Some clouds in the morning will give way to mainly sunny skies for the afternoon. High 39F. Winds light and variable..

Partly cloudy during the evening followed by cloudy skies overnight. Low 19F. Winds light and variable.

Before they hit the Mt. Washington Auto Road on Saturday, the members of the Alton Weagle Class of 2022 pose for a photo.

{span}Jenn Nutter of Mobius Mobility operates an iBOT{/span} {span}personal-mobility device up the Mt. Washington Auto Road on Saturday.{/span}

Making it look really easy, Dylan Pearse of Hillsborough rides an electric unicycle Saturday on the Mt. Washington Auto Road.

Dressed in the national colors of Ukraine, Donna Smyth ran up the Mt. Washington Auto Road with her husband, Fred, on Saturday to honor the country which was invaded by Russia in February.

Michelle McElroy, also known as “Michelle Marceau,” mimes her way up the Mt. Washington Auto Road on Saturday by pulling on an imaginary rope.

Wearing a kangaroo costume, Phoebe Seltzer roller-skis up the Mt. Washington Auto Road on Saturday.

Before they hit the Mt. Washington Auto Road on Saturday, the members of the Alton Weagle Class of 2022 pose for a photo.

The late Alton Weagle would be proud, and maybe a little perplexed, about his legacy of “first ascents” of the Mt. Washington Auto Road.

In the 1950s, according to the lore that has arisen around Weagle, the North Country resident made a name for himself by being the first person known to climb the 7.6-mile Auto Road in several creative ways, including barefoot, blindfolded, walking backwards, and pushing a wheelbarrow with a 100-pound sack of sugar in it.

When the Auto Road, the oldest manmade tourist attraction in North America, celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2011, then-General Manager Howie Wemyss thought it would be appropriate to honor Weagle. Thus was born the annual Alton Weagle Day.

Starting up the Auto Road a little after 6 a.m. Saturday, the 2022 Weaglers, as they are known, were a motley bunch, their ranks filled with the silly, the sublime and in some cases, the serious.

Dylan Pearse of Hillsborough raced up and down the Auto Road — twice — on his electric unicycle, while a team from Mobius Mobility of Manchester reached the summit of the tallest mountain in the Northeast using an iBOT personal-mobility device.

Making it look really easy, Dylan Pearse of Hillsborough rides an electric unicycle Saturday on the Mt. Washington Auto Road.

The event gave Pearse a chance to demonstrate the technology in his unicycle and to make up for the 2021 event, when inclement conditions further up on the Auto Road forced the Weaglers to call it a day at the 4,000-foot mark.

{span}Jenn Nutter of Mobius Mobility operates an iBOT{/span} {span}personal-mobility device up the Mt. Washington Auto Road on Saturday.{/span}

Meanwhile, the Mobius Mobility team was there “to show people that the iBOT can help people using a mobility device to do more,” said Laura Gilman.

Michelle McElroy, a veteran Weagler from Laconia who previously ascended the Auto Road dressed as a can of Tab soda, said she was glad to be participating in this year’s event, though the weather forecast forced her to go to a last-minute “Plan B.”

Michelle McElroy, also known as “Michelle Marceau,” mimes her way up the Mt. Washington Auto Road on Saturday by pulling on an imaginary rope.

McElroy, an artist and a staff member at the Holderness School, had intended to dress as a Mummenschanz dancer, using toilet paper as a visual device in her ascent. But Saturday morning began with the threat of rain on the Auto Road, which would have quickly dissolved the toilet paper. Instead, McElroy, in an homage to the French mime Marcel Marceau, went as the character of “Michelle Marceau,” miming her way up the mountain by pulling on an imaginary rope.

Before the Weaglers started up the Auto Road, Hans Bauer, a Mount Washington Valley resident who in recent years has been a unique channel of Alton Weagle’s spirit, reminded everyone that “Alton was a curious character.”

“I hope you feel at home,” Bauer said. “This is our tribe, I think,” adding that on the first day of the Memorial Day weekend, “This is a celebration of our freedom here” that was made possible by the sacrifices of American servicemen and women.

Later, Bauer completed his Weagle ascent delivering a pizza while walking on stilts.

Phoebe Seltzer, a friend of Bauer’s, roller-skied her way up the Auto Road, but because someone had already booked that first ascent, she did so in a kangaroo costume.

Wearing a kangaroo costume, Phoebe Seltzer roller-skis up the Mt. Washington Auto Road on Saturday.

Jesse Lyman, a teacher at Lafayette Regional School and the only person to participate in every Alton Weagle Day, came to this year’s event with students Collin Breeder and Isabel Lawton. Wearing red noses and beanies with propellers, the trio walked up the Auto Road and, at the summit, Breeder balanced on a large plastic ball representing the Earth while Lawton did a gymnastics display.

Angela Smith of Colchester, Conn., did a series of Ashtanga yoga postures on her way up the Auto Road, while her daughter, Cynthia Oldham, did cartwheels.

A 16-year veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard, Oldham said the Weagle ascent has been on her and her mom’s to-do list since 2015.

“It’s a fun thing to do with your mother,” she said.

Dressed in the national colors of Ukraine, Donna Smyth ran up the Mt. Washington Auto Road with her husband, Fred, on Saturday to honor the country which was invaded by Russia in February.

Donna Smyth and her husband, Fred, of Vermont, ran up the Auto Road to raise awareness for Ukraine. They wore blue and yellow outfits crowned with a similarly colored knit hats.

Saturday was Smyth’s fourth Alton Weagle Day. She had previously been a woolly-bear caterpillar, Superwoman and a nanny goat to Fred’s billy goat.

Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.

Would you like to receive our daily news?  Signup today!

Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.

Check your email for details.

Invalid password or account does not exist

Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.

An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the e-mail address listed on your account.

Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.

A receipt was sent to your email.