Thursday, July 19, 2012

White Mountains (and a bear!)

After packing up the campsite at Quechee Gorge State Park we began the drive to nearby New Hampshire and the White Mountains.

New Hampshire shares a long border with Vermont, being separated by the Connecticut River. One would think that these two New England states would be very similar, and in some ways they are. However, they are very different in major ways. Vermont's Green Mountains are broad, rolling hills carpeted in lush green forests. With the exception of Camel's Hump and Mansfield, all of the summits are below tree line. Even the most rugged Vermont wilderness areas are only a few miles from a quaint town with a picturesque church steeple and some friendly organic farmers. Contrast this with New Hampshire, the closest thing to true rugged terrain the East Coast has. New Hampshire's White Mountains are rocky, jagged peaks that rise sharply over dense forested valleys broken by very few roads and towns. The Whites are home to over 40 Mountains that exceed 4,000 feet in elevation. Many of the summits are above tree line. It's highest, Mt. Washington, was home to the second highest speed of recorded wind gust in the world, at over 200 miles per hour. Many unprepared hikers have required rescue on the slopes of Mt. Washington, and more than a few have perished over the years. The Appalachian Trail hikers that I have met always say that the Whites are the hardest part of the whole trail. Needless to say, we were not planning a summit attempt on this trip.

We took a scenic route through New Hampshire, using our recently purchased Trails Illustrated map to navigate through the mountain passes. The highway had many pullouts with spectacular views and places for a picnic lunch. Shortly before reaching Conway we passed a roadside park at the Lower Falls site. We noticed swarms of folks in swimsuits headed for the river. Since it was another hot day and we were on no set timetable we decided to join the crowd. It turned out to be quite the find.

The river was shallow enough to wade into in most places. The water was clear as it rushed over a series of rapids and small waterfalls. Many of the rapids were tame enough to swim, creating kind of a natural water slide. The more adventurous kids were sliding over the waterfalls, bouncing noisily over the rocks along the way. It was a strange scene for me to witness as a kayaker who has been taught to fear the natural power of water. That said, the water levels were remarkably low and it seemed safe enough today.

After a lengthy swim and some sun bathing we began to make our way back to the car. Mary slipped on some loose sand on a rock and scrapped her knee pretty badly. Last winter when we were in the Whites to ski she slipped on an ice covered rock and cut open her face. Although this was a much less severe injury, I don't think Mary is going to become friends with the White Mountains anytime soon!

After cleaning and bandaging Mary's knee we resumed the scenic drive into Conway and North Conway. We stopped for lunch at a cute little place, "the Muddy Moose.". If reminded us of the Log Jam back home. We enjoyed some delicious nachos before resuming our drive.

We took highway 16 through Pinkham Notch. This is the best place to see Mt. Washington from the valley. We would have no such luck this time, however, as it was shrouded in clouds. I imagined it must have been disappointing to the folks that climbed it!

Our scenic drive took us into Franconia Notch State Park next. I had seen pictures of this area before, but I was completely unprepared for how stunning it was. The Mountains rise sharply over the notch in all directions. The road is in more of a slot, or crack in the mountains than it is a valley. The whole area feels almost crowded out by the towering peaks in every direction.

We pulled into Lafayette Place Campground and picked out a Campsite for the night. The park employee informed us that they "have a park bear" that had been roaming the campground each night looking for food. He said when we saw it we should just shoo it away like we would a dog.

We fired up some fancy grilled cheese sandwiches with Vermont Cheddar, organic tomatoes and bakery bread from the August First Bakery in Burlington. In light of the bruin warning we were extra careful to not spill anything in the cooking process.

We never heard nor saw sign of the bear that night. In fact, it was so quiet and we slept so well that we didn't hear it start to rain. I awoke with the startling realization that I was wet sometime in the middle of the night. Judging by how wet the sleeping bag was we had slept through a decent amount of rain! We hurried to put the rain fly back on. This was a most unpleasant way to wake up and we both struggled to fall back asleep after stumbling around in the dark with the tent.

In the morning there were on and off rain showers while we packed up camp and ate breakfast. The plan had been to go on a hike up to the Franconia Ridge, above tree line. Unfortunately, the weather forecast had changed. It now called for severe weather, with large hail, heavy winds and frequent lightning. Not a good day to hike above tree line! We ditched our hiking plan and did some more driving around the mountains, stopping to explore the Basin on the Pemi River and the cascades in Crawford Notch.

Shortly after leaving the notch I noticed something black moving on the hillside. Mary pulled the Jeep over quickly. Sure enough, there was a large, black bear about 150 yards away. We hung out for a few minutes watching the big guy (or gal) dig for food in the meadow. By the time we left, a "bear jam" had been created by all of the cars that had pulled off to gawk.

We decided to drive back to Vermont after leaving Crawford Notch. The White Mountains were amazing. I would definitely like to come back to spend some more time exploring the high country on a future trip !