The Summit of Mount Washington

1869

Spreading across northern New Hampshire and into Maine is the most mountainous region in New England, named the White Mountains for the blanket of snow that covers the area during most of the year. By the 1860s, the White Mountains were as popular a summer destination as the Catskills. Homer first traveled to the region in 1868, finding subjects for magazine illustrations as well as oil paintings. This vivid image records the last stages of the ascent at a height indicated by the cloud banks wafting by. The party in the foreground ascends on horseback, while more hardy hikers make their way on foot to the distant lodge glimpsed in the upper left.