Audiovisual Hiking - Friday, August 9, 2019

Our senses were in tune with nature today as she serenaded us with the best kind of rock music: the East Branch of the Pemi River flowing over and around boulders. From our campground in Lincoln, New Hampshire, we made a short drive to the National Forest Service's Lincoln Woods Visitor Center on the Kancamagus Highway, known locally as The Kanc. 

Just so you know if you come to this part of the country, a parking pass (purchased at a kiosk) or a national park pass needs to be displayed in your windshield when you park in one of the trailhead lots.

After reading trailhead warnings about Lyme disease, ticks, and bear encounters, along with admonishments about what to take on the trail (compass, water, suntan lotion, etc.), we set out on our 6.8-mile round-trip "easy" hike to Franconia Falls on the Lincoln Woods Trail.

The 160-foot suspension bridge at the beginning was a plus. I love to bounce them up and down to make them sway. 

Bob in suspended animation.

Our rock concert, the East Branch of the Pemi River.

Immediately after the bridge, we turned right onto what used to be the railroad tracks used in clearcutting the forests in this area in the late 1800s to early 1900s. The clearcutting of trees fueled the local economy until the reality of deforestation set in. 

What happens when you denude the mountains of their forests?
1. Lightning ignited a fire in the slash leftover from clearcutting.
2. After the fire, massive rainstorms stripped the mountains of their soil in an erosion event of massive proportions.
3. Runoff from future rain caused more flooding. 
4. Textile factories downstream in Manchester, New Hampshire, were flooded and closed creating a substantial economic loss. 
5. This got the attention of legislators and businesspeople.
6. All of the above allowed the conservationists to get their program implemented. Their agenda was to have the federal government purchase private property to create national forests in 1911 when the Weeks Amendment passed.

But I digress. The trail is wide and in the trees, protecting us from the late morning sun. Many of the trails in the White Mountain National Forest are on old railway logging beds.

We are off to Franconia Falls Trail and from there
it's 0.8 mi. roundtrip to the falls.

The old railway bed.

Verdant greenery of the
White Mountains.

At our turn-off on the Franconia Falls Trail, fungi were prevalent. I liked the way they presented themselves on this rotted stump.

Fabulous fungi.

Well-marked trails.

Mushrooms or fungi? Or are they the same thing?

The Lincoln Woods Trail was easy. Once we turned onto the Franconia Falls Trail, the trail became more rugged. I was glad I had on my hiking boots. Roots, rocks, and mud kept trying to get in my way, and I did my best to sidestep them. The rock music around us kept right on playing. It was such a great remix.

Our music selection for the morning.

Bob at Franconia Falls hopping the rocks
trying to find a good viewpoint of the falls.

Franconia Falls finds many ways through these boulders. There are pools where people cool off. It was good to use caution on these boulders because the water was powerful and not all ways into the water were good. Warning signs were posted around the falls, and there was a memorial for someone who had died there.

Franconia Falls.

Water making its way through a chute.

Looking downriver, you can see Bob (barely) on the left.
There are also a couple of people in the pools below.

This water is powerful stuff. 

Looking upriver toward the falls. It was hard
to get a good photo!

After the hike, we went back to the 5th wheel and had tuna and avocado sandwiches. Bob put them together and we chowed them down. 

We then headed to the Lincoln Visitor Center at Exit 32 off I-93. Bob had been to it yesterday to pick up brochures and info on waterfalls. Wow! He sure found some great stuff to do and will keep us busy for the week we're here. 

The reason we went back today is that I left the one brochure we needed for The Kanc back in the rig. When I went in to pick up the same brochure, there was a note on the counter that certain postcards are free. You can write them on the spot, put them in their little indoor mailbox, and they will stamp and mail them for you. So I wrote one to Mom.

Back on the road, we saw the following sign. In fact, we have seen these signs on the freeway and just about every road up here. I'm hoping we see a moose,  but in a moose wallow, not on a roadway! 

We stopped at a couple of overlooks and learned some new things. A local pastime is to hike to the summits of the White Mountains over 4,000 ft. in New Hampshire and Maine. These hardy souls call themselves "peak baggers." (This is much like the 14ers in the Colorado Rockies, only in Colorado the mountains are much higher! There they have to do 14 peaks of at least 14,000'.) Some people sure have lofty goals!

Bravo and brava...quite the accomplishment!
And they did them in WINTER.

I think I'm a mountain tramp!

We couldn't wait to get to the next hike: Sabbaday Falls. The trail is touted as an easy 0.3 miles. They got that right. 

We LOVED this waterfall. It is very different from the last one we saw. 

The very easy trail.

Zen rock stacking.

Bob way ahead on the trail.
I get way behind taking photos.

This looks like a very old historical marker!

Looking up a dike (the dark-colored
rock) to part of Sabbaday Falls.

This is one of the more unusual waterfalls we've been to and it all has to do with the geology here. There was a sign that showed and explained it, but Bob and I were having trouble figuring it out. There are dikes and a fault, somehow this waterfall made a 95-degree turn and we're good with that!

This isn't the confusing sign. I didn't take a
picture of that one.

Quite a chute coming out from the falls.

This was a harder part of the trail.

But it was worth it.

Bob at Sabbaday Falls overlook.

We continued our drive on The Kanc, continually looking for waterfalls. The falls below are in the Rocky Gorge. So-so. Pretty scenery nonetheless. There is swimming here, but not right above the falls.

Rocky Gorge.

Close-up of the Rocky Gorge Falls.

Just down the road a few miles from Rocky Gorge is a series of waterfalls that is a totally different experience. This is the swimmin' hole where it seems EVERYONE shows up on a sunny day to cool off, picnic, swim, and pass the time. Wow! We got there around 4:00 p.m. The falls are in the sun in the afternoon. It looked like a grand time was happening here. The parking lot was packed and there is overflow parking along the highway just downriver from the main parking area. Just be sure you have a parking permit or national park pass in your windshield!

The place to be: Lower Falls.

I have included the photo below of the glacial erratic boulder because it really reminds me of our family camping trips in the Sierra Nevada of California when I was a child. We would camp near huge boulders like these that we could climb all over. Some of those boulders had big cracks in them that we could walk through or play Hide 'n' Seek around. GREAT memories.

Back to the present: Take a look at the following photos. This place looks like a blast! [Oops, back to the past: The photos below remind us of taking OUR boys camping in Oregon. We liked to camp near a place called Little Falls. There were all levels of rocks from which to jump or dive into a huge, deep pool. We'd go there as often as we could for weekend trips. Much like these families are doing here.]

Kids of all ages finding the right spot to cool off.

The awkward teens.

A rock slide into a shallow pool. 

This day is so enjoyable. It makes me think about how life works. In my case, we grew up on the West Coast, mostly southern California and Oregon. Our parents took us camping, hiking, and traveling. We went to places like Yosemite, the Mojave Desert, the beach, the Palomar observatory, the east side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Rainbow Falls, Devils Postpile, and we loved it. It was our normal. We were accustomed to it. Dad took us fishing. Mom liked to sit and paint lakes and mountains. But a person can become narrow-minded, think where they grew up is better than somewhere else. Until you travel and see things like this, you don't know how similar people (and places) really are. 

The yellow flowers below are blooming now in the mountains. Thank you to Nikki Tiffany for the identification of the goldenrod!

Goldenrod in bloom.

So, here we are in the middle of the forest, hardly any traffic, and we decide to go to Conway, New Hampshire, which is the other end of The Kanc from Lincoln. The Kanc comes to a T intersection and we were going to go one mile north to the town. HA! We got to the light at the intersection and the highway north is jammed solid with cars, trailers, and semi-trucks. Holy cow! It was 5:30 p.m. on a Friday afternoon. Is this rush-hour traffic? Are these people coming up to the mountains for the weekend or vacation?  

We made a U-turn right there at the T intersection and high-tailed it back to Lincoln. Again, very light traffic. That's more like it. 

Two more overlooks later and again we had new knowledge of this foreign (to us) place. 

Plant zones along the Kancamagus.

Wow!

Where does all the water go? Just like in the West where we have the Continental Divide that determines if water goes into the Pacific or the Atlantic Ocean, here the divide makes the water go either into the Pemigewesset to the Merrimack, or the Swift River into the Seco River. It all ends up in the Atlantic Ocean, though. 

And that was our fantastic day on the Kancamagus Highway. As we drove into Lincoln, Bob asked if I wanted Thai or Mexican food for dinner. That would be Thai. We ate at Thai 9 and had a yummy, satisfying meal. 

Very good restaurant.

Lincoln Town Hall in New Hampshire.

When we drove by the restaurant below earlier in the day, there was a line to get in stretching down the sidewalk. We decided to go here for breakfast on Saturday morning. Hopefully, we'll get there when they open at 7:00 a.m. and can get right in.

Cute sign. It tickled my funny bone.

Driving into Country Bumpkins RV Campground, we saw this rainbow overhead. What can I say? The perfect ending to a perfect day? You betcha. 

Rainbow over the entrance to our campground.

Fairy, Swamp, and Artist, but No Inspiration and No Uncle Tom, Part 2 - Mon., June 12, 2017

Continued from Part 1...

From Fountain Freight Road, we drove northeast through Madison and Norris on our way to Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Lunch was a top priority because our last "food" had been Atomic Fireballs and Jolly Ranchers at the waterfall. It was about 11:30 a.m. when we ate. The weather forecast was for bad weather to hit at noon. 

Below are two of the tour buses that take people around the park. They were both in the Canyon Lodge parking lot.

Historic Yellowstone touring vehicle

After we ate, we immediately went on the North Rim Drive which, by this time, was completely packed with cars. 

I gave Susan and Darren some options for hikes: the very steep hike down to the brink of the Lower Falls (they passed); a short hike to Lookout Point for an awesome view of Lower Falls and the Canyon (which we did) or the Red Rock steep trail down into the canyon (we didn't do); another very short walk to Grand View for a view deep into the downriver side of the canyon (which we did); Uncle Tom's Trail (steep iron stairs down into the canyon for an up-close view of Lower Falls - more on this later), and Artist Point (which we did).

First up: Lookout Point. This is a great place to see Lower Falls. 

Lower Falls

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

Yellowstone River at the bottom of the canyon

Lower Falls from Lookout Point

Darren and Susan

Next stop, a short distance down North Rim Drive from Lookout Point: Grand View. No view of Lower Falls from Grand View, but you can see way downriver in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Yellowstone River

Yellowstone River

Me at Grand View

Susan and Darren

At Grand View we saw this cool motorcycle with side car. That evening, the motorcycle with side car was parked very close to us at the Old Faithful Inn Cabins. 

I thought we could go to Inspiration Point along the North Rim Drive; however, that whole area was closed due to construction. We then continued down to the South Rim Drive. I really wanted to take Susan and Darren on the iron staircase down into the canyon to see the Lower Falls from a closer vantage point, plus it would have been great stair-stepper exercise. Unfortunately, the whole Tom's Cabin area was also closed due to construction. 

Our last stop in Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is the iconic Artist Point. If you've seen any postcards of Lower Falls and the Canyon, or any famous photos or art work of the Grand Canyon and Lower Falls, they were most likely inspired by or photographed at Artist Point. 

With many of the other sites closed in the Canyon area, Artist Point was way over-crowded! Since I had been there before, Susan and Darren hopped out of the van and I took over driving, being stuck in traffic, and looking for a parking spot. The plan was, if I didn't find a parking space, I would continue driving around the parking lot and pick them up when they were done. Thankfully, lots of people were coming and going and a spot opened up on my first time around.

I was able to catch up to Susan and Darren. Artist Point is spectacular and breath-taking! It's hard to stop taking photos.

Lower Falls and Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
from Artist Point

Susan and Darren

Me at Artist Point

Lower Falls from Artist Point

 
It was after 1:00 p.m. and still no storm. We decided it was time to head back. If the weather held, we could see Roaring Mountain with Dragon Mouth Spring and Mud Volcano. 

It looked like our luck would soon run out. In the photo below, it is hard to tell, but the big, black, circular-shaped cloud looked like a super-cell storm. 

Dark, black, circular super-cell cloud

Super-cell formation

We made it to Roaring Mountain and saw Dragons Mouth Spring and Mud Volcano while it was still sunny. Dragons Mouth Spring roars and hisses. 

Boardwalk to Dragons Mouth Spring

Dragons Mouth Spring

Dragons Mouth Spring

The photos below are what's left of Mud Volcano. In 1870, explorers watched as Mud Volcano shot mud and steam into the treetops, shaking the ground with each eruption. Two years later all that was left was a lake of boiling muddy water. The volcano had blown itself apart.

Mud volcano's bubbling pool

Close-up of the bubbling, roiling mud

Shortly after, the rain started and the clouds lowered. We headed back to our cabin at Old Faithful and we ran into rain and rain mixed with snow. The temperature had dropped fast. I made a trip to the shower house for a shower, then walked 1/4 mile over to the General Store on the other side of the Old Faithful Inn. 

For some reason, an ice cream cone sounded really good. I got two scoops in a waffle cone and took it on the covered porch of the General Store. They have big wooden rocking chairs and a rocking swing. I sat on a rocking chair in the cold, eating my ice cream cone while watching big, fluffy flakes of snow come down. My ice cream didn't melt. Hey, a bonus when you eat it outside in the cold! 

Meanwhile, employees from the General Store were coming out and snapping selfies of themselves in the snow to prove to their relatives back home in the heat that, yes, it really was snowing in Yellowstone.

I contemplated eating ice cream while it was snowing. Did that mean I was eating a snow cone? LOL. I crack myself up.

The walk back to the cabin was in a fluffy snowflake blizzard. I didn't bring an umbrella, but I did have a hood on my winter coat. By the time I got back to the cabin I looked like an abominable snowman. Then the snow melted on my coat so I had to hang it in front of the heater in my room to dry it out. Oh, the adventures one has on vacation. Makes good stories to tell.

View from the door of my cabin

Yep, it's snowing!

I had the same view from the window of my room. As I looked out, I saw an elk walk across the far hillside. So cool!

It was a good night to get some sleep. We were pretty tired from the day's hike to Fairy Falls and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Let me re-phrase that, it was a good night to get some sleep until the loud, cracking thunder at 3:00 a.m.

Here's hoping we can get over the passes to Jackson, Wyoming in the morning.