The White Mountain

"Informative, funny, and full of fascinating characters . . . Dan Szczesny bushwhacks a fresh, new, wonder-filled trail. From the foreword by Rebecca Rule

Over the course of one calendar year, journalist Dan Szczesny explored the history and mystique of New England s tallest mountain. But Mount Washington is more than just a 6,288-foot rock pile; the mountain is the cultural soul of climbers, hikers, and tourists from around the world.

Szczesny's research took him outside of the archives; he was on the team of a ninety-seven-year-old ultra-runner, he dressed as Walt Whitman and read poetry while hiking up the mountain, and he spent a week in winter cooking for the scientists at the observatory. In The White Mountain, Szczesny turns a veteran journalist's eye toward exploring Mount Washington's place in the collective consciousness of the country and how this rugged landscape has reflected back a timeless history of our obsession and passion for exploration and discovery.