When the glaciers first receded 12,000 years ago, arctic-alpine plants were the dominant vegetation throughout the Northeast for thousands of years. A hike above treeline is like a hike into the Northeast’s past; a glimpse of what the vegetation landscape might have looked like thousands of years ago.

So what is it about today’s alpine environment that allows these glacial relicts to persist? Why are many of the plants growing above treeline also found only at locations hundreds of miles north? In a word: climate. Data from the Mount Washington Observatory, located on the highest summit in the region (6,288 ft.) demonstrates why Mount Washington has earned the label as the worst weather in the world.

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