Flume
Gorge, located in Franconia Notch State Park, is an 800 foot long natural gorge
at the base of Mount Liberty. A wooden walkway has been constructed through the
gorge, so it is now possible start at the base of the flume and follow the
walkway all of the way to the top of the gorge. The hike through the flume
includes a lot of steps, but is worth the effort. Once on top of the gorge, it
is possible to follow an alternate two-mile loop trail that goes by other waterfalls and canyon vistas on the way back to the visitor center.
Arriving
at the Old Man of the Mountain Historic Site, I found that I was about 11 years
too late to take a picture of the famous stone face – the structure collapsed
during the night on May 3, 2003. So, I had to settle for taking a picture of a
painting located in the visitor’s center.
Unless
you have a GPS unit, do not even try to find "The Frost Place," Robert Frost’s farm homestead. Fortunately, we had a GPS unit and we were able to travel many
miles of back roads through some very beautiful scenery to reach the historic site. The
homestead is now a center for poetry and the arts where people can come and
enjoy Frost’s works. There is also a Poetry Nature Trail where visitors can
read Frost’s poems that are engraved on plaques along the trail. And, there is even a summer
poet-in-residence program for want-to-be poets.
You
do not need a GPS to find your way up Mt. Washington because there is only one
road up the mountain. At 6,288 feet, Mt. Washington is the highest peak in the
northeastern part of the United States and is known for having some of the
worst weather in the country. The world record for the highest surface wind
velocity ever recoded occurred at the top of Mt. Washington – 231 miles per
hour! If you do not want to drive the narrow paved and gravel road to the top of the mountain,
you can also hike to the top following the Appalachian Trail, or catch the Cog
Railway that leaves from Bretton Woods.
No comments:
Post a Comment