Alton Weagle Day 2026: Walking Up Mount Washington for Fun

I came, I saw, I Weagled.

On Saturday, May 23rd, I joined over forty brave and slightly unhinged souls to participate in the Mount Washington Auto Road's Alton Weagle Day. This annual event celebrates famed local Alton Weagle, who accomplished all kinds of feats of weirdness on the mountain in the 1950s. He walked up the road backwards, he did it blindfolded, and most amazingly, he ascended pushing a wheelbarrow loaded with a 100-pound sack of sugar! 😱

For my own unique ascent, I dressed up as an 1870s lady hiker, built a walking easel, and created a painting of the view on my way up the 7.6 mile road. The day was glorious, the temps stayed fairly cool for wearing a huge wool dress, and I got four solid hours of painting time in. 😆

Rebecca M. Fullerton, around the five-mile mark of the Mount Washington Auto Road, painting a landscape painting while walking in an 1870s costume during Alton Weagle Day 2026.

Seeing all the other participants' strange feats was awesome. There was a group of sixteen on electric unicycles that zipped up ahead, while other folks jogged or speed walked while doing cool things. There was a guy on a recumbent bicycle and another on a bike carrying a small dog. I fell in with a guy dressed as George Washington and a woman wearing giant platform heels. There was a big group behind us playing Bingo as they walked. I rode the shuttle back down with them and we played two rounds of Bingo in the van. I won a Kit-Kat Bar!

Rebecca M. Fullerton, in an 1870s costume and walking easel, on the summit of Mount Washington during Alton Weagle Day 2026.

Just after I had arrived on the summit myself, a guy rolled who had biked up with his two young daughters seated on the back of the bike. Later came a man lugging a five-gallon jug of water on a hand truck. At the back was a woman pushing an eight-foot-tall stuffed rabbit in a shopping cart. All heroes.

My painting as it looked after walking up the 7.6 mile Auto Road on Mount Washington during Alton Weagle Day 2026.

The spirit of the day was jubilant, hilarious and infectious. I'm so glad I did this and can now count myself among the many "Weaglers" who have come before to "baffle, strive and kindly challenge."

The finished painting created in part while walking up the Auto Road on Mount Washington during Alton Weagle Day 2026. It sold immediately to another "Weagler."