Mount Washington Hike

A few years ago, I was invited to go hiking up Mount Washington in New Hampshire. Being from Pittsburgh, my first thought was of the Mount Washington that rises above the Pittsburgh skyline, a nice hike but not all that difficult. I was going on the hike with some friends who had hiked Mount Washington in the past who said that it was a tough hike but assured me that they had everything under control. (First mistake - trust others without doing any research in advance).

At the time, I was living in Connecticut so we took the beautifully scenic drive up to New Hampshire. Our plan was that we were going to stay in a Bed and Breakfast at the base of the mountain. We arrived there early in the evening, so we decided to go to a local bar and have a drink. Well, one drink led to another and another... Being young and unattached at the time, I had no problem with going out and having a good time. We noticed that a band set up their equipment at the bar and soon the crowd became larger. After a night of dancing and drinking, we got back to the bed and breakfast at about three in the morning (mistake number 2). It was then that I was informed that we were to get up at 6 AM for the 8+ hour hike. Yikes!