Mount Lady Washington and Miss Anna Dickinson

By now, I know Anna Elizabeth Dickinson so well it's as if I knew her personally.  Before the summer of 2013, I had never heard of her (have you ever heard of her?), and yet in the prime of her career, in the 1860s and 70s, Dickinson's name was a household name in America.

Anna E. Dickinson, sometime in the early 1860s

People flocked by the thousands to hear her speak.  She was the first woman to speak on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, in 1863. By 1865, she earned $20,000 (the equivalent of about $280,000 today) per year from speaking fees, first as an abolitionist and then as an advocate for laborer's rights, for equality for all, and for women's rights.  Affectionately called "America's Joan of Arc," Dickinson was far more famous than her contemporary, Susan B. Anthony.  She was a celebrity.  Although several wealthy, high-profile men proposed to her, she never married; her letters reveal that she immersed herself in passionate love affairs with women in various cities (sometimes a few women at the same time, and for some months, Susan B. herself). She once wrote to her lover Olive Logan, “Someday, some of us will become so overcome with passion that we will become men, and we will make furious love to our beloved women, and then we shall be married, and live happy forever more.” She played Hamlet on Broadway, and she spoke boldly to anyone who would listen, preferring great rapt crowds.

Anna E. Dickinson, probably in the late 1870s or 1880s (when she exchanged her sombre Quaker dress for fancier clothing)

Anna E. Dickinson, small Quaker woman born in 1842, was astonishing.

But how did the 13,281-foot peak to the northeast of the Long's Peak summit (Rocky Mountain National Park's highest, at 14,259 feet, and one of Colorado's most challenging non-technical hikes) come to be named for Anna Dickinson?  And why did the mapmakers on the 1873 Hayden Survey call the peak "Lady Washington," Dickinson's nickname in mountaineering circles because she had climbed New Hampshire's Mount Washington at least 28 times, and not "Mount Anna"?  Why did they, in fact, name two peaks for Miss Dickinson -- Mount Lady Washington and Mount Dickinson, a remote 11,814-foot summit in the Mummy Range to the northeast?  Did Miss Dickinson, notoriously outspoken and hyper-aware of her public persona, push the Hayden surveyors one way or the other?

In this evening view of Long's Peak from the Moraine Park Campground (taken July 5, 2017), the twin-humped mountain to the left (west) of "The Beaver" rock formation is Mount Lady Washington (13,281 ft).  The triangular 13er to the east of Long's Peak is Storm Peak which is another straight-forward climb from the Boulderfield.

Dickinson was radiant on her tour of Colorado's summits: she rode to see the sunrise on Gray's and Torreys; she pushed boulders off the top of Elbert (a popular pastime for 19th century mountaineers); she raced to the summit of Long's in pants she had made her brother John purchase in Longmont (to the chagrin of the local newspaper); she rode happily to the top of Pikes after an invigorating ride on the cattleguard of the train from Denver.  However, though she was only 31, her journey to the Colorado Rockies in 1873 marked the pinnacle of Dickinson's life.  Shortly after that, her popularity and fame declined as the speaking circuit declined, and then her mental health declined strangely (maybe as a result of alcohol-induced psychosis, maybe because of depression, or maybe her sister Susan wanted her out of the way and so institutionalized her).  After a few months in a mental institution in Pennsylvania in 1891, Dickinson disappeared from the public eye, living in relative anonymity with friends for the last four decades of her life.

Why?  What happened?  For the past four years, since I discovered Anna Dickinson in my work on an essay about my climb up Long's Peak, I have been working to fictionalize her story (last summer, I rented a cabin in Allenspark for a week and made myself write 5,000 words a day), but it doesn't quite work -- not yet.  I'm missing something, even after all my research, even after creating a 95,000-word manuscript.  I haven't found out what I need to about the elusive Anna yet.  But.  Look for that book someday, too.

I can't tell you all the secrets to AED yet, but I can tell you how to hike Mount Lady Washington.  It's straight-forward and well worth it.

The route up Mount Lady Washington diverges from the Long's Peak trail on the northern edge of the Boulderfield, up to the left (that's Lady Washington rising in the lefthand corner).  There is no trail up to the summit of Mount Lady Washington; it's a steep and obvious scramble up boulders to the top. (My photo, July 12, 2016).

How (and why) to climb Mount Lady Washington:
1. Start at the Long's Peak Trailhead (the Long's Peak Ranger Station).  You don't have to leave at 2 or 3 am with the Long's Peak hikers, but I did (habit, I guess), which meant I summited Mount Lady Washington at about 6:30 am and still had ample, relaxed, pre-thunderstorm time to hike over and up to Chasm Lake, too.  I loved hiking down past baffled Long's Peak hikers at about 8 am, too, who all asked, "Did you already summit?"  My answer (true):  "Yes!"

2.  Follow the Long's Peak trail through Goblin's forest, past tree-line, and right at the junction with the Chasm Lake spur trail.  (Note:  some people do choose to climb Mount Lady Washington's east slope from here, but that seems like needless effort and danger to me.  I recommend continuing toward the gentler north slope.)  From that intersection, the Long's Peak trail curves for 1.1 miles along the northeast slope of Mount Lady Washington, providing a good opportunity to admire the mountain on its own (it obscures Long's for much of that time, anyway).  At Granite Pass, the Long's Peak trail climbs in switchbacks toward the Boulderfield.  You'll have to pause to catch your breath often here; admire the red-orange light of the rising sun on the Diamond Face of Long's and the rosy purple of the plains, if you left early enough.

3.  At the third switchback, leave the Long's Peak trail and strike out to the south toward the summit of Mount Lady Washington.  I should clarify:  all the trail guides recommend leaving the trail at the third switchback, but I did not count.  I merely hiked watching Mount Lady Washington and then left the established trail when the slope I needed to climb looked most reasonable.  Note:  avoid stepping on those tundra plants and flowers; it's easy to boulder-hop here (a skill my dad taught me on my first successful ascent of Long's at age 14).

4.  From the point you leave the trail, the "route" up to the summit of Mount Lady Washington is up to you.  No cairns mark the way.  I chose boulders that did not rock when I stepped on them, and I remembered to pause to breathe in the increasingly incredible views.

5.  The summit of Mount Lady Washington is astonishing (like Miss Dickinson herself).  One final pull to the top boulders brings a sudden, dramatic view of the Diamond Face of Long's -- and the steep drop to Chasm Lake to the south.  It is a luxury to relax on that summit and actually rest on the views, to recline on a flat boulder and eat breakfast, with no more work of climbing to do for the day.  I know some people like to attempt the so-called "Grand Slam" (Meeker, Longs, Pagoda, Storm and Lady Washington in one day), but I wonder if they are missing the point.  I found perfect shelter from the wind and enjoyed my perch for a long time, and was happy.  Note, though:  Anna Dickinson herself would have certainly attempted -- and completed -- the Grand Slam, had someone proposed the idea to her. Regardless, Lady Washington is a dramatic and worthy summit all on its own.

On the windy summit of Mt. Lady Washington -- July 12, 2016

6.  As I said, if you start early enough, it is relaxing to pair a hike up Lady Washington with a hike over to Chasm Lake, which is a riot of columbine and bluebells in July and August.  Just be cautious on the steep snowfield crossing on Lady Washington's southeast slope (Anna Dickinson was as dangerous as she was prominent).

NOTE:  in total, the hike to the summit of Mount Lady Washington is about 11 miles round-trip.

The 6:30 am sun on Mount Lady Washington, July 12, 2016.

Sources:

Chester, Giraud.  Embattled Maiden:  The Life of Anna Dickinson.  New York:  Putnam, 1951.

Dickinson, Anna Elizabeth.  A Ragged Register (of People Place and Opinions).  New York:  Harper & Bros, 1879.

Faderman, Lillian.  To Believe in Women:  What Lesbians Have Done for America -- a History.  New York:  Mariner Books, 2000.

Gallman, J. Matthew.  America's Joan of Arc:  The Life of Anna Elizabeth Dickinson.  London: Oxford University Press, 2008.

Robertson, Janet.  The Magnificent Mountain Women:  Adventures in the Colorado Rockies.  Lincoln, NE:  Bison Books, 2003.