Candor's Leaf Peeping Tour 2008 - Day 3

Guest · 12 Oct 08, 03:35 PM

Day 3 - The White Mountains (part 1).

Day three began early again. Not quite as early as before but we were still out of the hotel by 8am. This time we had to take all of our luggage with us as we were off to the White Mountains for two days.

The weather was cloudy with rain. This was ominous as we were heading up into the mountains today and had a pre-booked trip on the Mount Washington Cog Railway at 11am. It didn't look like we would be seeing much at all.

As we drove further inland on route 302 the rain got heavier. We passed what would have been some lovely scenery but the weather meant that we stayed in the car rather than exploring. We arrived at the Mount Washington Base Station at 10:20am. This was already at an elevation of 2800ft. Thankfully the clouds had risen slightly and we could now see a great swathe of yellow in the valley. It looked amazing. We had a quick bite to eat in the cafe before catching the "train". I've put a photo below so you can see what it looked like!

The train behind the carriage pushes you up the remainder of the Mountain. This takes around an hour and twenty minutes. The further we went up the mountain the less we could see. It cloud was really thick at the top.

The weather up there was freezing too with the temperature at the top only 3˚c ! Just as well I had 4 layers on. Not that that stopped me being cold. After 20 minutes at the top we had the journey back down. The train carriage and the engine are not connected by couplings or anything - going up this doesn't matter but coming back down each has it's own braking mechanisms, the train via steep and the carriage had two brake men who had to turn these massive wheels to make the carriage brake. It was a bit hair-raising especially when the trainee brakeman lost his grip and we bumped into the engine in front of us.

Eventually, though, we got safely below the clouds and we had the most wonderful view below us.

The colour looks amazing on the photos, but it was even better there - just a sea of yellow before us.

We arrived back at base camp at 2pm so after a quick bite to eat and a quick look around the museum we explored the immediate area. The foliage was apparently in peak in this area - not hard to believe as I don't think it could have been any better. The pics below show some of the colours and the beauty of the place despite the bad weather.

We checked in at the Grand Summit Hotel at Mount Attitash. After booking this hotel I had read some poor reviews on the internet sites so was a bit worried. It was amazing though - a massive fireplace in reception and we had a nice studio room on the 2nd floor. The only down side was there was no breakfast included but as we had kitchen facilities in our room we went to Walmart and bought some bagels etc that we would have for the next two mornings. After Walmart we went to Wendy's for tea. This was of particular excitement to me as we have 1 Wendy's that i know of in South Wales and never get the chance to go there. I did though make the mistake of getting a large meal... never again!

After not finishing my meal we went back to the hotel and watched some TV before going to sleep ready for the next day.

TrueBlue · 12 Oct 08, 03:58 PM

What another exciting day

I can see your pictues this time and they are superb

What a great part of the States to visit, looking forward to the next day now

**wickesy** · 12 Oct 08, 04:31 PM

Amazing scenery. New England in the Fall is high on my wish list of places to visit.

Guest · 12 Oct 08, 05:43 PM

Wow, amazing photos.

**ali-s** · 12 Oct 08, 06:33 PM

Lovely photos, esp the waterfall. Don't like the sound of that train though !

luxorsun71 · 12 Oct 08, 08:06 PM

Wow,what amazing colours,absolutely stunning. The train journey sounds fab if a wee bit scary!

**2waterford** · 20 Oct 08, 02:11 PM

wow amazing pictures, the one with the waterfall is amazing.

zoe3003 · 20 Oct 08, 03:35 PM

Wow what amazing photos, I would love to go here, im going to make my DH look at the photos when he gets in from work. Have you seen any of the stephen fry tv prog on sun nights ? This is where he did the first show from.

Guest · 21 Oct 08, 12:25 PM

Originally Posted by zoe3003

Wow what amazing photos, I would love to go here, im going to make my DH look at the photos when he gets in from work. Have you seen any of the stephen fry tv prog on sun nights ? This is where he did the first show from.

Yeh. It was weird watching it as we'd just come from there!

DIBBadmin · 21 Oct 08, 12:25 PM

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

12 Oct 08, 03:35 PM	#1
	12 Oct 08, 03:35 PM Guest Guest
Guest Guest	Candor's Leaf Peeping Tour 2008 - Day 3 Day 3 - The White Mountains (part 1). Day three began early again. Not quite as early as before but we were still out of the hotel by 8am. This time we had to take all of our luggage with us as we were off to the White Mountains for two days. The weather was cloudy with rain. This was ominous as we were heading up into the mountains today and had a pre-booked trip on the Mount Washington Cog Railway at 11am. It didn't look like we would be seeing much at all. As we drove further inland on route 302 the rain got heavier. We passed what would have been some lovely scenery but the weather meant that we stayed in the car rather than exploring. We arrived at the Mount Washington Base Station at 10:20am. This was already at an elevation of 2800ft. Thankfully the clouds had risen slightly and we could now see a great swathe of yellow in the valley. It looked amazing. We had a quick bite to eat in the cafe before catching the "train". I've put a photo below so you can see what it looked like! The train behind the carriage pushes you up the remainder of the Mountain. This takes around an hour and twenty minutes. The further we went up the mountain the less we could see. It cloud was really thick at the top. The weather up there was freezing too with the temperature at the top only 3˚c ! Just as well I had 4 layers on. Not that that stopped me being cold. After 20 minutes at the top we had the journey back down. The train carriage and the engine are not connected by couplings or anything - going up this doesn't matter but coming back down each has it's own braking mechanisms, the train via steep and the carriage had two brake men who had to turn these massive wheels to make the carriage brake. It was a bit hair-raising especially when the trainee brakeman lost his grip and we bumped into the engine in front of us. Eventually, though, we got safely below the clouds and we had the most wonderful view below us. The colour looks amazing on the photos, but it was even better there - just a sea of yellow before us. We arrived back at base camp at 2pm so after a quick bite to eat and a quick look around the museum we explored the immediate area. The foliage was apparently in peak in this area - not hard to believe as I don't think it could have been any better. The pics below show some of the colours and the beauty of the place despite the bad weather. We checked in at the Grand Summit Hotel at Mount Attitash. After booking this hotel I had read some poor reviews on the internet sites so was a bit worried. It was amazing though - a massive fireplace in reception and we had a nice studio room on the 2nd floor. The only down side was there was no breakfast included but as we had kitchen facilities in our room we went to Walmart and bought some bagels etc that we would have for the next two mornings. After Walmart we went to Wendy's for tea. This was of particular excitement to me as we have 1 Wendy's that i know of in South Wales and never get the chance to go there. I did though make the mistake of getting a large meal... never again! After not finishing my meal we went back to the hotel and watched some TV before going to sleep ready for the next day. Edited at 07:51 PM.

12 Oct 08, 05:43 PM	#4
	12 Oct 08, 05:43 PM Guest Guest
Guest Guest	Wow, amazing photos.

12 Oct 08, 08:06 PM	#6
	12 Oct 08, 08:06 PM luxorsun71 Imagineer
luxorsun71 Imagineer Join Date: Dec 05	Wow,what amazing colours,absolutely stunning. The train journey sounds fab if a wee bit scary! __________________ Seonaid

21 Oct 08, 12:25 PM	#10
	21 Oct 08, 12:25 PM DIBBadmin Imagineer
DIBBadmin Imagineer Join Date: Mar 02	This thread has been automatically closed as it has not been posted on in 365 days.

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