Day 2 – Monday, July 25, 2011
After enjoying a small breakfast in the room, we headed out to see what kind of trouble we could get into on Cannon Mountain. At a height of 4080’, it is not the tallest mountain in the area, but in some ways it is one of the most famous. It boasts 2 big claims to fame: 1 – it was once the home of The Old Man of the Mountain rock formation which literally fell off the mountainside in 2003; 2 – it was the first ski resort in the country, developed in the 1930’s. It also has 3 smaller rounded mountains connected to it which are called the Cannon Balls.
The weather was a little cool and cloudy, but the clouds were high, so they were not obstructing views of most of the mountain tops (except, of course, Mt. Wash.). We rode up on the Cannon Mt. Tram which is a tourist attraction in itself. The ride only takes about 7 minutes and is very smooth in calm winds. This aerial tramway was the first of its kind in the nation in 1938. The tramway was rebuilt in 1980. It now has a vertical assent of 2022’ and each tram car can hold 70 people at a time.
Following are some photos of the Cannon Mt. Adventure:
The first photo shows the ski runs that have been cut in the trees and can be seen from the highway.
The second photo is a map which shows all the ski trails.
Photo 3 shows the visitor center and the tram lines that go up the mountain - with the cars on them.
Photo 4 is the tram car that I rode on.
Once at the top, we were instructed that there was a hiking trail called the Rim Trail which looped around an observation tower just south of the tram station at the true summit of the mountain. Hiking the trail was a little challenging for me, but I’m glad I made myself do it. There were mountain views and valley vistas that I just would not have seen otherwise. This was definitely a high point of the trip – figuratively and literally!
Here is some of what I saw:
The highway that can be seen on the valley floor is I-93.
These 2 shots above are looking north from the tram car on the way up.
On a clear day, Canada can be seen in the distance.
The photo above is looking east - Maine is out there somewhere....
This shot was looking down from the tram car.
Following are photos taken from the Rim Trail:
The 2 above were taken from the same viewing point - the first one looking south, and the second one looking north.
The photo above was looking east at Mt. Lafayette (5239') which was partially obscured by a cloud.
The 2 photos above show parts of the Rim Trail.
In this photo looking north, the ski lift is visible.
This last photo shows Echo Lake which can be seen at the bottom of the map of Ski Trails.
Echo Lake has always been a popular boating lake for small boats.
And so…. I go back down the mountain with lots of great memories and a bunch of cool photos. Cannon Mt. was a trip highlight I will never forget!
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