Day 63 North Conway

Another glorious start to the day with plenty of sun and no clouds = 4°C start. The good thing today was there was minimal wind. We managed to get showered, dressed, breakfasted and out the door by 8:30am. We dropped into the ranger's office for a day pass but they were so exhausted by Columbus Day that they gave themselves the day off. So we set forth regardless.

Half an hour up the White mountains Trail with minimal traffic we arrived at our destination, the carpark for the Arethusa Falls. We were the 2nd car in the carpark but we did not see the owners of the other car. We headed up the track (more like a dry river bed with boulders strewn around). The tree canopy kept the air temperature cool but 20 minutes into the walk with an uphill climb we had removed our jackets.

It was so quiet in the forest. There were few birds to be seen or heard on our walk. As we got closer to the falls we found a small bird hopping along, staying about 10 metres ahead of up. Given that the New England area is in drought (less rain than normal) and it was Fall, there was minimal water going over the falls. However, the scenery was still quite good, at both the falls and the stream leading away from the falls.

The walk back should have been much quicker as we were heading back down to the carpark. However, Margaret had to pat the various dogs trekking to the falls (and speak with their owners). One was a blue merle Australian Shepherd. It really reminded Margaret of our boys).

We did succeed getting back to the car and heading up highway 16 to the Mt Washington Auto road. If you wish to go to the top of Mt Washington, you have three options- 1) drive up the Mt Washington Auto Road (yourself or guided tour), 2) travel up the Mt Washington Cog Railway or 3) trek up one of the trails.

We opted for driving up the Mt Washington Auto Road (originally Mt Washington Carriage Road). This is a 12.2 km private road. Construction started in the summer of 1854 and it was completed in 1861 after additional financing was found. We are advised that it is still owned by the family who built it. It has a gradient of 11.6% and climbs 1,408m from an altitude of 465m to 1,873m. There are no guard rails on the road and it two way traffic. Needless to say the passenger has a great view of the drop. Margaret did see some of the trip through slitted eyes. Fortunately our insurance will cover the armrest that "came loose" on the drive to the summit. (I am still agreeing to stupid things in the name of love!!!! - comment by Margaret)

As you would expect the air temperature at the summit was considerably cooler than when we started out. However, it was a nice warm day and there was little breeze at the summit. Needless to say there were still a considerable number of people driving up to the summit, taking tours or travelling on the cog railway. We had purposely delayed this trip until after Columbus Day as the traffic and number of people on the summit would have been horrendous.

While we were at the summit the Cog railway (3 trains with their carriage in tow) arrived. It was quite interesting. The Cog Railway was first operational in 1869. We had heard when we were in Arcadia National Park that the Cog railway that was going to Mt Cadillac summit was moved to Mt Washington. Basically the train pushes the carriage up the mountain.

The drive down was less eventful, possibly due to the passenger (no names) was not able to look over the side of the mountain (for most of the time). Once we were down we went for a nice walk along the bike tracks at the Mt Washington site while the brakes had a chance to cool. More photo opportunities.

Finally we headed back to the hostel, purchasing muffins enroute for a very late afternoon tea. This was followed by cheese and bikkies and a chicken and vege pie for dinner. Lucky we are doing plenty of walking.

WOO HOO our blog is now up to date ( for the moment)