07.23.11
Carriage horses summit Mount Washington!
Our two locally-bred and raised horses, nicknamed Gilford and Glendale, on Sunday July 17 pulled us in our carriage to the top of Mt. Washington, 7.6 miles distance, from elev. 1527 ft. to 6288 ft. The Event was a once-in-a-lifetime experience!
Connie & Hubby prepare Gilford and Glendale to start up Mt. Washington Carriage/Auto Road
In celebration of the 150th year since the building of the Mt. Washington “Carriage Road” (now known as the Auto Road) in 1861, a Horse Event Weekend was held July 16-17, 2011 in which horses were invited to ride and drive on the mountain. The Great Glen trails at the base were closed to bicycles and open to horses, and on Sunday the Auto Road was closed to motorized vehicles so that horses could make the trek.
Unicorn hitch starts onto the Carriage Road up Mt. Washington
25 horseback riders and 4 carriages made it to the summit, and one other coach reached the 6-mile mark. Our pair of Arabian-Percheron brothers, pulling an Eagle combo carriage, was one of two pairs managing the full climb; the other “turnouts” (rigs) were a unicorn hitch (3 horses) pulling a marathon cart, also a 4-in-hand hitch put to another Eagle. The Eagle carriages have hydraulic brakes on the rear wheels. The ascent took us 4 1/2 hours, with lots of rest stops, and 2 hours for the descent.
The grade starts right away, averaging 12% for the 7.6 miles.
3,000 feet elevation (marker on the left)
Glendale and Gilford were pretty tired by the end but never faltered, they trudged along like true work horses. They sweated some at the lower elevations but never were breathing excessively hard, as they had lots of breaks. I did a fair amount of walking too, probably at least 2 miles!
Every mile there was a checkpoint where horses and people got water.
As we passed the treeline around 4000 feet, and especially above 5000 feet, the wind was ferocious but it kept the horses cooled. At points there was such a strong headwind it slowed them down! Temperatures on top were in the high 50’s and the air was quite clear.
The wind picked up around 4,000 feet and got stronger the higher we climbed!
Above the treeline… and the road starts to feel endless!
Mile Marker 5, on a mile and a half steeper section of packed dirt. The rest of the road is pavement grooved by the snowcats.
Pinkham Notch down on our left…
The light area below us is the Great Glen base area where we started!
This nice check-lady not only gave the boys water but also had horse treats for them!
Behind are more of the Presidentials– Mt. Adams and Mt. Madison
Looking now towards Gorham, we’re about 6 miles along the Road.
This “Otto” car carried a videographer and a photographer from the Auto Road Crew. No other motorized vehicles were admitted this day.
The vastness of these mountains is incredible!
Looking across the Great Gulf between Washington and Madison
Approaching mile 7, I’m walking again…
Sweep riders and a buckboard pulled by another pair. Down off to the left is the Great Gulf.
Near Mile Marker 7, only a half mile to go– 6,000 ft. elev.!
Our barefoot horses wore rubber boots on all fours which gave them protection and extra traction. They were very glad to stand at the top for an hour eating hay; one could say they were energized when it was time to head back down! The boys received “This Horse Climbed Mt. Washington” bumper stickers for their achievement, plus lots of treats and hay, a liniment sponging, and a well-deserved rest.
The wind never let up!
The summit Observation deck, and a Cog Railway car seen at top left.
The last 100 feet was the steepest, about 22% grade!
Up the last steep (I’m behind the carriage)
Hay and a well-deserved long rest, in the lee of the Mt. Washington observatory.
Summit photo in front of the Tip Top House
Hubby and I spent two months conditioning the “boys” through training on the hills of Gilford, including driving them up the Belknap Mountain carriage road a few times to simulate the grade of the Auto Road, which averages 12% incline. Hubby had retrofit and installed a bicycle odometer/speedometer onto our carriage so as to track the training progress, and he was able to observe their walking pace up the mountain, which averaged from 2.2 to 2.4 mph, with lots of rest stops.
Heading downhill at last– the boys found new energy!
5 mile marker going down– using the carriage brakes all the way!
“Cool your brakes…”
The well-organized mountain support crew provided horse water and people water at every milepost checkpoint along the route, and monitored and reported all the horses’ conditions to a veterinarian on the summit. At the top they provided hay and plenty more water. Horseback riders were in front, with carriages following; a small group of sweep riders from the Auto Road crew were behind us most of the way up.
The carriages were held at the top until all four had summitted, so that no carriages had to pass each other on the mountain. The Auto Road organizers headed by Mary Power, plus lots of volunteers, deserve all the praise for this fantastic event, which was blessed with perfect weather!
Hooray!! We’re almost done!
OTHER HORSES AT THE EVENT:
4-in-hand Shires put to an elegant coach
An Eagle combo like ours, employing a drag board for extra braking power on the descent.
Sidesaddle rider and other dandy in period costumes
Antique buckboard
Amish carriage pulled by 4 Percherons
Unicorn hitch
RELATED MOVIE: Horses climbing Mt. Washington (movie)
See my Online Webshots Album with these photos and more
Auto Road blog, pictures of entire event
Mt. Washington Carriage Road Weekend website:
Mt. Washington Auto Road website
HorseGal said,
July 25, 2011 at 8:09 am
Amazing. Breathtaking pictures. So proud of the boys. They gave you everything they had! What an experience. Thanks for writing about it!!
Steven Caming said,
July 30, 2011 at 6:55 am
Great pictures and a nice account of your day! Thank you for being there…
from Steve Caming
Media Director AKA “The Dandy”
connie said,
July 30, 2011 at 8:28 pm
Steven
Thank YOU for having this event!! Were you the one riding up in top hat and
tails on the mare whose foal was at the bottom??
We truly enjoyed the entire experience! And how well it was managed!
I made a “movie” of us there too, on this post:
http://portraitswithhorses.com/blog/?p=6879
Leia in WA said,
August 9, 2011 at 1:02 am
Wow, what an amazing experience! I caught myself getting alternately excited and teary-eyed (what’s up with that??) and thinking “Wow! Now THAT’S something worth saying you did.” Who needs competitions when you’ve got recreational drives like that available? Thank you for sharing!