We've successfully made our way through the obstacle at Cragway. We even cleared the second round of snow that fell last week. However, that round of snow wasn't all snow. In fact, that storm brought a lot of heavy rain to the mountain. That heavy rain in combination with the snow runoff did some significant damage on the section of the Road above Craway—the 6 mile. I went up the Road this afternoon to take a look for myself.

Things are looking great through Cragway. I was amazed at how much it has melted.

Unfortunately, things aren't so good just around the corner. Last fall, we paved a long stretch of road on the 6 mile for the first time. A short section of this part of the road suffered the most damage.
Although, we're very glad that we had paved this section because otherwise, we would have more repairs on our hands.

That being said, as you can see, we still have plenty of work to do. We'll be hauling gravel up to the 6 mile next week to rebuild this portion of the Road.

All this means, that it's going to take us a bit longer than we had hoped to get open to the summit. Right now, we're hopeful that we can open to the summit on Saturday, May 24. Obviously, no guarantees, but we'll keep trying. And, as always, I'll keep you updated.

The good news is that once we clear this section, it's all smooth sailing.

You'll know more as soon as we have a progress update.

- Ryan

Comments

Re: More work on the 6 Mile
by Weez on May 10th 2008, 5:35 pm

Keep the commentary and the photos coming. You're doing a great job and it's a little bit ( a very little bit!) like being there.Thanks!

Re: More work on the 6 Mile
by Ryan on May 10th 2008, 5:49 pm

I'm trying to figure out a way to get the wind to come out of your monitor. Then it will be closer to being on the side of Mt. Washington.

Re: More work on the 6 Mile
by Weez on May 11th 2008, 7:24 am

Too funny- I was thinking that the only thing lacking in photos is the feel of the wind, the snow, the rain, the sun!! The smell of the air would definitely be great too!

Re: More work on the 6 Mile
by Brian on May 12th 2008, 6:38 pm

Thanks for the update Ryan. I'm waiting to drive up to ski. It's not so much that I'm lazy...It's more that I developed a DEADLY allergy to BLACK FLIES in recent years after seasons of harmless bites-and can go into Anaphylaxis shock and die(bummer)! They don't light on you too much up high in the alpine zone but I have seen some around on low wind days. Skiing down GOS into vegetation also makes me cover up and move back up quickly! But I love skiing the Mt. so much. Have you seen many Black flies in the valley yet, or are the starting to come out in force already. Thanks again for your hard work and response.

Re: More work on the 6 Mile
by nick on May 13th 2008, 2:41 am

Thanks for the updates. We are visiting New Hampshire next week, and hope to drive up around 5/22 -- I'm hoping for a miracle!

Re: Black flies yet?
by Howie on May 14th 2008, 2:22 pm

No black flies at the base of the Road yet, Brian. Mosquitoes are out though!

thanks for the response, Howie
on May 14th 2008, 7:05 pm

Wow...I'm surprised by no black flies yet...but I'm sure they're around the corner.I guess I could still hike up from the valley now( next week, who knows). I'll ask for an update then. .....It's kind of like that Kenaua Reeves/Dennis Hopper movie "Speed" for me....keep moving at a minimum speed(that they can't land) or blow up and die! Just making light of a tough situation. Thanks again, Howie.