 100 miles per gallon! Then we met a Deaf man from Rochester. His name is Christopher Lehfeldt, and he is a dentist. Two people said hello as they came down the mountain. It struck me: Hey! They're signing as they speak! How do they know that Fr. Jeremy and I know sign? We started speaking and signing back! "Beautiful day!" "When did you start?" and so forth. Then another man caught up with them, and we realized... they're signing because their friend is Deaf. We chatted for a little while. Chris mentioned that he knows Fr. Tom Coughlin, Deacon Patrick Greybill and other people in Rochester.
We continued trudging up the mountain. The weather was absolutely gorgeous... we were very lucky. When we arrived at the top, we were able to rest inside the visitor center. We snacked on the food that we had brought, and we mailed some postcards. We celebrated Mass and then got ready to go back down.
By this time it was getting late, and we were worried that it would be too much to hike back down. So we bought tickets for the Cog Railway. It was a little more expensive than we had planned, but it was also more exciting than I had expected.
The "brakeman" works the brakes all the way down. He sets the brakes to slow down the train and loosens them to let the train go faster. When he saw Fr. Jeremy, he said, "I want to stay on your good side." Fr. Jeremy responded, "I want to stay on your good side." Well, everyone stayed and each other's good sides and we all made it down safely, thanks be to God!
