Winter Alpenglow on Mount Washington and the Presidential Range
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This photo represents both good and bad luck to me - and ultimately stands for the difficulty of weather forecasting in the winter in New England. I had been planning a sunrise from the top of Mount Liberty for months and was waiting for the right combination of clear skies to the east and some interesting clouds over Franconia Ridge.
On February 10th, 2026 the forecast looked good and the temperate was set to be warmer than previous weeks - only around zero instead of multiple tens of degrees below. I left my car at 4am and cruised up the Liberty Springs trail on perfect snow only to find the summit of Mount Liberty and the skies to the east blanketed in clouds. There was a narrow bank of dawn light visible over the Pemigawasset Wilderness as I watched the sun rise.
As the sun crested the horizon, I watched this incredible alpenglow unfold across the peaks of the Presidential Range including Mount Washington, Mount Monroe, and Mount Jefferson. All I could think about was my alternate plan for the morning: a sunrise from the side of Mount Adams looking across at Mount Madison. There would have been no way to know, however, that the best sunrise was 20 miles to the east and the alpenglow that I did get to watch more than made up for it.
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