Crossing a "Martian" landscape. Mt. Washington Railway Co. #9 "Waumbek" shines in the late afternoon sun as she takes the 4 PM steam trip through the last quarter mile to the summit. The train is transiting a section of the line known as the "Homestretch", next to the Appalachian Mountain Club's Gulfside Trail. The landscape looks a bit like some of the photos that the space probes took on Mars.....except there is no grass on Mars. As you can see it's a mixture of grass and loose rock. It may look like it is easy to hike on, but that's not the case. Those rocks are bigger and sharper than they look, and that grass is not firm at all. The AMC trails that you see marked by signs in the distance typically have a gravel surface and are easier to walk on than the surfaces adjacent to the track. The dark abyss in the background is the Great Gulf Wilderness area, which is a very deep canyon. As you can see, at this late hour, it is all in deep shadow. Our train is perhaps 5 minutes from the summit in this photo.
