From time immemorial, the Abenaki believed it a sacrilege to climb New England’s highest mountain. One Abenaki name for this wild, dangerous peak was Maji Neowaska, where a demon, or bad spirit, was supposed to dwell on the highest peak.
Today, the 60-acre Mt. Washington State Park on the summit of Mt. Washington is a paved-over, debris-littered, congested disgrace. The state has no idea of how many visitors the summit can handle before overcrowding inflicts serious ecological and climatological damage to the fragile alpine tundra and its flora and fauna. The Division of Parks and Recreation estimates that close to half a million visitors ride, drive, or hike to the summit annually. There are as many as 5,000 visitors on peak summer days.
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