Why?
The Presidential Range of the White Mountains, and Mt Washington in particular, are crassly overused. To us, the motto of the White Mountain National Forest should more apty read "Land of many abuses". Our aim is to point out those few who are ruining the experience for everyone. We recognize that our ability to share the mountains is a great priviledge - a priviledge that can and should be revoked when the goods, our beloved mountains, become damaged goods.
There are big-time abusers and small time abusers. The small time abusers are not limited to any one particular group of users of these mountains and they generally are the ones who come without a single drop of clue. The big time abusers are the AMC and the Cog Railway.
The Cog Railway and the Mt Washington Auto Road bring tourists to the summit of the highest peak in New England. For the most part, these tourists, who we call Marge and Ernies, are benign users. They rarely venture off the summit proper, and we have nothing against them personally, other than the fact that we walk to the top while they sit on their keesters.
The flashpoint is where the Cog Railway and the Appalachian Trail cross. For anyone hiking the AT, particularly through-hikers, encountering the cog railway is an assault on the senses. The Whites are perhaps the most spectacular part of the entire length of the trail that runs form Maine to Georgia, and here is a clanking, screaming, soot-spewing, creasote-stinking contraption smack dab in the middle of total wilderness.
In defense of the beast, it has a fascinating history and is indeed an engineering marvel. Unfortunately, the operators of this thing have long-ago given up on anything remotely resembling "use" and firmly established the Cog as an operation hellbent on abuse. Rather than measured and environmentally-concerned policies of preservation, the Cog's operators choose instead to maximize profit by operating the beast more like an amusement park ride than a working museum.
Cog engineers seem to forget that the Cog runs over public lands. They outwardly profess an attitude of entitlement over their steel and iron grip on the mountain. And they are not afraid to show it, either. A Cog engineer lives for the chance to hurl chunks of coal at hikers who moon the cog. Its simply a matter of over-use and abuse: too many Cog trains, too many hikers, and not enough wilderness. Eventually, access will have to be restricted as it is in wilderness places all over the world. Restricted for the hikers who don't have a clue and restricted for the Cog, whose operator's greed overshadows the public's ultimate desire for increasingly measured and well-stewarded use of our dwindling natural resources.
The AMC is the other abuser. As maintainer of a system of huts in the high peaks, it caters to the most clueless sort of hikers. Very large, extremely well endowed, the AMC is headquartered in posh offices on Beacon Street in Boston. In addition to running its high-class hostels (average evening stay costs $100), the AMC sponsors large organized group-hikes into these mountains. One time we encountered an AMC organized hike with 75 participants spread out across four summits: The AMC's own published quidelines mandate groups no larger that 10.
Note that we hold no disdain for most members of the AMC, only pity. They are generally good people who think that they are supporting the sustainable and responsible use of the White Mountains and other wilderness areas through their membership. It is clear to us, though, that over-endowed AMC has commercialized the wilderness experience - particularly in the presidential range, and has lost touch with its core constituency, preferring instead to be sycophants to their most wealthy benefactors.
If you are an AMC member, observe for yourself the AMC's behavior in the backwoods. Look at their finances: How much of your membership dollars are actually spent on prgrams that protect and preserve our trails and how much are spent in Boston? If, like us, you discover you are donating your hard-earned money to support an organization that dedicates most of its time, effort, and funds to raising more funds, then do two things: 1) seek out organizations that apply most or all of your support towards reasoned and sustainable use of our wilderness (they are many, often local, and always struggling), and: 2) wherever you encounter incongruities like these, do as we do: turn around, bare your ass and moon away - you'll be amazed how good it can make you feel...
Background: Mt Washington and the Great Gulf from the summit of Mt Adams
Taken by Jamie Ide, Holloween 1999. This and more pics here