Honeymoon in New Hampshire - Continued
Oct 15
Day three of our honeymoon started with us leaving Stonehurst Manor and driving down Kancamagus Highway. I have read and heard many good things around this area that we both were looking forward to driving it. We stopped at the Ranger’s station and purchased a 7-day pass for $5 and headed to our first stop; an unnamed turnout. Once getting out of your car you walk down a small flight of wooden stairs which leads you into the woods that twists down a small hill and at the foot of the path are exposed boulders of various sizes which the Swift River eroded. The scene was beautiful; the shore line was lined with trees in varying stages of autumn.
Our next stop was Lower Falls which was a larger area than before, much busier as well. We walked past a rest room and headed down to a sandy bank with a pool of calm water due to be shielding by boulders acting as a wall. Further down the river the bed was actually exposed due the lower amounts of water, a floor of smoothed ledge rang along the left side which reflected the morning’s sun would cause you to slip if you were not paying attention. We continued on and found the falls which had a very pretty setting; the falls were very small but still enjoyable as you could walk out to the edge and look down. The wind picked up heavily so we decided to continue our drive.
The next stop was a little further into the byway; Rocky Gorge Scenic Area. We walked down a paved trail where you saw a calm portion of Swift River to your left and then a slant of 15-20 feet which is the gorge; if you continue following the trail a wooden bridge crossed the gorge which led to a small pond with one bench. The bridge provided many scenic shots from different angles; some of which Robin had pointed out. On one side of the bridge a maple tree overlooked the river which I thought was an excellent picture; it also provided me another opportunity to shoot colorful leaves up-close.
We were roughly a quarter of the way through the byway and we had already spent 3 to 4 hours walking around taking in God’s beautiful creation. Our next stop was Sabbaday Falls; one of which had a beautiful dirt path covered in freshly fallen leaves; along the left flowed a stream also filled full of autumn leaves. The falls are 3 tiered, the upper tier is about 8′ tall and drops into a deep emerald punchbowl. The punchbowl spills over a 20′ horsetail then makes a 90 degree angle turn into a flume and drops about 12′ into a very deep trough pool before flowing into the broad pool at the base. Robin and I really enjoyed this as we now have a special attachment to waterfalls as that’s where we got engaged. On the walk back we stopped and took more photos from different angles and even shot some of our rings.
We proceeded on the byway and stopped at a turnout that overlooked a valley with various mountains; we took pictures of people with their cameras and they returned the favor for us.
As we neared the end, I told Robin that I had one more stop in mind for her but it was off from the byway. Near the end of the highway is a mostly scenic view of mountains and valleys due to the increase of elevation the road takes. Although the views were very colorful I could not snap a decent photo as the sun was directly above the mountains.
We got onto I-93 and drove to the Flume Gorge which is located in the Franconia Notch State Park. I was told about this area and thought that Robin would especially enjoy this. We purchased our tickets and proceeded through the trails where we came across our first covered bridge, again the sun was not helpful at this time of day. We continued to walk until we came to a hill where an extremely large granite boulder(s) were exposed from the stream and signs explained not to walk across; at the top of this hill is where the entrance of the gorge is located. The granite walls are roughly 20-30 feet apart and rise 90 feet high; carved by the Flood. What’s really impressive that over time since this gorge was discovered in 1808 a walkway was built into the side of the gorge which takes you further up as you go until you reach a waterfall that flows over the top of the granite walls; it was beautiful, we were very impressed with how much fun we had on the hike. One of the couple that offered to photograph us on Kancamagus highway was there as well and we exchanged helping photograph each other again.
At the end of the hike we stopped and looked around in the Visitors Center which has a lot of history, stores and other neat things to look at. We headed back through Kancamagus to make our way to Stonehurst one last time as Robin forgot her hair curlers; once we retrieved them we headed a couple of miles down the road to The Hampton Inn where we would be staying for 7 days. Our room which was on the 4th floor was a Honeymoon Suite and it was very nice from what we’re both used to in a hotel. It hosted a foyer with a mini-fridge, sink, a king sized bed, closet and a nice bathroom- it’s not Stonehurst, but it was still very nice. We noticed that there was a water park in the hotel so after settling in changed into our swim suits and slid down the two water slides- something both of us had not done in many years. We had slid down both slides at least 20 times; I was starting to get a little dizzy so we got into the hot tub to relax.
The next day we ate our complimentary breakfast in the guest kitchen-type area; I must say that the choice of small breakfast items was delicious and well maintained. We then headed to Pinkham Notch to drive up Mount Washington, our first to the mountain. The mountain is 6288′ high and you can drive all the way up, the auto road is 7 miles long. At the base I put the car into 1st gear and started the trek, at first the view was like any other, standard walk through the woods. We had to turn the heater on as well so the car would cool down a bit, nearing the halfway mark the trees became sparse and the drop off was getting steep, as we ventured higher I could see why my parents had not made it up when they first got married, it was not for the light of heart. When were at the next to the last mile we stopped at a turnout were you could walk over boulders, granite and mica to view the miles of beauty. In front of me stood Mount Madison of the Presidential range; which like Mount Washington has a tree line of 4500′ and from that point up was exposed rock. I could view a mile drop in front of me as well as the winding auto road, and other scenic views. This was truly a beautiful trip, and best of all I got to experience this with my beautiful bride. We made our way up to the top, even I being daring was a little nervous on the last mile due to the road turning to gravel, the narrowing of the road as well as melting snow making the way muddy. From the top we saw three seasons in one view! At the top we looked through the original station that rangers had bunked, it was an interesting walk through history. The Mount Washington Observatory holds the record for fasted winds, 231 MPH! We looked around their various shops and found some interesting information and collectibles. On our way back we saw the Cog Railway which is a means of transport up the mountain. Behind our car stood a small snowman that someone had built, Robin snapped a neat photo of it.
Once at the bottom we headed to Wildcat Mountain to ride the Gondola; the weather turned much cooler. The ride up was fun for me, but Robin was a little nervous- due to my teasing. We both were cold and hungry so we decided to head back for the day and relax. That evening we visited the Water park again, this time we snapped a few photos of us sliding down the water slides.
Thursday was not supposed to have good weather so we planned on visiting all of the stores on White Mountain Highway which is the road our hotel is located. It turned out that the weather was nice, we continued to shop, visiting each and every store; Robin and I had a great time looking at all of the crafts and home-made items; we even purchased a few things for the apartment. Mid-afternoon we decided to ride on the North Conway Scenic Railroad, the train took us through fields, woods, over roads and rivers which provided many pretty scenes, most of which I could not properly photograph so I decided to shoot a few different shots instead. Robin enjoyed the train ride more than I did, as the train had to blare its horn every time it crossed a road; however I did like seeing trains marked “Bangor, Maine”. After the train ride we walked to a nearby Ben & Jerry’s.
On Friday, we headed back to the Kancamagus highway; our destination was something that Robin had found in a pamphlet, The Lost River in North Woodstock. While driving through the byway we stopped at some of the spots we visited earlier in the week; we spent a lot of time at the Lower Falls watching people, chipmunks and the scenery. We also spent a bit of time at the Rocky Gorge, sitting in the cleft of the gorge watching and listening to the waterfall. The Lost River trail consisted completely of wooden walkways and stair ways accessible to old and young; the walk reminded me of Orono Board Walk. Once we were at the bottom of the mountain where you had to cross the stream which is where the beauty is. At the lowest point (Lower Gorge) you can see the majority of the cavity; off the to left you can climb under a large boulder which opens into a narrow pool of water. As you make your way up you find several small waterfalls and caves that you can explore; the caves are very narrow, dark and deep- which makes exploring them fun. Robin and I crawled through every cave except for the “Lemon Squeezer” which I could not fit through, but Robin made it through flawlessly. Paradise Falls was very pretty, there were sections you could lean over and view the falls and the deep cold pool of water below. After crawling through caves, watching the flowing water and walking through the boardwalk we made our way to the end and headed back to the hotel for the evening.
Saturday was a beautiful day, probably the best day out of the entire honeymoon weather wise-clear blue skies with temperatures in the low 70’s. We headed back to the Kancamagus Highway; one of the first areas that is easily missed is the “Albany Covered Bridge“. The Bridge is 150 years old; and still has its charm from when it was first built. The setting as you can see in the previous picture is beautiful; I waited 20 minutes to take that photo as the traffic was steady. A trail that follows the Swift River was equally pretty, overhang from the trees really lit of the trail. After walking around looking at the surrounding pit stops we headed towards to entrance of Boulder Trail. We quickly found that the name suited the terrain as there were many boulders of varying sizes throughout the slope of the mountain trail, even at the foot of the mountain. We stopped and played at one of the boulders propped by a much smaller one. As always there were many little streams flowing down the mountain. At one point the trail became steep; its boulder covered ridge was blanketed by freshly fallen leaves, a neat sight. Robin and I finally reached the top, one last hurdle was in front of us, a small zigzagged weather carved trail that led to the top of the mountain that overlooks the Kancamagus Highway, a surprise to the both of us as we did not expect such a spectacular view. We stayed up top for a while as we usually do; I love the sensations of being up so high, feeling the cool breeze, taking in the sights and sounds while leaning against the sun-warmed ledge.
Sunday we attended a local church in North Conway; there was a selection of churches, but this one was the only Church that stood for what I believe is right, the others did not mention Christ at all on their Statement of Faith. We wanted to relax at the hotel so that is what we did for the rest of the day.
Monday, our last day of our official Honeymoon led us to Arethusa Falls; it’s in the Crawford Notch. Robin picked out this area; she wanted to see a large waterfall. When we arrived; the weather became very overcast almost to the point of raining. We continued on the steep trail towards the waterfall; after a week of hiking my legs were tired and I had to stop constantly and rest- Robin on the other hand had no problem. As we neared our destination the trail followed a deep ravine a few hundred feet below, the ravine was very sharp with sporadic pine trees reaching towards the sky. We reach a the top, but the waterfall was not in sight, the posted sign said that the waterfall was another 1/4 mile downhill; I thought to myself “Great, when it’s time to head back I’m going to have to walk up hill more”. When we reached the falls my attitude changed as it was a really pretty view, the falls were 200′ high. The water was not as loud as I had imagined- it also allowed us to stand almost at the point where the water hit the bottom. I set up my tripod and took a few slow shutter shots of the waterfall, base of the falls, etc. Despite the weather we still had a good time; I’d like to see what it looks like when the sky is blue with more leaves on the trees.
After making our way back to North Conway we stopped at Echo Lake; the view from the camp ground was interesting; the lake was shallow with emerald colored water with the reflection of an exposed steep mountain. We sat at one of the tables and overheard a couple stating that they could barely make out something on the mountain, I put my telephoto lens on and sure enough there were two mountain climbers scaling the ledge.
Thinking back on our Honeymoon, Robin and I had an amazing time; we had two weeks of worry-free all-expenses paid for vacation doing the things we love the most and I got to spend it with my beautiful Bride. I will always remember our memories we made on our Honeymoon in North Conway, NH.
