Golden Hour on "The Rock Pile". New Hampshire's Mt. Washington is sometimes referred to as "The Rock Pile", due to the rocky nature of its summit landscape. In this golden hour image, we get a good look at the rock-strewn approaches to the 6,288 ft. summit, as Mt. Washington Railway Company #2 makes her final charge with the D-section of the last passenger train of the day. In the background, we see Mt. Jefferson, and that bottomless abyss in between is called "The Great Gulf." Just behind the train, at the edge of the sunlit slope, are some signs and cairns marking the path of the Gulfside Trail, which is part of the famous Appalachian Trail, that is very popular with hikers. The markers are important, because this section of the mountain is in the clouds about two thirds of the time and it is VERY easy to get lost up here. Hiking off trail on this mountain can be quite a challenge. Those rocks are bigger than they look, and those grassy areas? Walking on those is like walking on boggy moss, which is to say difficult. Fortunately, at this hour, most hikers have long since headed down mountain, or they have one-way tickets on either the Cog Railway or the Mt. Washington Stage. Hiking up here after dark is a very dangerous proposition.
