Tag Archives: Travel

The Flume Gorge, A Tale of Misadventure

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The Flume Gorge in Franconia, New Hampshire is one of Mother Nature’s Gems and like so many of her wonders, it takes a little effort on our part if we want to experience it to its fullest.

The Gorge is located in Franconia Notch State Park so is well maintained by the park service. The visitor center has some wonderful displays that range from a stage-coach

 to a huge display of two bull moose locked in combat.

This display is for real. A hunter found the remains of the two moose in the woods. They got their antlers locked during combat. When the victor was unable to free himself they both ended up dying.

 A very sad end but that’s the way it is in nature sometimes.

 The trail is a two-mile hike that leads you down into the gorge to experience the 90 ft walls towering up on either side of you.

 Much of the trail through the gorge is a boardwalk and there are many, many stairs.

 The walking can be slippery and when there is an uphill ramp, slats are nailed to the boardwalk to give hikers traction.

The walk can be strenuous but benches are strategically placed to let tired hikers catch their breath before moving on.

I do not remember ever going to this gorge before. I have hiked other ones as a child but nothing like this as an adult so here’s where I made my first mistake. I did not realize how narrow or long the trail was. I did wear hiking boots. (Best decision I made this day) and I took my trusty Mono-pod for the camera and , I must confess, it makes a super sturdy walking stick. But then I decided to take my tripod too. I had high hopes of capturing some of the falls with a long exposure and I didn’t trust myself to be steady with just the mon-pod.

It was quite a warm day. There were some clouds and the threat of a passing shower but in the gorge there was a cool breeze as the air moved over the cold water. All was going well until just before Avalanche Falls. The boardwalk slants upward and there were quite a few people in front of me leaning out to take pictures. I propped the mono-pod up against the railing and set the folded tripod down at my feet so I could hold the camera out to try for a picture. Somehow the mono-pod came loose from the railing and fell into the gorge before I could grab it.

It landed grip down and pointed back up but slanted away from the boardwalk. It was just out of my reach. A couple of men stopped but after a half-hearted effort they just said “Too far-Too bad”. Finally I got down on my hands and knees. I took the tripod out of its carry case and then I took the case and used its strap to lasso the end of the mono-pod. Slowly I pulled it toward me until I could just grab the tip. Success!

Now I scrambled to my feet, stuffed the tripod back in the case and headed off as quick as I could. I was worried who might have seen that little mishap. The only people to mention it was a nice couple that I had talked to earlier. Turned out they were the ones behind me on the trail and their only comments was to laugh and say “That was quite a picture!”

Ok so back on track. I was so glad to have the monopod back because my legs were really starting to protest all the uphill walking. I finally reached the top so the return trip should have been all downhill, right? Well that was my next mistake.

There were 2 trails back to the visitor center. One was the Rim Trail which follows the rim of the gorge back to Boulder Cabin where a shuttle bus will pick you up and take you back. The other trail was the “forest trail” or something like that. I selected that one. After all, why see the same sights. Going back a different way would just let me see new things. I’d still be going downhill, right?

WRONG! There were some pretty views of the gorge and some waterfalls and I did get to use the tripod at one of the waterfalls. The sign said it was a 100 ft cascade. But bottom line, it was much longer and it had a lot of uphill as well as down.

The literature said it was about 1- 1.5 hours round trip. OMG! It took me 3 hours round trip. It showed me just how out of shape I really am. No chance of kidding myself now.  It also taught me to open my mouth and ask what the conditions are like. Will there be room for tripods and so on. I could have lightened my load considerably as I only used 1 lens the whole time and only used the tripod once. My backpack with extra lenses and the tripod could have stayed in the car.

I do plan to go back and do this again but not til I’ve spent a few months working on a treadmill! I did meet many others who were not carrying anything that were huffing and puffing their way along. And I met some later at Cannon Mountain that said they were afraid they couldn’t get through it at all so they weren’t even going to try.That comment  was from a woman in her early 40’s so I guess I don’t feel quite so bad.

I still think it was beautiful, worth every drop of sweat and sore muscles! I can imagine what it must have been like to see it all alone and enjoy the pristine tranquility to the sound of rushing water. With all of the lush greenery it looks so primal; maybe even Lost World or Jurassic Park ish. I guess I am just selfish but it would be nice to sit on the bench near Avalanche Falls and be the only one there…just for a little while. 🙂

Scenic Hobo Railroad

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The weather was kind of iffy. The sun would come out and tease you outside only to hide behind a cloud and drop rain on you. What do you do on a day like that when you’re on vacation?

I chose to check out the Hobo Railroad. It seems there are quite a few railroads in New Hampshire billing themselves as scenic train rides. The Hobo Railroad and the Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad are part of the same transit system each advertising the other.

I found the station without any problem, In fact it’s kind of hard to miss. As you come off RT 93 at the Kancamagus exit in Lincoln there’s a huge sign for : TRAIN RIDES with an arrow pointing the way. You pass the Hobo Railroad mini golf to reach the parking lot.

I liked the train station and gift shop. There’s a play area for the kids and picnic tables and benches available while you wait for the train. I first trotted off to set up the camera for pictures. I chose a spot on the grass over by the mini put-put. 

Oh Oh! I had visitors. I should have thought of it before I set up but there hadn’t been an issue before. Of course , it hadn’t been a rainy, humid day before either. I’m talking about the plague of New England fields and forests…the Black Fly. I remember these little biting pests from growing up in the Adirondacks. They hide in the grass and as you walk through it you disturb them and they fly up in swarms.

My choice of a location for the camera must have disturbed them as I had them all over me. They were getting behind my glasses, under the brim of my hat, even up my shirt sleeves. Ugh! I found myself making some adjustments to the camera then running to the concrete walkway about 5 ft away. Just that little bit and they’d disappear.

Then I go back and do the next item and as soon as the flies came back I’d retreat. I think you can tell something was up as I don’t look quite as happy in the pictures!

After I got the train pictures I made a hasty retreat to the gift shop and purchased my ticket for the 1 pm train. I splurged for the $10.00 lunch of a sandwich, soda and cookie.

About 12:30 the Hobo Clown came out to the Hobo Stage and put on a little magic show, He was a very low-key clown but it was enjoyable. He had some good tricks too. After that show wrapped up we boarded the train.

Lunch was served very quickly after we got underway. It was pretty good. I had the ham & cheese on a bulkie roll. The roll was soft and fresh. The cheese was provolone and there was a good portion of ham. 2 thumbs up on the lunch.

The conductor started out strong introducing the staff and laying the groundwork for the ride. At first he did pretty good pointing out the things we were seeing and telling us the history of the area and the conservation efforts on the river. Unfortunately he seemed to run out of steam. Plus some the accuracy of his information was suspect. Specifically he told us that there were no moose in the area this time of year.

At the time that he said that I was thinking about taking the moose tour. Now I thought maybe I should reconsider. As you already know I did take the tour and I did see moose! So I’d have to say that round goes to the Moose Tour Operators and that the trainman needs to update his information.

Shortly after that tid-bit the conductor seemed to run out of things to say. I chatted with my booth mate and let the sway of the train lull me. If I hadn’t been in a conversation I probably would have dozed off. There was nothing to see. We traveled through woods for pretty much the whole ride…80 minutes. There were occasional glimpses of the river but no oh/ah moments or sweeping scenic vistas.

My seatmate even commented that it was a “kind of boring” ride. Now I can see why they needed a clown on the train.

Speaking of the clown, eventually he got to our car. He did a few magic tricks and made some balloon animals for the kids before moving on to the next car.

Eventually we pulled back into the station. I guess you could say it was a pleasant interlude but I personally found the actual train ride a bit dull. It might be nicer when the fall colors are at their peak. I wouldn’t say not to go, but I would lower any expectations you might have.

Steam power at the Cog Railway

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Some things are just too good to do just once. Although I didn’t feel the need to ride the train to the summit again, I did want to see the steam locomotive in action. It was burning some coal and puffing a bit on my first visit but it didn’t go anywhere. So with an early morning wake-up call I made a point to get back for the 8:30 train. The good thing…I made it in plenty of time. The bad part…I forgot the sign I need for the photo contest.

Here’s what I got from the 2nd visit. It was sunny too even though by noontime it had clouded over. But it didn’t matter, the steam train was done for the day.

Kind of amazing how much smoke that little engine puts out. I could see the fireman shovelling coal like crazy. I wouldn’t want that job.

The Steam engines at the Cog were first powered by wood. Then as technology progressed the wood burning engines were converted to coal. Now the main fleet of engines is all biodiesel to be environmentally friendly. When you see that smoke and steam blowing over the forest you can see why it was important to convert the fuel to be more environmentally responsible. This one trip a day is the only nod to the past.

The pictures posted here are the clearest although I had some where the smoke was so thick you couldn’t even see the train at all. It’s really quite something to see. I’m not sure I’d want to be in those passenger cars surrounded by all that smoke!

In the early days it took 6 hours to reach the summit! 6 hours of smoky air! WOW! I’m thankful for the advancements in technology in this case. 🙂

There be Moose in them woods

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It turned into a very late night!

It was supposed to rain all day so I didn’t make any plans. I figured I’d just be lazy, maybe use the laundry room to run a few things through, maybe work on some of the entries for this blog or edit some of the pictures. Instead the sun came out. Since the sun was out and the clouds seemed to be dispersing, I changed my mind and headed up to Lincoln.

I hate to waste a day so I thought I’d check out the Hobo Train and then maybe head up to Franconia Notch to see the Flume Gorge. I’d wait on the tramway as it was still cloudy and I didn’t want to waste my ride on poor visibility.

Anyway, I did go on the train and I’ll tell you about that in another post.

 Right now I just want to let you know that the moose population of northern New Hampshire is well and thriving. I can attest to that with my own eyes.

Let me explain. On the train ride I shared a booth with another lady who told me about some discount passes she got at the Visitor Center just down the street from the train station. I like discounts so after we got back into the station I made the Visitor Center my next stop.

A very nice lady went over the discounts but as I was just one person there was no real savings, but she did tell me that the Moose tours were doing a booming business. I told her that on the Hobo train the conductor had said that there weren’t any moose in the area this time of year. She laughed and said the tours were reporting 100% sightings for the season. She suggested I go talk to them. Their little kiosk was right across the street from the Hobo Railway.

I’d been planning to call them but since I was right there it seemed easier to stop in as soon as I completed my photo-op with Kodak the bear

 and Max the Moose. With those pictures secure I headed over to the Moose Tour Office.

I explained what the conductor said and was quickly set straight. I was challenged to join them on a tour. The cost was $28.00 and the tour was about 3 hours. There was no guarantee but so far they’d seen moose on every tour this season.  Their success rate for the 13 years they’d been in operation is 97%. I’ll take a chance on those odds.

I reserved a spot for the next evening at 7:30 pm and headed off to explore some more. Within 15 minutes I got a call back from them asking if I wanted to go tonight instead. They had just got a cancellation that had opened up a single seat on the tour tonight. So why not. I was already in the area anyway so I said sure and agreed to be at the Kiosk by 6:45 pm.

It was a sold out tour with a second tour going out at 11:00 pm when our tour got back. That one was sold out too. They loaded us on a good-sized bus that looked more like an oversized van. The seats were comfortable. The windows large. Thunderstorms were periodically dumping showers on us but it wasn’t torrential rain by any means.

Larry our driver

We set off on time with our driver, Larry and our guide, Steve. They told us that once we saw the moose we had to be quiet so as not to scare them away. There were a lot of children on the tour so the being quiet part was really emphasized.

We hadn’t gone far when Larry said he had a text from a motel owner that A bull moose had just crossed the river behind his property, climbed the bank and was now on the motel’s front lawn. Larry took the first exit off the highway and headed for the motel. There was a moose all right.

Not a one of us had expected that! Fun!

With that out of the way we headed back out to the highway. We were heading out to the same area I’d spent two days exploring. At the time I thought it looked like moose habitat but I didn’t see any. Of course I was there early..around 5pm. We were going to be there around 8pm. Big difference.

To pass the time while we drove and looked, Steve instructed us on moose habits and passed around “Moose parts”. He had an antler, a lower jawbone, and a hoof. He also tossed out sandwich bags of malted milk balls telling us they were “Moose Poop”. Both Steve and Larry had a multitude of very bad jokes and a CD of Moose Tunes that had the kids giggling and the adults smiling.

Steve asked for a volunteer and picked one of the little girls in the front seats. He made her the good luck moose and put a moose hat on her. That was a cute gimmick and everyone played along. The catch was that she had to wear the hat the whole trip to bring us luck. She did a good job.

All these antics carried us to our first stop. We saw a rainbow right near the Mount Washington Hotel. We stopped there for a quick photo-op and then we were back on our way.

As the sun set splashing deep orange and reds over the mountains we spotted our first moose. It was a young bull and he wasn’t about to stay around long. Everybody yelled and pointed so that could have had something to do with his quick retreat. So much for being quiet. The adults were worse than the kids! I got a glimpse of dark hindquarters disappearing into the woods.

The 2nd moose was just as skittish. But we’d learned from our mistake. There was barely a whisper, just a lot of pointing and hand waving. I didn’t see this one. Then we saw a couple of deer and another moose. This one was a female. She slipped into the woods but stopped and turned back to check us out. I was on the wrong side of the bus to get a picture plus it was quite dark at this point. The bus had spotlights they were using to illuminate the area but I doubt I could have gotten a clear picture under those conditions. Next time I will take a seat on the right side of the bus…not the left. All of the sightings were on the right side!

At about 9:30 we took a quick break at the Twin Mountain Trading Post. Our good luck girl still had on her moose hat.

We cruised through the hots spots a couple of times more but it didn’t seem that any more moose wanted to come out to play tonight so it was time to wrap up the tour. On the way back to the shop they played a beautiful movie about moose. By now a lot of the younger kids had conked out.

So I saw a moose, 2 actually. I don’t have any proof to share…this time. And the 100% success rate for the Moose Tours continues! Good tour.

The Cog Railway and Mount Washington

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I wasn’t quite sure where I was but a pretty little restaurant showed up on the right side of the road. There were cars in the lot, always a good sign. Since I hadn’t seen any other places for lunch I pulled in to take a chance. The name of the restaurant is Banner’s.

 It was clean with a down to earth interior.

The staff was friendly and the service was quick. There was outdoor seating surrounded by vines and flowers but it was so hot today that the section wasn’t even open.

My waitress said I was about 45 minutes from Mount Washington and the Cog Railway. If that’s correct I should get there about 3:30. Plenty of time to get a ticket for the 4:30 ride to the summit.

Mount Washington Summit

I wanted the 4:30 train because it is discounted $9.00, That would cover my lunch! I love getting a break on prices. I can’t say saving money because any savings are sure to be gone before the week is out! 🙂

The Mount Washington Cog Railway is the first mountain climbing cog railway in  the world. Cog railways had been around but they were all “flat landers”. 

The concept of a railroad to the summit of Mount Washington came about as a result of a near tragic incident. Sylvester Marsh of Littleton, NH and a friend climbed Mount Washington where they were caught in a fierce storm. They were forced to stay overnight and nearly perished in the frigid temperatures. This experience gave Marsh the idea of a railroad so that travelers could reach the summit of Mount Washington in comfort and safety.

 Marsh designed the railroad but there were more skeptics than supporters so financing was a problem. Building of the railway began in 1866. At first there was only enough money for about 150 yards of track. Undeterred, Marsh ran his trains up that 150 yards and back proving that the little railroad was feasible.

The New Hampshire Legislature finally gave Marsh the go ahead to build his “Railway to the Moon”. The first excursion to the summit was on July 3rd, 1869. 

It seems fitting that the first “Mountain Climbing Cog Railroad” should be on the highest mountain in the Northeastern United States. The summit of Mount Washington is 6288 ft above sea level and it known for its erratic weather. There’s a sign stating that the strongest winds ever recorded were on Mount Washington and although this record has been disputed in recent years, the sign is still there for all to see.

The Cog Railway is located off RT 302. There’s a 6 mile drive from RT 302 to the Marshfield Base Station. The comfortable building houses a small snack bar/restaurant, a gift shop, museum and rest rooms as well as the ticket office.

Boarding commenced with a hearty “ALL ABOARD” from our brakeman Darrell.

 Darrell was assisted by his #2 Darrell.

I’m not sure if their names really were Darrell and Darrell or just the joke from the movie but it was fun anyway.

Each train consists of 1 passenger car and 1 engine. The engines are biodiesel locomotives. With a nod to the past there’s one trip a day with a coal-fired steam engine. That’s the first trip in the morning leaving promptly at 8:30 am. 

The trains no longer run in the winter. The season runs from spring through fall.

It felt strange to be carrying a jacket on board when it was 100 degrees or close to it, but that was the recommendation. I was assured that I would need it at the top.

Once on board, Darrell #1 began to tell us about the train and the route. The railway isn’t built right on the mountain. In fact it is a trestle track all the way up to the summit. 3 miles in fact! One section, known as Jacobs Ladder sometimes appears to be climbing right to heaven as low clouds can hide the top of the tracks. At times the gradient is 37% making this the 2nd steepest train tracks in the world and the only one built entirely on a trestle.

At the half way point there is the Halfway House built right next to the tracks. The house appears to be built on an incline but it’s actually an illusion created by the steep pitch of the train. On the side it says “This house is level”. I wanted a picture of that but the train was so close to the house that I couldn’t get it. I guess you’ll just have to go to see for yourself.

The total trip is about 3 hours. The train drops you off at the summit and returns to the bottom. You have an hour to enjoy the views, visit the snack bar and gift shop or mail a post card with a Mount Washington postmark.

 The visibility was quite clear on my visit which I am also told is unusual. Often the summit is engulfed in clouds. Sometimes the clouds are lower on the mountain and you break through at the summit, but clear days for viewing are rare. It was very windy and the temperature was hovering at 57-59 degrees. Add in that wind chill factor and I was glad I brought my jacket.

About an hour later the next train arrived with a new batch of passengers. After they off load it’s all aboard for us again.

Going up reminded me of riding a roller coaster when it starts its climb. That comparison might not be so far off. The engine is not attached to the passenger car. Going up it just pushes the car in front of it. Going down the car’s bumper rides on the engine and they let gravity do the work.

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When I got off back at Marshfield Base Station another visitor asked me if it was worthwhile to take the ride. I told him yes,  everyone should experience it at least once.