Candor's Leaf Peeping Tour 2008 - Day 4

Guest · 12 Oct 08, 04:40 PM

Day 4 - The White Mountains (Part 2)

As was now becoming a regular pattern, I annoyingly woke up before 6am. It was cold. Noticably colder than it had been down on the coast in Portland. After getting ready and showering I quickly went to their "Business suite" (a computer room, with 1 computer connected to the internet) to check out the progess of my favourite football team. They had won - always a good start do the day. Shame it doesn't happen more often.

We spent our second day exploring the White Mountains. Again, the weather was raining pouring when we left though the weather channel reliably informed us that it would be getting better as the day went on, perhaps with some sun after lunchtime. We followed the scenic route from Bartlett up to Twin Mountain, across to Gorham before coming back down to Conway. We did this in the morning. As we got higher and higher towards Gorham the rain got heavier and heavier and we wondered if we'd see the sun at all. Everything was so beautiful even with the poor weather but you knew it would be even greater with the backdrop of a blue sky.

The road to Gorham.

It truly is a breathtaking place - everything is much grander than it is in the UK and even with all the people who were there it felt as if it was unspoilt. No litter on the roads etc unlike here.

We moved on to Jackson. Another picturesque village complete with country store as well as a covered bridge. These pop up here and there across New England. Once known as kissing bridges as the local youngsters used to kiss their partners in them as it was too dark to be seen by their parents in any passing carriages!

Jackson Covered Bridge.

After a spot of lunch we went on the Kancamgus Highway. This is a scenic route alongside the Swift River - there are no petrol stations, no advertising, no shops etc for the whole 30 mile journey.

It took us 2 hours to do the first 10 miles as we were stopping so much to take photos. Locals told us that the river was much fuller than usual at this time of year due to the very wet summer they've had - at least we weren't the only ones! Along the "Kanc" there are a number of stopping places where you can park your go and go down to by the river. I've included a couple of photos below of some of the places we did this.

Lower falls

Rocky Gorge

Near the top of Mount Kancamgus

Once we'd got to the other end of the Kanc in Lincoln we drove up towards Franconia Notch and the Flume Gorge. There is the option of a 2 mile walk here but we avoided that as we were already tired and opted for the 0.7 mile walk to the top of the Flume Gorge. It was worth the walk (which is all uphill) and was very beautiful. Water is something that is so soft yet at the same time when there is enough of it and it is travelling quickly it has great force too. Two more pics below.

From there we went to the basin. This was amazing. The water has come down off the glaciers and into this pool called the basin. The sides of the basin have been smoothed completely by the water over many years meaning that it is not nearly a perfect circle.

After the basin we carried on up the 93 to echo beach which bizarrely was a beach on a lake. Apparently it's packed in the summer with people swimming & doing watersports. The foliage colours on the surrounding mountains were lovely. We had a quick look towards New York State from Mount Lafayette before returning back to our hotel via the Muddy Moose, where we experienced amazing US hospitality yet again.

Echo Beach

View from Mount Lafayette

Another early night was had as we got ready to move into Vermont on Day 5.

Guest · 12 Oct 08, 04:58 PM

Those pictures are truly stunning. I have been in New York at the end of October and have seen some of the colours on the Hudson, looking across to New Jersey, good, but nowhere near as stunning as yours!

Guest · 12 Oct 08, 05:46 PM

Wow, wow, wow. Your photos are fantastic, the scenery is stunning.

**ali-s** · 12 Oct 08, 06:37 PM

Oh Wow ! I want to go to New England !

Shame the weather spoiled your view, but it still looks gorgeous.

luxorsun71 · 12 Oct 08, 08:11 PM

Another great day and even more stunning scenery, Love the water falls and the covered bridge.

Guest · 13 Oct 08, 08:45 PM

Some more pics from days 3 & 4:

sue.o · 18 Oct 08, 12:43 AM

It looks amazing! Your report has made me want to go even more than I did before! Thank you for sharing.

DIBBadmin · 18 Oct 08, 12:43 AM

This thread has been automatically closed as it has not been posted on in 365 days.

12 Oct 08, 04:40 PM	#1
	12 Oct 08, 04:40 PM Guest Guest
Guest Guest	Candor's Leaf Peeping Tour 2008 - Day 4 Day 4 - The White Mountains (Part 2) As was now becoming a regular pattern, I annoyingly woke up before 6am. It was cold. Noticably colder than it had been down on the coast in Portland. After getting ready and showering I quickly went to their "Business suite" (a computer room, with 1 computer connected to the internet) to check out the progess of my favourite football team. They had won - always a good start do the day. Shame it doesn't happen more often. We spent our second day exploring the White Mountains. Again, the weather was raining pouring when we left though the weather channel reliably informed us that it would be getting better as the day went on, perhaps with some sun after lunchtime. We followed the scenic route from Bartlett up to Twin Mountain, across to Gorham before coming back down to Conway. We did this in the morning. As we got higher and higher towards Gorham the rain got heavier and heavier and we wondered if we'd see the sun at all. Everything was so beautiful even with the poor weather but you knew it would be even greater with the backdrop of a blue sky. The road to Gorham. It truly is a breathtaking place - everything is much grander than it is in the UK and even with all the people who were there it felt as if it was unspoilt. No litter on the roads etc unlike here. We moved on to Jackson. Another picturesque village complete with country store as well as a covered bridge. These pop up here and there across New England. Once known as kissing bridges as the local youngsters used to kiss their partners in them as it was too dark to be seen by their parents in any passing carriages! Jackson Covered Bridge. After a spot of lunch we went on the Kancamgus Highway. This is a scenic route alongside the Swift River - there are no petrol stations, no advertising, no shops etc for the whole 30 mile journey. It took us 2 hours to do the first 10 miles as we were stopping so much to take photos. Locals told us that the river was much fuller than usual at this time of year due to the very wet summer they've had - at least we weren't the only ones! Along the "Kanc" there are a number of stopping places where you can park your go and go down to by the river. I've included a couple of photos below of some of the places we did this. Lower falls Rocky Gorge Near the top of Mount Kancamgus Once we'd got to the other end of the Kanc in Lincoln we drove up towards Franconia Notch and the Flume Gorge. There is the option of a 2 mile walk here but we avoided that as we were already tired and opted for the 0.7 mile walk to the top of the Flume Gorge. It was worth the walk (which is all uphill) and was very beautiful. Water is something that is so soft yet at the same time when there is enough of it and it is travelling quickly it has great force too. Two more pics below. From there we went to the basin. This was amazing. The water has come down off the glaciers and into this pool called the basin. The sides of the basin have been smoothed completely by the water over many years meaning that it is not nearly a perfect circle. After the basin we carried on up the 93 to echo beach which bizarrely was a beach on a lake. Apparently it's packed in the summer with people swimming & doing watersports. The foliage colours on the surrounding mountains were lovely. We had a quick look towards New York State from Mount Lafayette before returning back to our hotel via the Muddy Moose, where we experienced amazing US hospitality yet again. Echo Beach View from Mount Lafayette Another early night was had as we got ready to move into Vermont on Day 5. Edited at 07:52 PM.

12 Oct 08, 04:58 PM	#2
	12 Oct 08, 04:58 PM Guest Guest
Guest Guest	Those pictures are truly stunning. I have been in New York at the end of October and have seen some of the colours on the Hudson, looking across to New Jersey, good, but nowhere near as stunning as yours!

12 Oct 08, 05:46 PM	#3
	12 Oct 08, 05:46 PM Guest Guest
Guest Guest	Wow, wow, wow. Your photos are fantastic, the scenery is stunning.

12 Oct 08, 08:11 PM	#5
	12 Oct 08, 08:11 PM luxorsun71 Imagineer
luxorsun71 Imagineer Join Date: Dec 05	Another great day and even more stunning scenery, Love the water falls and the covered bridge. __________________ Seonaid

13 Oct 08, 08:45 PM	#6
	13 Oct 08, 08:45 PM Guest Guest
Guest Guest	Some more pics from days 3 & 4: Edited at 07:54 PM.

18 Oct 08, 12:43 AM	#8
	18 Oct 08, 12:43 AM DIBBadmin Imagineer
DIBBadmin Imagineer Join Date: Mar 02	This thread has been automatically closed as it has not been posted on in 365 days.