White Mountains, New Hampshire - September 26th to 29th, 2021
Nothing is perfect. Even though the trees were not at their peak fall colors yet, and we dealt with quite a bit of rain, our time in the White Mountains of New Hampshire was stunning. We could only imagine how spectacular it would have been a few weeks later on a sunny day.
Sunday was a driving day. We moved from Ledgeview RV Park in Lake George, New York to Country Bumpkins Campground in Lincoln, New Hampshire. It was about a four hour drive. We avoided the interstate and stuck to the backroads. The drive took us back through familiar territory in Vermont, through Woodstock and Quechee (Quechee, Vermont - September 14th to 17th, 2021).
Along the way, one of our EEZTire sensors (paid link) was indicating that a battery was low. So we stopped at the Vermont Welcome Center and changed the batteries in all four of the tire sensors. We already had purchased the replacement batteries, but we were just procrastinating on installing them. It is a little bit of a pain because we normally have to pop the wheel covers off in order to removed the tire sensors. However, Left Buddy (LB) managed to get them off and back on without removing the wheel covers. Yay! Our hands still ended up getting pretty dirty. We used a couple of wet wipes to get most of the dirt and grime off of our hands before using the restrooms at the welcome center. We didn’t want to leave too big of a mess in their sinks.
Since we had a hard time finding a nice picnic area in Vermont the last time, we decided to stick with what we knew. We pulled into the Billings Farms parking lot in Woodstock. While sitting in the van eating our lunch, we could watch the cows in the fields. The bathrooms in Billings Farms are not open to the public, only to those who pay to go into the museum. However, there are public restrooms across the street in the Carriage Barn Visitor Center of the Marsh-Billings-Rockefellar National Historical Park. Afterwards, we stopped at Snack Bar at the Gorge for ice cream, the same place we had ice cream about two weeks earlier.
From Hartford, we headed north on US 5, which runs somewhat parallel to I-91. The highway follows the western bank of the Connecticut River which separates Vermont from New Hampshire. Near Haverhill, we cut over to New Hampshire and followed routes 116 and 112 east to Lincoln. The drive was pretty. The tree covered hills had started to change colors, but were not at their peak yet.
Country Bumpkins Campground is a cute, little campground in Lincoln. Even though it is very close to I-93 and in town, it feels remote, with only feint, muffled sounds from the interstate every now and then. The sites are close together, but among the trees. There is a small duck pond in the middle of the campground. Our site has one of the best views. The site backs up to the Pemigewasset River, just about where the Harvard Brook joins the river. We set up our camping chairs right next to the river and sat there listening to the sound of the water, watching the water dance over the rocks until it was time to make dinner.
The weather forecast called for rain on Monday, so instead of a long hike, we chose taking a scenic drive. The Kancamagus Highway goes from Lincoln to Conway through the White Mountain National Forest, going up about 3000 feet and over the Kancamagus Pass. The views were gorgeous with the trees wearing their fall colors.
The sun was shining in the morning, so we drove all the way over to Conway, then stopped at all the sights on the way back. A $5 day pass is required to park anywhere along the highway. However, they also honor the interagency passes like the America the Beautiful annual national park pass, so we did not need to pay anything extra.
Our first three stops were the Albany Covered Bridge, Lower Falls, and the Rocky Gorge Scenic Area. They are all along the Swift River which flows alongside the highway up to the pass.
Next was the Russell Colbath House Site. It is a Forest Service Historic Site. A ranger inside the house was happy to give us a tour and tell the fascinating stories of the people who lived there.
Sabbaday Falls was a short hike to a gorgeous waterfall along the Sabbaday Brook. The clouds had rolled in by this time and it was starting to rain. However, the tree cover protected us from getting too wet.
The remaining stops were all overlooks, Sugar Hill Overlook, C.L. Graham Wangan Overlook, and Pemigewasset Overlook. Even though it was raining lightly, the views were still great. Of course they would have been better with some sunshine, but it has to rain every now and then to keep all those trees healthy. There was another unnamed overlook that we stopped at, but we did not stop at the Hancock Overlook. There was no spots left to park in and the sign said no RV’s. Our camper van is that in-between vehicle where we sometimes can get away with saying we are not an RV, but, since there was no room, we decided to obey the sign this time.
We ate our lunch at the Pemigewasset Overlook. By the time we finished, the sun peeped out a little on our final descent back down into Lincoln. It was time for ice cream, but we struggled to find an ice cream shop. All the ones in Lincoln and North Woodstock looked like they were closed for the season. There is a season for ice cream? That is hard for us to comprehend. Isn’t the ice cream season year round?
We parked in North Woodstock and walked around. A sign outside of Morgan’s Diner said they served pie, so we ventured inside. They were all sold out of pie, but they did have vanilla ice cream and would make us what they called a frappe. Right Buddy (RB) had a chocolate frappe and LB had a vanilla. They tasted pretty much like milkshakes and they satisfied our ice cream cravings. We learned that a “milkshake” in New England does not contain ice cream; it only contains milk and flavorings. A frappe is what the rest of the country calls a milkshake.
After our treat, we decided to head over to Franconia Notch State Park and check out the Flume Gorge Trail. The trail is only about two miles long and is one of the most popular hikes in New Hampshire. When we got there, we found out that the hike costs $18 per person to go on. Sometimes the tickets are sold out in advance, but there were spots left, so we paid our money and went. It was raining pretty good by now, but our rain jackets and the trees kept us from getting soaked.
Yes, the trail is worth the money. The gorge is spectacular. A series of boardwalks and wooden stairs allows you to walk through the bottom of the narrow gorge, right alongside the raging waterfalls. We counted the hike as number 40 of our 52 Hike Challenge: 2.6 miles with a 522 foot elevation gain in one and a half hours.
Now we were ready to call it a day and headed back to the campground. The rest of the wet, cool evening was spent inside our cozy Red Tail Lodge, what we call our van. A couple of days earlier, we noticed that our batteries were not fully charging, even when we were plugged into shore power. One of our three batteries was showing two/fifths full according to the lights on top of the battery while the other two were fully charged. We investigated a little further and discovered that the positive terminal on the one battery was loose. The positive terminal on one of the other batteries looked like it was starting to loosen up as well. Tightening them back down was easier said than done. There was not much clearance between the top of the terminal and the top of the enclosing cabinet. LB struggled getting a tool in there. He managed to tighten both of them down with a socket. A lower clearance tool is on his list for the next time we get to a home improvement store. Plugging into shore power brought all the batteries up to full charge. Success!
Since the forecast did NOT call for rain on Tuesday, we decided it would be a good day for riding the cog train up to Mount Washington. But first we needed to find a campsite for the night. We had only reserved two nights at Country Bumpkins and planned on camping at one of the many National Forest campgrounds in the area. Some of them are free, but we settled on spending $20 per night to have access to toilets. We drove over to Sugarloaf 1 Campground near Bretton Woods, which is not far from the Mount Washington Cog Railway.
The drive over to Sugarloaf was pretty. The trees were marbled with fall colors. The drive took us through Franconia Notch State Park. We were forced to take I-93 since it was the only road through the park. US 3 joins I-93. However, in many places it did not feel like an interstate. The only exits were for trailheads and the road was down to one lane in each direction in places. We’ve never been on an interstate before that was not at least two lanes in each direction.
We arrived at Sugarloaf Campground a little after 11 am. There was no problem getting a campsite. Since it was a weekday and the kids are back in school, most of the camp sites were empty. Since there is nothing to post at your site indicating it is taken, the campground rules state that you must make your site look occupied at all times. So we put our table cloth on the picnic table and locked our bikes to the picnic table. After eating lunch, we drove over to the Mount Washington Cog Railway.
We did not purchase our cog railway tickets ahead of time. Arriving around 12:20 pm, we had no problem getting tickets for the 1 pm train. There were actually two trains that headed up the track to the top at 1 pm. They can accommodate up to four trains at the same time. Each passenger car is pushed up the mountain with its own engine. The car is actually not coupled to the engine for safety reasons. About half way up the track splits into two lines where the trains going up pass by the trains going down. The train’s speed is less than three miles an hour on the way up. It takes about 45 minutes for the train to reach the summit. Then you have about 45 minutes to an hour at the top before taking the next train back down.
It was in the 50’s when we left the base station, but only 39 degrees with a wind chill of 29 degrees when we reached the summit. And the summit was enshrouded in clouds, so we could not see anything. That is actually quite typical. We had some views from the train part way up, but not much. If you’re taking the train for the views, you will probably be disappointed. It is still a great experience. There is a building at the summit with a museum, restrooms, and a snack bar, so you can get out of the wind and the cold while you wait for your return train. We walked around in the clouds, checking out the actual rocky summit and the observation deck, where we could only see a few feet, before heading inside for a drink and bathroom break.
There are actually two other ways to get to the summit. One is to drive the road up to the top. The other is to hike up. The Appalachian Trail actually crosses over the summit of Mount Washington. If you hike, be prepared. The weather at the summit can be nasty and visibility can be horrible. Protective clothing and good navigation tools are a must. Many people get lost and die on Mount Washington. The average wind speed at the summit is 30 MPH. That’s an average. The highest wind speed ever observed by man was recorded at Mount Washington at 231 MPH in 1934.
The snack bar at the Cog Railway station didn’t have any ice cream treats that appealed to us, so we actually skipped having ice cream that day. I know, it’s hard to believe we skipped ice cream for one day. So we headed back to our camp site and made dinner.
Rain was in the forecast again, this time for Wednesday afternoon. So we got up early to get a hike in before the rains hit. The temperatures dropped down into the 30’s Tuesday night, but we were nice and cozy in bed. It was 46 degrees in the van when we got up, so we kicked on the Espar heater (unpaid link). Such a small space warms up quickly.
Our alarm was set for 7 am and we were on the trail by 8:45 am. The hike we chose was Mount Willard. The trailhead was just a few miles down the road from our campground. The trail was through the woods to the top of Mount Willard. It was rocky and steep, but not as bad as the Cascade Mountain trail that we were on the week before near Lake Placid, New York (Lake Placid, New York - September 20th to 22nd, 2021). The summit of Mount Willard is only at 2848 feet above sea level, not nearly as tall as some of the surrounding mountains, but there was a nice 180 degree view to the south. From the top, you can see down the valley through Crawford Notch State Park.
When we reached the summit, the sun was still shining and the view was gorgeous. The mountains on both sides of the valley nicely framed the view of the colorful trees. We completed the 3.5 miles with a 928 foot elevation gain in two hours and 15 minutes as hike 41 of our 52 Hike Challenge. By the time we were back at the trailhead, the clouds had rolled in and it was starting to sprinkle. Perfect timing.
From there we continued driving south on US 302 through Crawford Notch State Park. We stopped at the Intervale Scenic Vista rest area for a picnic lunch. Unfortunately, the restrooms there are closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Since when do rest areas need a couple of days off?
We parked in the town of North Conway and walked around town. LB was in the mood for baked goods, so we looked up the bakeries in town. He found one that was open. It was down a side street, tucked back away form the street. It was a small bakery called the Old Village Bakery, but they looked like they did good business. When we walked in, they were just pulling cookies out of the oven. We bought two of the almond ginger cookies and half a dozen French rolls. We ate our warm cookies sitting on a park bench back in Schouler Park on the main drag. The park sits next to the train station for the Conway Scenic Railroad.
After our cookies, RB still wanted ice cream, especially since we skipped it the day before. The only ice cream shop that we could find open at the time was Ben & Jerry’s. RB likes Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. You guessed it, RB had a waffle cone with mint chocolate chunk and chocolate fudge brownie. LB did not have a vanilla shake this time. He switched to chocolate.
From North Conway, we started our drive back. Along the way, we stopped to take the short hike to Ripley Falls in Crawford Notch State Park. It is only a one mile hike round trip. However, it is a steep and rocky trail. For the first tenth of a mile, it follows the Appalachian Trail. We came across a backpacker who was hiking an 11 week section of the trail. The parking area at the trailhead is a fee area. There is a self-serve pay station to leave your $5 in cash or check. You might hesitate paying $5 to walk a one mile trail, but the falls are definitely worth it. They are truly stunning, even in the light rain. We completed the trail in about 45 minutes. As we reached the parking lot, three backpackers were being dropped off at the trailhead. We’re not sure if they were just starting a section of the Appalachian Trail or they were just coming back from a resupply in town during a thru-hike.
There were no restrooms at the trailhead. We had not gone since we ended our morning hike of Mount Willard and we were in desperate need of a restroom. So we stopped at the Crawford Notch State Park Visitor Center. Ah, that was better.
RB had seen a waterfall along the side of the road as we were driving through earlier, so we looked for it on the way back. We found it. It is called the Silver Cascade. We are so glad we stopped. The falls were spectacular. Colorful trees framed in the very tall cascading waterfall. Even in the light rain, this was probably the most scenic thing we had seen in the area.
We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening inside the van back at our campsite. The rain had picked up, but we stayed warm and dry inside our Red Tail Lodge.
Was the weather perfect while we were in New Hampshire? No. Were the trees in their full fall glory? No. Did we leave feeling disappointed? No. Did we have a great time during our stay in the White Mountains? Most definitely yes!
Check out our related video: White Mountains, New Hampshire
(RB)