New England - July 2013

Tuesday July 9  

Finally, after Glen Falls, we headed on over to Franconia, NH to the Westwind Cottages.  This is definitely the low budget option, but perfectly adequate.  The exteriors of the cottages are rather run down, e.g., our storm door isn’t mounted correctly so it doesn’t close, but we have a nice one room cottage (Dryad) with a large dorm size fridge, microwave, toaster oven and flat screen TV (I feel some West Wing coming tonight).  The inside is very nicely done; a new black lounging chair; black and white decor (spread, towels).  Dishes, silverware, glasses are included.  It’s small but enough for us, and the internet works!  The lighting is poor – you can’t actually read by any of the lights in the room and it would be really nice if there was a small bedside table on both sides.  But really, the location and cost are perfect.

The camp stove in the picture is ours.  I know it's not safe to use it indoors without serious precautions - the window just above it is open.  And it's raining out...  again.

Wed July 10, 2013

This morning after breakfast we made our way to the trailhead for the hike to Bridal Veil Falls. That was a little complicated because we got north and south mixed up on exiting the cottages.  ;)  But the instructions were good once we sorted out our confusion!

The hike was about 2.5 miles each way.  We started out on a road from the parking area to the Coppermine Trail; then a nice smooth pine-needle-covered wide trail.  Then it became strewn with medium sized rocks, and got steeper and wetter,  though none of it was as rigorous as the Lye Brook trail.  We crossed the Coppermine Brook on a bridge, then passed a hiking shelter; then had to cross the Brook on rocks and finally we were there (about an hour and 40 minutes).  The falls (pictured above) were stunning.  There was no place to sit except on boulders but that was okay; we were the only ones there and we enjoyed the falls and pool while we had lunch.   Below, left to right: Coppermine Brook, Barb having lunch and the hiking shelter along the trail.


We stopped at Mac’s Groceries on the way home and picked up some supper supplies and some Ben & Jerry’s since we actually have a freezer here that works!  Tastes great after a long hike!   After we got back to the cottage, it poured; but the timing was good - we were indoors!  John fixed supper - pork chops with maple cream sauce and apple/sweet potatoes mix.  Very yummy.

We watched a couple episodes of West Wing and went to bed early.

Thurs July 11

It was pouring again when we woke this morning - gee, something new and different!   John fixed pancakes and the rain was down to a trickle by the time we headed out to Franconia State Park.  Our first stop was the Basin (on the right) - accessible by a large, paved trail.  On the way from the parking lot, we walked along the Pemigawasset River and passed some small falls (left).  The Basin is a rock formation (said to be 25,000 years old) that created a 20 foot pothole and results in some interesting currents and cascades.   But the real treat at this location was walking up the Basin-Cascades Trail, towards Kinsman Falls, along the Cascades Brook for a quarter of a mile or so.  Today the trail had pretty much turned into a stream, or just tree roots where the trail had completely eroded away (pictured left), but it was so worth it to wade/climb up! There are flood warnings out this morning and apparently a bridge across the brook further up has washed out.  It was easy to see why – this little brook was HUGE.  As we climbed up the trail, the brook was on our left and periodically we forged our way over to it to get views of the falls and cascades.  One of the early pictures is at the right, as the brook spread out more and didn't look so wild.  

As we hiked upwards, it got more and more vigorous - the waves splashing down looked like heavy surf at the ocean!   Where John is standing was not as dangerous as it looks - there's a huge wide rock there and the brook is directed away from it, making it a great vantage point for picture taking!  We didn't get all the way to Kinsman Falls (I'm not sure we could have today) but the roaring falls in the center were fun to watch; the final picture on the right is above those falls.  We had loads of beautiful views and enjoyed the scenery tremendously.


Next we drove down to Flume Gorge.  There is a $15 admission fee but we felt it was worthwhile.  (If you want to do both the Flume Gorge and the Cannon Mountain Aerial Tram, you can buy a combination ticket that saves $5.)   We walked the whole 2 mile loop - the scenery is quite varied.  Besides the gorge, there are covered bridges, lots of history and geology (including a 300 ton boulder), some shelters, rocks, falls.  At left is Table Rock - a huge section of Conway Granite in Flume Brook. Shortly after passing Table Rock, we enter the very narrow Flume Gorge (left below).  In the center is a sample of the sides of the gorge - it's clearly a very wet environment and supports many different kinds of vegetation.  The main attraction is Avalanche Falls, on the right, as it tumbles down and then pours through the narrow gorge shown at the left. 


Continuing along the trail, we came to various other sites including Liberty Gorge (falls at left below).   The center picture shows John on the Sentinel Bridge just past the Liberty Gorge and then his view of the Pemigawasset River below the bridge.  This was definitely a good week for waterfalls – all of the creeks, rivers and brooks are unseasonably full!


We had lunch at the picnic area there at the Flume Visitor Center and then headed back north.  At left is a view of some of the White Mountain peaks: Mt. Liberty, Mt. Flume and Mt. Osseo.  We stopped at Boise Rock (right) for a short walk and some views of Cannon Cliffs and Profile Lake.  Boise Rock is named for Thomas Boise who sought shelter under the rock during a storm and used his horse's hide as warmth to save his life around 1800.   

It had been overcast and drizzling all day so we hadn't planned to go up Cannon Mountain, thinking we wouldn't be able to see anything.  But, as we headed north again, we spotted sun and made the snap decision to stop at Cannon Mountain.  I'm so glad we did!   We took the Aerial Tramway up to the top ($15), then walked the last little bit up to the observation tower on Kinsman Ridge Trail.  (A returning Tram is shown at the left and a view from the Tram on the way up on the right.)  It was great; the sun came out and we could see about 60 miles or so from the summit.  There are several walking trails in the area and we enjoyed the scenery and the plants for a while.  On the way back down we saw a mother black bear with 2 cubs out on one of the ski trails.  Of course, my camera wasn’t ready so I missed the shot.  But it was a great treat nonetheless.   Below is a posed picture of us along Kinsman Ridge Trail and a distance view from the observation tower.


We got back at the cottage around 4 PM; I did some laundry while John drove a mile or so to get a phone signal and make some calls.  I’m on for supper tonight – ground beef stroganoff with zucchini and some leftover potato salad.  Tomorrow we'll be heading for the eastern side of the mountains.

Friday July 12 -

We left before 10 this morning – we are definitely not early birds!  Our route took us down US 302 and past several waterfalls so of course, we had to stop.

Flume Cascade was right by the highway.  We spent some time climbing up the rocks just for fun, as well as some different views.   I liked the one at left where you could see 3 different "falls" coming together in a pool before they tumbled down to the bottom.  At the parking area across the street, there was also a short path to the "Dismal Pool."  I’m not sure what was supposed to be dismal about it – it was just a small pool but the sun was in the right place so the reflections were lovely.  At the right, I was getting ready to take my own picture of it!  The next stop was at the Silver Cascade (below left).  It was also quite pretty and close enough to the road there was no hike involved to get to it, but again, we climbed up the side on the rocks and enjoyed the different perspectives.  

The picture to the right was taken from the parking lot for Ripley Falls.  I don't know what peak it is but I thought the view was lovely and couldn't resist.  The trail to the falls starts out crossing a railroad track and a sign warning people that the tracks are in use so use caution.  We looked both ways.     It was less than a mile up to the falls but parts were rather steep and I apparently injured my ankle yesterday.  It's not bad when I'm walking on flat ground, but bending it to climb steep trails was fairly painful.  The scenery along the trail was very nice, however - once again, we saw lots of rivulets and small falls all along the trail - one such spot is at the left.  Ripley Falls is about 100 feet of awesome!  You really can see how large it is by the size of the person rappelling down in the picture at the right. (If you can't see him, or the one waiting at the bottom to the left of the falls, click to enlarge it.)  We had our picnic lunch by the falls while we watched several guys taking turns going down and spotting each other (and I rested my ankle) and then we hiked back down for one more stop.

We postponed the falls that required a longer, steep hike out of deference to my ankle and instead went to Diana's Baths.  It’s a White Mountain National Park site with a $3 parking fee (but a National Park Senior Pass is accepted for that).  The trail from the parking lot was quite accessible: flat and wide and therefore, kind to unhappy ankles.  What an amazing place!  I called it God’s waterpark!  It was packed with families and kids romping all over the rocks, playing in the pools and the falls.  It was so full today on a Friday that I don’t want to even think what it would be like on a weekend!   I am rather surprised that the Park Service just has a couple of Caution signs up - I would have guessed they would try to close it off due to liability issues.  But I'm glad they haven't as it is such a neat place!  Three views of the area below - falls, pools, cascades, lots of rocks to climb on.


On the way to Dianas Baths we passed through Bartlett, NH where we saw Josiah Bartlett Elementary School!  In spite of the extra "t" he is supposed to have been an ancestor of the fictional President Bartlet on West Wing who is my idol.  So I had to look him up and I learned that he was a delegate to the Continental Congress from NH and signed the Declaration of Independence right after Jefferson.  Who knew??  He was a physician, a governor of NH, a chief justice of the state supreme court and the first President of the NH Medical Society.  

On the way back to Will's Inn from the Baths, we passed a wonderful strawberry stand - they had fresh berries, jams and other berry products at very reasonable costs.  So we stopped and bought some (it's even a drive-through) and I took a picture of scenic Cathedral Ledge (right)  across the street.  We got to Will’s Inn around 3:30 PM.  Our room (#2) is nice.  It's larger than the cottage at Westwind (also slightly more expensive).   They have a fridge and microwave and there are grills and picnic tables to share but no dishes or cooking tools.  Since we’ve been camping, we have all the stuff we need – and the room does have a nice, convenient counter that holds our camp cupboard, the microwave and still leaves room for food preparation.  The TV is gigantic, but not HDMI compatible so no West Wing or movies tonight.

Saturday  July 13

We had considered Arethusa Falls yesterday afternoon but that trail is very steep and my ankle was getting painful so we decided to wait and do that today when I am fresh.  I took an ibuprofen in the morning and wrapped it under the sock with my elastic ankle brace.  Then I  took another ibuprofen as we started back down from Arethusa, and it behaved beautifully!

Today was hot (well, by NH standards: in the mid-80’s) and sunny.  We bought yummy sandwiches at White Mountain Cider Co down the road (I had a hummus, avocado, tomato and spinach rollup) and set off for Arethusa Falls.  The parking lot was nearly full at 9:30 AM which told us a lot. 

The trail started out crossing the same railroad tracks we crossed yesterday but about 2 miles further east.  The picture on the left above captures some of the scenery along the trail.   It was only about 1.5 miles to the falls but a strenuous trek for us.  It was very steep and the latter half was very muddy – though not with water running down the trail like we had on the Basin-Cascades trail.  But oh my, when you reach the top, what a gorgeous falls (to the right above)!  Even with a fairly wide angle lens, I had to stay way back to get the whole falls in the picture.  I was amazed at the people who made that hike in flip flops; and all of the little kids.  My, I am definitely out of shape.

We were there about a half hour, ate half of our lunch and then we headed back down.  But we took the alternate route down via Bemis Brook Trail where we could see a few more waterfalls.  We had been warned that it was even more strenuous so decided we wanted to have that going downhill.  We asked for it!  The first part of it was going  straight down a steep cliff with nearly no trail at all - pretty much just scrambling down the side.  But once we got down to the brook level it leveled out and wasn’t so bad.  The first side trail we came to was to Coliseum Falls (above, left).  We finished most of our lunch enjoying that view.  Then we came to Bemis Falls (picture at right) where there was a family picnicking and playing in the water.  We traded picture taking and then we continued on to Fawn Pool (below left) which wasn’t far – it's a lovely little pool that the Bemis Brook eventually runs into.   And finally, we got back to the car about 1:15 - the parking area had "grown" considerably as people wiggled their vehicles into corners and along the side of the road.  The area around here is much more crowded than we found in Vermont.  I'm not sure if this is because these sites are more popular, it is now later in the summer or it's a weekend: possibly all three!). 

Next we drove over Bear Notch Rd - not as steep as some other notches we’ve been across this trip, but it is still posted "closed in winter."  To the right is one of the views from a pullout along the Notch Road.  That took us to NH 112, aka Kancamagus Hwy, and very shortly to Sabbaday Trail on the right.  This was a nice level, wide trail and only about .3 miles.  Sabbaday Falls is quite interesting - there was no way to get it all in one picture!.  There was a small falls, a pool, a larger falls, then a turn and 2 levels squeezing through a gorge to another pool with amazingly clear water (left picture).  

Below from left to right: a shorter falls, pool and then longer falls in the foreground; in the center is a side view of the shorter falls and you can see it actually starts higher up and turns ; finally, on the right is a view looking down from near the top - you can see some of the twists and multiple levels!


At the left is a view along the trail to Sabbaday Falls.  The smooth rocks and lots of green made even the short walk interesting and relaxing.  And we enjoyed the many different views of the falls.   

Next we thought we'd stop at Lower Falls, but the parking lot was totally full and we weren’t that excited about it anyway; so we backtracked 2 miles to Rocky Gorge.  That was another waterpark sort of area.  It was posted "no swimming" all over but people were out on the rocks, lying in the sun, kids wading in the small pools,  and just having a good time.  To the right is a view from a small bridge over the Swift River at one end of the recreation area. Below are two other views of some of the falls, cascades and rock formations in the area.  John collected some driftwood and then we went back over Bear Notch Rd to our Inn - way easier than going through all the congestion in the Conway area.

We both showered, he took a little nap and then we went down to Joseph’s Spaghetti Shed for supper and had yummy pizzas.  They have 10” personal pizzas and we each ate one.  I had spinach-artichoke pizza – what a great idea: instead of a red sauce, they use spinach-artichoke dip and then put sausage, veggies, etc on top.  John chose a pesto pizza and we were full but couldn't resist buying a piece of cheesecake to take back for dessert later.  John tried 2 different beers – A Woodstock Pig’s Ear which he liked best and a local Tuckerman Pale Ale.  

Back at Will's Inn, we sat on the patio in the cool evening and watched kids have fun in the pool.  When it began to get dark we moved indoors, read a little and went to sleep early!  Exercise does that to me.

Sunday July 14
 
We were a little slower getting off this morning but not much.  Again our first stop was White Mountain Cider Co  - for a sandwich for John and a muffin for me.  (I made my own turkey wrap) and then headed north on Rt 16.  Our first hiking stop was Glen Ellis Falls.  Parking was on the west side of the road and the trailhead on the east so there was a tunnel under the highway for safe access (picture at left).  This was a relatively flat, wide trail along the Ellis River; there were lots of interesting rocks and cascades (right above) along the way. The falls had several stages – at left below is the upper portion emptying into a lovely pool and at the bottom of that picture you can see the plunge starting down; a view from the bottom of the main falls is shown at the right.  The pool here is very clear and it felt good to be sprayed on a hot day!


Next on our list was Crystal Cascades – the trail starts behind the AMC Pinkham Notch Visitor Center.  That area was very busy.  In fact, when we got there around 10:45, the parking lot was completely full.  Fortunately, there is an adjacent NFS lot that was available and a nice pedestrian bridge (left) over the Ellis River links the two lots.   

The trail to Crystal Cascades also goes along the Ellis River - some of the cascades are shown at the right; it's steep but not too bad, partly because it’s short!  At the end a steep rock staircase took us up to a great viewing point.  Again, there were several stages of the falls – a long plunge, a pool then two smaller falls (a rock separated the flow into two parts).  As much as I could fit into one picture is shown at the left.  At right, below, are some persistent ferns that were growing in the rocks right by the viewpoint.

We stopped in the Visitor Center: John bought some more hiking socks and I talked to the trail advice volunteer about a possible short hike nearby.  He pointed us right across the street to the Lost Pond trail that’s only about .5 mi and relatively flat.  We ate lunch at their picnic tables then walked to Lost Pond over part of the Appalachian Trail.  From left to right below:  John stopping along the Ellis River on the way to Lost Pond to check out the rocks;  at Lost Pond;  some not-quite-open water lilies.

It was a nice walk – quite muddy at times but lots of plank crossings were in place (picture at left below), so it wasn’t too bad and it was a lovely little pond.  Most of the water lilies weren’t blooming yet but it was a good place for me to sit and eat another piece of lunch (half of my muffin).  Had we looked more carefully at the map this morning we would have seen that Glen Ellis Falls and Lost Pond and Crystal Cascades would make a nice loop - they are all linked by various trails.  In fact, we also could have walked up to the Thompson Falls trail which was less than a mile from the Visitor Center but it was a very hot day and we didn't need to cook any longer!

So, we drove up to the Wildcat Parking area where the Thompson Falls Trailhead is.  Wildcat is run by a concessionaire – they have a zip line (using what are ski lifts in the winter) and a gondola ride up Wildcat mountain.  The place was pretty busy but we were there for hiking this time.  We found the Wildcat Way Nature Trail easily and that led us to the Thompson Falls Trail.  Once again, there were lots of small cascades along the trail as it followed Thompson Brook (right).  The lower falls is a clam shell fall (left) – wow, it felt air conditioned sitting there by the pool!  Then we hiked further up along the river to the middle falls which was a twin flow (right); finally we crossed the Thompson Brook on rocks to see the upper falls which was a long plunge plus cascades.  I didn’t take my ibuprofen right away today - forgot about it due to lack of pain (which was good)  but now my ankle was making itself felt so I sat in the shade by the middle falls and waited while John climbed up and took pictures of the upper ones.  Two good views are below.

All was well until, on the way back across the brook above the middle falls (behind the big rock in the picture above, right), my foot slipped on what looked like a wet boulder but was actually very slick moss and I slid down a long flat rock.  Fortunately, I was able to stick my foot out and stop myself so I didn't go over the falls to the right of the rock.  But one of my hiking poles did.   Since I was walking over rocks, I was just holding the poles til I got to the other side.  I hung onto one but the other got away; though it seemed it should be stuck between rocks or in the pool below, we couldn’t find it.  

I did get very wet and muddy and I jammed my ankle (ouch) but no serious damage was done.  The water was quite cold so the ankle was "iced" pretty quickly, but it remains to be seen if I can walk tomorrow!  It will be mostly a travel day anyway – on to Maine to visit friends.  (Later note: When we went to Black Mountain, NC in August I was able to get an exact replacement pole at the General Store where I originally bought them!  I love that store - there's not much they don't have there.)

John cooked supper on the camp stove on one of the picnic tables out front by the pool – an Italian concoction using up various leftovers and some additional sauce and veggies.  It was very yummy.  While he cooked, I showered and changed and my pants and t-shirt dried in the sun while we ate.

Last stretch of the trip in the next section.