New Hampshire

23 Sept

     After saying our good-byes to Ed and Kay we were ready to move on to our next destination. We have a National Forest Service campground in sight in the White Mountains called Blackberry Crossing - it is on the Kancamagus Highway which is a scenic route on our list of things to see/do while there.. We "think" we are getting close to prime "leaf looking" season in this area and not too certain how much trouble we will have finding a place to camp....especially on week-ends. Since we are moving there today on a Sunday I like our chances... we do get a good site for the three days planned in this area - National Forest campgrounds are almost always nice because they are usually heavily secluded, more beautiful in the forest and the price is always much better than any of the commercial parks - the trade off is that we do not have water, electricity or in this case, any cell service because of the remote location.

     After checking in and getting set up we decide to take a ride into town and confirm where the train station is as we have booked a ride on the Conway Scenic Railroad for the next day. When we moved over here we thought that Conway was the big town/attraction but we learned that it is North Conway. We are right on the eastern slope of the White Mountains and this area is a big tourist draw - now for the expected fall foliage and later for the skiing and other winter sports. We find the train station in pretty short order and then just start exploring other areas.

North Conway Train Station

     We drove on through town to the other side where there was a visitors center with a beautiful view of the sun setting over the mountains. After that and as it is getting pretty dark, we followed signs towards echo lake and ended up at a place (not at the lake) called Cathedral Ledge. It is high on a cliff that has a shear drop where it offers pretty nice views of the valley below and warning signs about not dropping or throwing anything off as there are rock climbers below. 

White Mountain Sunset

Cathedral Ledge

24 Sept - Trapped on a train

     Not really "trapped" but it was a pretty long train day - I guess since we had been on the one in Durango, Colorado (to Silverton) last year we were a little disappointed in this one. It was extremely slow - we took 5.5 hours to do a 16 mile (32 round trip) to nowhere. In that time we had a one hour layover at Crawford Notch - sounds cool but there was nothing there but some vending machines. In fairness, the scenery of the mountains was pretty good when we got to see it - there was heavy woods blocking the view for the majority of the ride with some occasional breaks to get a view. I suppose also, if the foliage had been in it's prime it may have been a bit more enjoyable.

Mount Washington Resort - seen from train ride

     Speaking of foliage - we had seen some signs of the leaves changing in our last stop in Maine and fully expected to see more of it here but that was not the case - there is some early color coming but I think we are a week or so early for this spot - hoping for better at the next couple of stops.

     With rain all day predicted for the 25th - this turns out to be our only good weather day in the White Mountains unless we extend our stay.

25 Sept

     With rain predicted all day we decide that it will just be a driving tour day. We had a leisurely morning and headed out going west on the Kancamagus Highway stopping at all of the points of interest in the National Forest. We really wanted to do some hiking and we did some short walks with an umbrella but not the exercise we'd hope for. Among the stops we visited was an old home built in 1831 that was set up with furnishings from that era and the interior of the home was original (hadn't needed restoring) while some of the outside had to have some work. There was a park volunteer there (with a nice welcoming fire in the fireplace) explaining things and describing life back then - we have it pretty good today! It was a very interesting stop.

Rocky Gorge

     We continued on and made our way into Lincoln, New Hampshire for lunch. After lunch we made a visit to Franconia Notch State Park where they had a flume through a gorge that cost $16 each to hike the two mile trek - it sounded interesting but the rain was even harder at that point. We continued north and made our way to where we connected with highway 302 which runs through the valley back to North Conway.

White Mountains

     After a day of rain and the same predicted for the next day - we begin weighing our options - we still had not been to Mount Washington (tallest peak east of the Mississippi) or to Lake Winnipesaukee that was a  recommended stop. We were prepared to extend our stay for another day but with rain predicted again we are biting the bullet and breaking down (and traveling) in rain tomorrow heading for Vermont with the promise of two clear days there.