Having done the Berkshires (Lenox, MA) and the Green Mountains (Stowe, VT) today it was on to the White Mountains (Jackson, NH). The first part of the journey was from Stowe to Lincoln which was attractive but the highlight of the day was…
Kancamagus Scenic Byway
The Kancamagus Highway runs for 34 miles from Lincoln, NH to Conway, NH and was the busiest place we have been on the holiday. Every car park along the way was packed with cars spilling our eager tourists. Where they had all come from and where they went at the end of the road I have no idea but they were all here today.
It is a beautiful drive but was nothing like I had imagined it would be. For some reason I had thought that it would be flat (wrong!), running along the floor of a valley (wrong!) and criss crossing the river with lots of pretty little covered bridges (wrong! wrong! wrong!)
Our first stop was a walk through the woods taking in the colours. Here the turning of the leaves is further advanced than at Stowe as there were some bare trees but still a stunning display. Then we stopped at a couple of views points.
We said we wouldn’t stop again unless it was for some waterfalls and, of course, the next stop was the Sabbaday Falls so we stopped and climbed up. It was worth the stop though as they were two falls cascading down the rocs before turning through 90 degrees to carry on their way.
Covered Bridges
I hadn’t just imagined the covered bridges mentioned above, they really do exist as you can see from the picture above. There apparently used to be loads of them but now, in the US at any rate, only about 60. I had wondered what the purpose of them was but the ever reliable Wikipeda tells me that adding a cover over a bridge extends its life from 20 to 100 years by keeping off the elements. They look lovely but I can’t see them adding on on, say, the Severn Bridge.
We remain in Jackson tomorrow and, fingers crossed, go up Mount Washington.
