above: At the summit of Mt. Chocorua.
When I lived in New Hampshire, I often made trips with friends and/or my dogs up to the White Mountains to hike. In the early Fall we meandered among splashes of color. In the late Fall, we waded through knee deep crunching leaves. In the winter, we rarely made the trip because the area is known to have some of the most severe weather in the world. It is now Summer and our trip would either be absolutely spectacular or we would be carried away by the mosquitos and rain.
above: Driving into the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
As it turns out, we experienced a little of both. We drove to Passaconoway along the Kancamagus Highway, one of the most spectacular stretches of road for Fall color, then chose a campsite next to a small river.
left: The river next to our campsite.
We chose to camp there because the trailhead to a really nice hike was located right at the campground. Soon after arriving, we laced up our boots and headed out only to find that the bridge from the campground to the trail had been washed out. When I asked the campground host if there was any other way to get to the trail, she looked right at me without blinking and in a typical, straight forward New England response said “ ya can wahk through the rivah’”. Duh, I should have thought of that.
left: The Hippygeek tries to navigate the driest way across the river.
right: The Lil’ Dude finds a cairn marking the trail across the river.
The only problem was the swiftly moving, thigh high, 50 degree water. So, we drove down the road to another trailhead. Within ten minutes, we encountered yet another tricky river crossing and no bridge. This is also when swarms of mosquitos found us. We decided to call it a day.
above: Foiled by another river crossing.
The next day was beautiful so we decided to take on Mt. Chocorua, a 3500 ft. peak. I remember the trails in the White’s as being muddy, rooty, rocky and steep. This trail reinforced that memory. But, the trail also had some extra perks with a pass by Champney Falls and striking 360 degree views from the rocky summit.
I went prepared with a headnet but fortunately the mosquitos were minimal and there were only a few minutes of annoying gnats at the top. The Big Dude, as usual, led the hike hence, the well deserved nickname of “mountain goat”. We managed to do the 8 1/2 mile hike in 6 hours including lunch at the top and a stop at Champney Falls.
We were lucky to get the hike in as the weather report for that night included 5 inches of rain with threats of flooding from rivers like the one we were camped next to. Since we were the only people stupid enough to camp in bad weather, the camp hosts had no problem with us moving to the other side of the empty campground as far away from the river as possible.
above: Champney Falls
The weather report proved to be true and the icky weather continued into the next day which left us no option but, to tour around in the car rather than by foot. We drove to the top of Cathedral Ledge, a 500 ft. cliff face popular with climbers and the location of my second rock climbing experience. The Dudes had a hard time imagining Mommy scaling the vertical exposed cliff and had no interest in doing it themselves.
left: Almost to the top!
right: Just a little bit more!
left: I can see the summit now!
right: Clear skies and beautiful views from the top.
We also toured through the quaint mountain town of North Conway and then decided to take the famous auto road up to the top of Mt. Washington. The peak is 6,288 ft and the observatory at the top has recorded the highest surface winds in the world at 231 mph.
above: More waterfalls and checking the GPS.
The convergence of several storm paths leave the peak exposed to hurricane force winds in excess of 110 days a year. It is also the highest peak in the Northeast and I was hoping for a little bit of a view. However, when we arrived at the gate, the gatekeeper explained that the top was “closed” because of 74 mph winds and 31 degree temperatures that created ice on the road. It would be too dangerous to drive the steep narrow road with no guardrails that day. Aaahhh, Mt. Washington in June!
Our few days in the White Mountains gave us a sampling of everything from gorgeous to “we should have stayed at home” weather but, in the Whites you always have to expect the unexpected.
“Men hang out their signs indicative of their respective trades; shoemakers hang out a gigantic shoe; jewelers a monster watch, and the dentist hangs out a gold tooth; but in the mountains of New Hampshire, God Almighty has hung out a sign to show that there He makes men.” – Daniel Webster