Cat of the Clouds
Marty, Maine coon cat, 12-year resident of the Mount Washington Observatory, and the highest-altitude feline in the Northeastern United states, died after a sudden illness on November 9th, 2020.
His exact age wasn’t known, but according to long-time night observer and meteorologist Ryan Knapp, Marty was about 14 or 15. He was set to retire from his post next year.
“It was a little bit hard to take, because when I left him on the Wednesday prior, he seemed in good spirits, and Marty like usual… it’s one of those things you never kind of expect and then it happens out of the blue,” said Knapp.
Marty had black shaggy fur, green eyes the color of spring ferns, large double paws and broad face that lent him the regal dignity characteristic of his breed. He wasn’t particularly large for a Maine coon, but was distinguished by his station atop the largest peak in New England .
This Outside/In extra was originally broadcast on New Hampshire Public Radio, our home station.
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Marty at sunrise on Mount Washington in June 2020. Credit Mount Washington Observatory.
He was appointed to the Mount Washington Observatory in 2007, after receiving more than 53% of the vote in a cat primary held by the Conway Area Humane Society.
As indoor cats, his opponents Sarah and Wilson were admittedly less suited to the job.
Marty was brought to the peak, 6,228 feet about sea level, in January 2008.
“When he was younger he would get into trouble because he’d get into the buckets and whatnot and splash water all around and create a mess because he loved seeing the ripples that his paws made in the water,” said Knapp.
“Like typical cats he had his happy moments, and other moments where you didn’t exist at all.”
Marty had full access to the facilities on top of Mount Washington. He roamed and slept wherever he pleased inside the weather station and subterranean apartment where observatory staff live during their 6-day rotations.
Only the bunk rooms were off limits, as some of the humans that reside there are allergic to cats.
Mt. Washington, which lies at the center of two prominent storm tracks, is famously advertised as “home of the world’s worst weather” and for years topped the record books for the highest wind speed ever recorded.
But Marty enjoyed spending time on the summit, even on frozen Winter days, when his black fur stood in stark contrast to the white and blue shards of rime ice that collect above treeline.
“He was more of a night hunter and outdoor enthusiast than he was a daytime… surprisingly he always knew when the weather was bad or extreme and wouldn’t want to go outside.”
Marty was an accomplished mouser, and often presented his kills to colleagues during the shoulder seasons when rodents sometimes find their way inside the observatory. He was almost doglike in his loyalty, would come when called, and was an especially accomplished hiker for a cat.
“He went as far as Lake of the Clouds or even Mount Clay, which are about two miles or so,” said Knapp. “He would usually get tuckered out and you’d have to carry him in your backpack or in your arms back up to the summit but it was fun to see him going around the mountain terrain like that.”
According to the Conway Daily Sun, Marty was named after Marty Engstrom, a local broadcast legend who for more than three decades reported from the peak in a regular segment called Marty on the Mountain.
Marty the cat has shared, and perhaps even exceeded, his namesake’s celebrity.
He featured prominently in majestic photos from the Observatory’s various social media accounts, appeared in the 2015 book Cats on the Job: 50 Fabulous Felines who Purr, Mouse, and Even Sing For Their Supper, and his exploits have been widely shared in popular media. His passing was reported on by The Boston Globe, The New York Times, New Hampshire Public Radio, and others.
Marty’s passing takes place at a time when every day, thousands of human lives are lost to the novel coronavirus. Last month, some 17 million nameless minks were culled in Denmark for the same reason.
Credit Mount Washington Observatory instagram.
It might seem a strange time to remember a solitary cat, at a moment when the scope of tragedy is so vast it can leave one feeling numb.
But sometimes, it takes a being as small as a cat to open a doorway to our grief, and remind us how to feel again.
Marty was a King of the Mountain, living quite literally above all of his peers.
But he was an unassuming monarch, and will be most sorely missed by the third shift staff with whom he passed so many midnight hours high atop New Hampshire’s most storied summit.
“I’d be writing the middle of my forecast and rub up against my leg… he liked to jump up in the lap and you’d have to type around him or, occasionally he’d like to fall asleep right in front of your keyboard,” Knapp recalled.
Typical cat.
Marty was preceded by a long and proud line of Mount Washington mousers, including Tikky, Oompha, Blackie, Ammonuisance, Elmer, Manx, George, Pushka, Inga, and Nin.
Marty joins their ranks as a beloved companion and a dignified veteran of the Presidential Range.
Credits
Outside/In was produced this week by Taylor Quimby with editing from Justine Paradis. Sam Evans-Brown is our host.
Erika Janik is our executive producer.
Our theme music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions.
Special thanks to Annie Ropeik.
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