New Hampshire - White Mountains

September 13, 2019 - September 17, 2019

We moved from Vermont toward the beautiful White Mountains of New Hampshire.  There are several "notches" in the White Mountain area.  The definition of a notch is "the highest point on any publicly maintained road in New Hampshire."  Those of us who live in the West would probably call is a pass.  Near the town of Franconia is Franconia Notch State Park.  It includes many interesting places, not the least of which is Flume Gorge.

Near the bottom of the Flume

This stone wall was built to keep the stream from eroding the bank.

Looking back over the sheet of rock that forms the flume.

As you climb higher the stream narrows.  Pathways and bridges have been built alongside and over the stream.

This is near the end of the flume trail.
It may look like the stream is flowing directly out of the rocks beyond the bridge
but it's actually the end of a series of waterfalls. 

Avalanche falls at the end of the the trail.

This is a common site in these woods.  Trees hanging on for dear life in this rocky area.

Near the Franconia Flume Trail is a short trail to "The Basin."
Due to the time of year the water level was quite low allowing us to see how it had cut a patch in the rock

A nice little waterfall very near "the Basin."

To get to the top of Mt. Washington we chose to take the Mt. Washington cog railway rather than driving.  The railway uses both steam locomotives and bio-diesel locomotives.  We chose to take the steam train which you can see below.

The engine pushes a single passenger car to the top of the mountain.
The car and the engine are not connected to each other.

This is how the cog railway functions. 
Two teeth on the gear wheel are in constant contact with the toothed rack rail as the engine and car inch their way up and down the mountain.

Looking out the front of the passenger car as we ascend the mountain.

Looking out the window at the beautiful New Hampshire mountains.

The fog began to envelope us as we neared the top.  The summit is a popular destination for hikers. 
Rock cairns along the trail help hikers find their way.

Enjoying the view at the top.

This is what the top looks like on a rare sunny day.
Some interesting statistics:
This was the first cog railway ever built. (the track was begun in 1866)
You pass through 4 climate zones as you climb to the top.
Highest temperature ever recorded at the top:  72 degrees
Highest wind gust ever recorded at the top:  231 mph in 1934.
Average clear days at the top:  65 per year
The average grade is 25 percent.  The steepest grade is 37.4 percent (2nd steepest in the world).

Eli, our brakeman, uses these two big wheels to keep the passenger car from putting too much weight on the engine as we descend the mountain.