In congratulating our team of 2017 Mt. Washington hikers the night before the hike, volunteer hike organizer Staci Formaggia said, “Not only will you climb a mountain, you move mountains!”

You will have to read further down to see what she meant by that, but indeed, the 6th Annual Summit Mt. Washington hike was spectacular in so many ways.

First, the weather was again perfect for the ascent, with cool temps and clear skies, making for stunning views throughout the hike.

Second, two new volunteer sweeps, Jeff and Karen, joined to hike support team and did a tremendous job. Thank you, Jeff and Karen!

Third, a record number of orange HIKE for Mental Health shirts made the ascent. Why? Because to earn a shirt, a hiker must raise at least $100 in sponsorships for their hike. The highest number of hikers to do so for a single hike before this event was 19. For this year’s Mt. Washington hike, 34 people reached that mark! Wow, that’s amazing! Thanks to all the hikers and their sponsors!

While our hike up Mt. Washington is not a race (I love how so many of the pictures in our galleries below are from hikers pausing to notice the flowers and streams and fauna along the way), we do want to give a round of applause for Bob Casiano who was the first of this year’s group to reach the summit! He wins our best conditioned award for this year!

Bob Casiano reaches the summit!

Our top fundraiser prize for this hike was a very close contest, with the three hikers finishing within $35 of each other. In the end, Mary Jo Larson eeked out the win, with $1,440, just ahead of Jill Kropp’s $1,410 and Paul Huffman’s $1,405. Mary Jo, who also reached the summit for the first time this year, will receive a Sierra Designs 40° Mobile Mummy sleeping bag, generously donated by Sierra Designs.

Special recognition goes to Odie of Hiker Yearbook fame for issuing a challenge to donors and who gleefully donned his dress atop the mountain when the challenge was met.

And grand total is…

So how much did this year’s hiker raise? A new record total of $15,479.01! 100% of those funds will go to mental health research and to trail preservation. Yes, this year’s hiker truly did move mountains! Thank you all of them, their sponsors, and the hike support crew. Special thanks to hike organizers Sue Twombley and Staci Formaggia – amazing job, ladies!

Photo gallery

Thanks to Brandon, Ray, Eric, Pat, Adam, Jeff, Linda and Sitha for contributing photos to this year’s gallery. (If any other hikers have photos to add, just let me know and I will upload them.)

Click on a thumbnail to see the full-size photo!