Shortest leg ever!

We enjoyed our stay in Lincoln, and headed out on our trek to Franconia. When I plugged our destination into the bitch, she beeped and said we would arrive at our destination in 17 miles. I assumed that there was something wrong with the destination point we had loaded into her in advance, but no, it turns out that she had the right destination. The woman had routed us to travel to and stay just 17 miles from where we were going!

The short drive between Lincoln and Franconia was some of the most beautiful we have ever driven. The stretch is referred to as the Franconia Notch, a narrow path between two mountain ranges that parallel each other. The passageway is so narrow that I-93 that goes through it slims down to one lane in each direction, and the speed limit was reduced to a casual 45 MPH. With the fall colors clearly in bloom on each side of us, we made our way through the Notch – a path that we would be happy to travel many times as we explore the area further.

We learned that Franconia may be one of those warps – here are some of the firsts:

·         Long before steel in Pittsburgh, iron was mined near Franconia. As early as 1805, maps of the Franconia region showed the location of the granite blast furnace where the locally mined ore was smelted into iron. The only original furnace to still exist in New Hampshire long after the ore played out is here.

·         Franconia was the location of the first organized ski hill in the US. Cut in 1933, the first racing trail in the US was the Taft Slalom. Franconia again gained more recognition when the first aerial tram in the US was built at Cannon Mountain Ski Area in 1938.

·         The oldest ski club in the US, the Nansen Ski Club, was founded in 1872 outside Franconia.

·         The first ski school in the US was established near Franconia in Sugar Hill in 1929.

·         Polly’s Pancake Parlor, prominent in the 1,000 Places to see before you die book, has been serving outstanding pancakes with natural New Hampshire ingredients for over 75 years. The woman had cinnamon maple walnut pancakes – I had two eggs, maple smoked bacon, and maple smoked patty sausage – yum!

·         Robert Frost, one of America’s premier poets, got much of his inspiration from New Hampshire. Frost moved here in 1915 and bought a farm overlooking the Notch, and owned it for 10 years. At first, American critics and the public did not accept his work, and he could not get published. He went to Oxford in England and studied, acquiring some new insight into his craft, and in that time he published two books of poetry in Europe that were energetically received. He returned to Franconia and rented the same home he had lived in, and published more books in the US, becoming one of America’s most beloved poets, getting his poetic insight from much of what he experienced in New Hampshire.
We toured that home, walked the grounds that he used to walk, viewed the views that used to inspire him from his home and front porch, and watched a very insightful video about his life and his time in the State. We really enjoyed this visit.

·         Nearby at Mount Washington was where the first cog railroad was built in the US in 1869. Hiking trails to the top of the highest peak in the Northeast at 6,288, Mount Washington has always attracted attention. In the early 1800’s folks hiked to the impressive summit, and in 1853 by Samuel Spaulding built the Tiptop House to house those hardy souls who ventured up to the summit. In 1868, Sylvester Marsh petitioned the New Hampshire state legislature to build a cog railway he had envisioned to the summit. The NH legislature said that since he was backing the project with his own money, they would grant him the authority, but that since building a railroad to the top of Mount Washington was impossible, they might as well grant him authority to build a railroad to the moon!
Of course, Marsh accomplished his dream, and in August 1868, President Ulysses S. Grant and his family road the cog railway to the summit of Mount Washington. That same cog railway system is still in use today. The line is 3 miles long, and climbs 3,600 feet to reach the summit.
We chose to drive the Washington Mountain Auto Road. A 7.6 mile road that essentially accomplishes what the cog does was established in 1861 as a carriage road to reach this obviously sought out summit. When this carriage road was officially opened, it allowed folks who would otherwise have had to hike to see the summit to ascend in the relative comfort of private carriages – although I question the word “comfort”. Mount Washington is the site of the record recorded winds in the US at over 231 MPH, which is why the buildings at the top are literally chained to the mountain!
When we started up this narrow, nail biting road, the mountain was completely clouded in, and we were driving through a white out – not fun! But we eventually came out of the clouds, and it was bright sunshine above. We were surprised, however, to find out that when we reached the summit, the clouds had blown out and we had an unfettered view of the valleys surrounding Mount Washington. The views were spectacular – we had lunch in a couple of Adirondack chairs right on the bluff edge – to die for. After lunch, we visited the Tiptop House which still exists – the oldest structure on the mountain. It’s awesome to know you are walking on the same grounds as President Grant and others from over 200 years ago.
We hiked around as much as we were up to on this summit. The Appalachian Trail crosses the Mount Washington peak, so we sought it out. We found it, and found that excited through hikers had placed a number of hoodoos – not too surprised!

·         Bode Miller, the Olympic medalist in downhill, did most of his developmental training at Cannon Mountain Ski Area. The New Hampshire Ski Museum displays many of Bode Miller’s medals, and gives insight into the development of the skiing industry in the US. In addition, the museum displays the earliest ski lift equipment in the US as well as one of the original gondolas from the 1938 aerial tramway.

While not as far from Lincoln as I thought, Franconia has turned out to be a great destination in our travels of the Northeast. We love New Hampshire so far!

Talk to you soon!