Mount Washington was first climbed in 1642, but there was little activity there until the middle of the 19th century when it was developed as one of the first intentional tourist destinations in the country with the construction of the Tip Top Hotel, which is still standing and recently renovated, and an auto road and the Mount Washington Cog Railway (1869) to the top.

Mount Washington literally has some of the worst weather in the world, as it holds the wind speed record at 231 mph (372 kph), recorded in 1934 and regular winter temperatures of 47 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (44 below Celsius). Buildings there are designed to withstand 300 mph (482 kph) winds. Many are chained directly to the mountain. In addition to a number of broadcast towers, the mountain is the site of a non-profit scientific observatory reporting the weather as well as other aspects of the sub-arctic climate of the mountain.

The mountain is a popular hiking and recreational area, including Tuckerman Ravine, famous for its Fourth of July skiing and its 45-degree slopes, and notorious for its avalanches. It is the only mountain east of the Mississippi that has avalanches. About 100 are recorded every year and since 1849 more than 130 people have died in slides.

Numerous hikers have been lost on the mountain due to the difficulty of judging the weather on the mountain from down below. Hikers on the Appalachian trail visit the summit while on their way to and from Mt. Katahdin

External Links

• Mount Washington web page
• Mount Washington weather station
• Mount Washington cog railway, the only railway in the world built entirely on trestles, 3.1 miles (5.2 km).

Algonquin Park is the third largest park in Ontario and one of the largest in Canada, covering about 7,725 square kilometres. Highway 60 runs through the south of the park, while the Trans-Canada Highway bypasses it to the north. Over 1500 lakes and over 1200 kilometres of streams and rivers are located within the park, including Canoe Lake and the Petawawa and Nipissing Rivers. These were formed by the retreat of the glaciers during the last Ice Age. The park covers both the deciduous forests of southern Ontario and the coniferous forests of the Canadian Shield in northern Ontario. It contains thousands of species of plants and animals, including as moose, beaver, black bear, lake trout, maple, and spruce, and is an important site for wildlife research.

In the 19th century, the logging industry began harvesting trees in the area for shipbuilding. To preserve the land as a wildlife sanctuary, the province of Ontario designated it a Provincial Park in 1893. It quickly became popular with fishermen and hunters, as well as artists such as Tom Thomson and the members of the Group of Seven, who found the landscape inspiring. Thomson served as a guide in the park and died there in 1917.

Today Algonquin Park is a popular year-round camping site. There are designated campgrounds along the edges of the park, especially on Highway 60, but it is possible to camp further inside the park as well. Other activities include fishing, canoeing, hiking, snowmobiling and skiing.

External Links