Day 3 – Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Tuesday was a day of driving, looking and photographing. We headed south to The Kanc. The Kancamagus Highway, or Rt 112 runs east from I-93 at Lincoln and the Franconia Notch area to Conway. Most of the driving we’d been doing so far was west of Mt. Washington, so the Kanc would take us along the south side, and then we would drive up the east side of the presidential mountain range on Rt 16, and around the north side on Rt 2 – and back to the hotel. The Kanc is known for being a “scenic byway” and there are many outlook points provided where drivers can pull off to take photos of the gorgeous mountain and valley scenery.
The day started off quite foggy with the clouds hanging low over the mountains. Our first stop was at the Flume Gorge visitor’s center. We didn’t plan to take the trip down into the gorge because that involved a lot of hiking and steps, but the visitor center has LOTS of interesting displays in addition to a video of the history of the area and a very large gift shop (I bought a couple of t-shirts and a book of Mt. Wash photos).
These first photos are of Cannon Mountain – you can see the difference in visibility from the day before when we were in the clear at the top. (If you click on any of these photos, you will get a bigger version in a new window.)
Next are some photos I took in the Visitor Center. The display of the 2 moose with the locked antlers is a rather famous display that occasionally goes on tour. You can learn more about it by Googling the Locked Moose Antler Project. The story goes that a hunter found the carcasses of these 2 moose with their antlers locked. It is believed they both died because they could not untangle themselves. When he found them, the bodies were already starting to decay and had been feasted on by predators, but the antlers and skulls were still in tact and in decent shape. He contacted authorities who decided this was a very unusual find that was worth trying to preserve. Through the dedication of many volunteers, they were able to find 2 moose hides that were very similar in size to the locked moose, and a taxidermist rebuilt them around a form that displays them as they might have looked when they were fighting. (The website has photos of the creation process.)
Below is the Concord Coach which was actually used to transport tourists to the area before there were cars or even trains to do that task.
Following are some of the many photos I took from our drive along The Kanc and up Rt 16:
This next photo is of Mt. Washington from the east side near the Auto Road. As you can see, even though the weather did get better as the day went on, again, it was not a good day to go to the top.
One of the unique finds in NH was the proliferation of cabin motels. My understanding is that these were very popular in the 1930s as tourism in the area grew. We didn’t see any that were new or updated and remodeled to look newish, but we did find some older ones that were still being used, and some that had been abandoned. The newer motels seem to be strips rather than cabins. Here are a few photos of the cabin motels – used, and not…
And while I saw lots of signs warning of Moose.... I never actually saw a live moose in the wild. I even tried the international Moose call: "Heeeere Moosie, Moosie, Moosie".... nothing!
While I’m on the subject of moose in the wild, I will mention also that I was very surprised by the lack of wildlife that I saw in NH. Because of all the trees, I expected to see lot of squirrels, chipmunks, and birds. I saw almost none. I saw 1 squirrel and 1 chipmunk, and those were in the more populated areas of southern NH. Occasionally, I saw a hawk or a crow gliding above the trees, but I saw almost no other birds. I also saw almost no road-kill along the highways. Here in Ohio, you can’t drive anywhere without seeing a dead skunk, raccoon, squirrel or deer along the road. My cousin said that in her area, they are discouraged from putting out bird-feeders because they can attract bears. I think if I lived up there, I’d be tempted to put feeders out just so I COULD see a bear!
And so, another lovely day of sight-seeing came to a close. The evening was cool and rainy, and dinner was at a restaurant called Fabyan's - owned by the hotel but outside the main property. This building was the original train station for the area back when trains were the main source of transportation to the White Mountains. The food was terrific, but unfortunately, the experience was marred by the numerous small children who were permitted to be loud and rowdy. (But that is a rant for another entry.)
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