If I were a bumper sticker kind of girl that is what my car would say. After a quick stop at the White Mountain National Forest offices in the Androscoggin District, based in Gorham, NH I made my way to Mount Washington! The drive up was not as intense as the drive down. I wasn’t too worried about my car over heating or going over the edge but it was still existing. I was completely enamored with the summit. The way the ice had formed around all structures due to the wind was just beautiful. Although cold it was so fun to walk around and be on the highest point in the Northeast.
After spending who knows how long on the summit I made my way down the eight miles. It was then time to hike. It took me awhile to break tree line on my Glen Boulder hike and I had to stop quite often, but it was worth it. I should have never let myself get out of shape, or eat beef jerky before a hike. I chose not to summit the mountain because it didn’t make sense. I just wanted to break tree line. After a rock climb to the cold, open boulder, it was time to hike down.
Once down in the parking lot I made the .3 mile “hike” to Glen Falls. This was such an easily accessible gem. You park, walk a little, go down some stairs and there is a powerful waterfall awaiting you. No wonder lots of people do this walk. I was thankful I had hiking boots and wished there weren’t so many people so I could sit there feeling the spray. I felt I had to move to let others take pictures.
I then took a nice warm shower at the Appalachian Mountain Club center in Pinkham Notch. This place is great and so helpful for travelrs, hikers, students, and anyone else. Good to know where it is located.
Side note: I would like to someday hike the entire AT consecutively but think those people are crazy. I am going to need some serious conditioning before that.
After my nice warm shower I headed through the cute town of North Conway onto the scenic Kancamagus highway. This road traveled along a river and was crazy picturesque. There were tons of picture ops but I did not stop for any of them. I wanted to get to Montpelier by 6:30 to see a movie. After passing through the skiing village if Lincoln and continuing on the scenic highway I saw a moose. I turned around to get another look, left my car for a picture, and it ran off. Oh well. At least it fears humans so it won’t get killed by a hunter, hopefully.
It was now getting dark and I knew I would not make it to my movie. Back in Lincoln I saw a theater so went there. I treated myself to “Life As We Know It.” I loved this movie! Funny and sad, and even though I normally don’t like love stored with happy endings, I liked this one. I then drove around doing circles in this town looking for a suitable place to spend the night. There was no Wal-Mart. I must have looked like a crazy person but who cares.
I found a good place for the night and settled in. Who knew the White Mountain Forest was littered with so many nice, large, or regular hotels and resorts. It must be a popular ski area because it wasn’t too crowded with leaf peepers.
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