22 August 2023 - 24 August 2023 - Stowe, VT to Lisbon, NH
Headed eastward to visit the White Mountains of New Hampshire. I don't think there is a road in either Vermont or New Hampshire that is straight for more than a quarter mile! Lots of twists and turns, ups and downs, so it takes twice as long to get anywhere. Good thing the scenery is beautiful. Once we reached the White Mountains area, we spent a day taking the Cog Railway to the top of Mount Washington. It was a clear calm day and we had views of mountain ranges over 100 miles away. We also spent a day driving the Kancamagus Highway (say that fast three times!) We had read that this was one of the most scenic drives in the Northeast and it truly was. Lots of rivers, streams and waterfalls along with an occasional covered bridge and some historical sites. The White Mountains has lots more to see, but it's time to move on to Maine.
On the way to the White Mountains, we passed this covered bridge. Many are open for cars to drive through.
Some of the beautiful countryside on the way to New Hampshire.
The scar running up the mountain is the Cog Railway. It ends up on the top of Mount Washington, where all those antennas are. Mount Washington is the tallest mountain in the Northeast, at over 6,200 feet.
The Cog Railway was built in 1869, making it the oldest operating cog railway in the world. Twice a day, a steam locomotive pushes one of the cars up to the top and returns. Biodiesel engines are used for all the other trips. The steam locomotive looks a bit funny because the steam compartment is at an angle to the cabin. They did this to keep the water and steam compartments more level as the engine goes up and down the mountain.
These are not the original cars, but they are over 80 years old. The backs on the benches flip over, so you face forward both going up and coming back down.
We had an absolutely beautiful day for our trip. We were told that there are only about 60 days in the season like this. Most days have clouds at the summit and are cold and windy.
One of the biodiesel engines heading out pushing a car. They run four engines on a trip, like a caravan. The trip takes about 40 to 45 minutes to travel the 3 miles up the mountain.
Closeup of the "chain" part of the cog system. This is very similar in design to a bicycle's sprocket and chain.
Closeup of the "sprocket" part of the cog system.
The rail passage is very steep, from 25 degrees to close to 38 degrees. There is constant maintenance going on the track, we saw some people working on a section. Even so, there seems to be some hap hazardousness on the laying of the track (at least to my inexperienced eyes.)
At one point, we had to wait for a returning engine and its car to pass and for the switch to set to our side to continue the trip.
The switch in the process of resetting.
Part of the Jacob's Ladder trestle. Built to get over a boulder field.
The track at this point curves left and climbs at close to a 38 degree angle. The trestle in this area is 300 feet long and 25 feet above the ground, it is the steepest and second highest railroad trestle in the world.
Up and up we went. The maximum speed of the engine is about 4 mph.
Finally! At the top. This mountain isn't as high as what we see in the western United States, because the mountain ranges are millions of years older than the ones on the western side.
Three different weather fronts intersect at Mount Washington, and it can have just absolutely horrendous weather. The highest wind speed recorded in the world was measured here at Mount Washington. This is the original journal recording that speed of 222 MPH! In February of 2023, a record low of -46 degrees Fahrenheit was recorded (wind chill was 100 to 100 degrees below zero.) On the day of our visit, we had a balmy mid 60s with winds in the 5 mph range.
The anenometer that measured that high wind speed.
The photographer documenting the views.
Some of the ranges are over 100 miles away.
The military practice their bad weather mountain rescue skills around Mount Washington because of the unique weather situations that can occur.
There is an 8-mile road you can drive up to get to the summit. We decided the Cog Railway would be more fun.
This is a hostel that was built in 1853 for hikers who needed to spend the night before heading down.
Rock cairns like this one are placed to guide hikers up to the summit. There is no groomed trail.
We have not seen a bear or a moose on this trip so far. A deer crossed the road in front of our rig, but we missed her. Saw her fawn on the side of the road - glad it decided not to try to cross. We would have hit it for sure.
We had another beautiful day of weather for our drive on Kancamagus Highway.
The drive doesn't go up to great heights, but it has a lot of ups and steep downs, and a couple of hairpin turns that were exciting.
We actually got to drive through this covered bridge. A covered bridge has been on this site since the middle 1800s, but this particular iteration was built in the 1970s.
Most of this countryside was settled in the 1800s with extensive logging. When people realized that they were logging their way out of existence, efforts were mounted to buy up private land and turn it into a national forest so that future generations could use the land for recreation. New Hampshire's tourist trade is a large part of its economy. So almost all of the forest in this picture is less than 120 years old.
Some of New Hampshire's 48 4000-footers. There are people who set a goal to climb all 48 of this mountains in their lifetime.
The Swift River runs alongside a good portion of the highway. There are several turnouts for people to get views and climb down to dip their toes.
This watering hole was very popular the day we drove the highway. It looks like a fun place to spend the day and picnic and swim.
