Honeymoon 4: Mt. Washington and Grafton Notch State Park

After bacon and eggs, Meg and I headed toward Gorham, NH and Mt. Washington -- the highest point in New England. There are 4 ways up: hiking, driving, taking a guided van ride, or taking the cog rail. The train left from the other side of the mountain and was the most expensive, so we elected to drive. Weather conditions at the base were 76 degrees with 10 mph winds. At the peak, we were told to looks forward to 45 degrees, 30 mph winds, and wind chill of 34 degrees.

The drive up was quite an experience. It reminded me of roads in Colorado: steep, long way down off the side, and no guard rails. The difference here is the roads were narrow. Meg felt confident to drive so I dizzily watched as we climbed toward the peak and the fast moving clouds. The road went from paved to not, and we had to drive around a parked truck where guys were filling in a spot on the edge of the road where some of it had slid off the side.

We made it nervously to the top and quickly threw on our thin rain jackets. At least they cut the wind. We took wind-blown, teary-eyed photos on the peak, almost falling over when gusts surprised us. The views were incredible, and apparently we were very lucky to be at the peak on a clear day. We had lunch in the car staring off to the nearby mountains. I drove down and felt a lot more comfortable being in control.

We visited the museum of wagons, cars, and vans that have been used in the 150+ years that the road has been used. The guy working said there has only been 1 fatality on the road in that incredibly long time, and that guy was driving drunk. We smelled some hot brakes, but for the most part people were driving cautiously in their lower gear. They give you a CD to narrate your tour and a bumper sticker proclaiming "This car climbed Mt. Washington."

Mt. Washington claims to have the world's worst weather, and recorded the highest measured sustained winds at 231 mph. The record high on the peak is 60 degrees. It was quite an adventure and we enjoyed it very much.

After that we headed toward the resort then north to Grafton Notch State Park. We saw some waterfalls cutting through glacier-carved boulders, and some cliffs on the nearby peaks. We still haven't seen any meese, not even at Moose Cave, named for a moose that fell into a crack in the boulders and died.

We saw some gorgeous views and I was able to take some great pictures. We're hoping the Dawgs win it all tonight and the river's low enough to canoe down tomorrow.