Franconia, NH. October 2020.
postcard from Franconia Notch
My first real vacation AC. After Covid.
2020 has been full of surprises. Like many others, I threw my travel plans out the window and instead turned to reading travel books for some relief. For April and May, my mood was at rock bottom when I was stuck indoors, staring at my inbox that was filled with email confirmations of cancelled flights and hotels. As local travel restrictions slowly lifted and the weather started to cool, I decided to embark on a weekend road trip to New Hampshire with the family for some Fall hikes and leaf peeping.
I’ve always found driving relaxing (except in the city), and the 6+ hour drive was actually my first longer drive without switching driving with a family member. My dad definitely appreciates being able to retire from doing most of the driving, and maybe this means he is finally approving my driving skills and is comfortable enough to doze off in the backseat. We made it to Lincoln, the main town south of Franconia Notch State Park and stopped for lunch at Black Mountain Burger Co (I am guessing it’s a play on White Mountain?). The mountains surrounding the town were painted in a pretty green, yellow and red, still vibrant against the clouds and the slightly gloomy weather.
Flume Gorge
With our full stomachs we made our way to Flume Gorge for our timed entry. The Flume is a 2 mile walking loop through waterfalls, bridges and scenic mountain views. We crossed the Pemigewasset River over a red covered bridge (one of the oldest in the state), through the Table Rock, into the Flume Gorge which is a natural gorge extending 800 ft.
Table Rock. Flume Gorge.
We walked up the gorge through the wooden stairs, still slightly slippery from the rain earlier in the day, towards Avalanche Falls at the top of the Gorge. There used to be a hanging boulder at the gorge but it was washed away in the heavy rainstorm in 1883, and it was never found. Along the trail we passed several viewpoints as the clouds cleared.
The Pool towards the middle of the journey is a deep basin that is 40 ft deep in some areas, formed at the end of Ice Age. It’s surrounded by cliffs and a wooden bridge - Sentinel Pine Bridge - offers a great view of the Pool and the mountains beyond.
Towards the end of the hike, we got another awesome view of the Fall mountains at its peak. What was typically a 1.5 hour hike took us 2+ hours with our stops for photos, and we ended our hike with the visitor center.
After Flume Gorge we headed to our hotel in Bethlehem north of Franconia, and had dinner in town at a place called Rek-Lis Brewing Company. A great way to end the day with some local beer!
Franconia Notch State Park
We wanted to have an early start since the trails get pretty busy according to online reviews, and especially because everyone is turning to the outdoors during the pandemic. We first stopped by a scenic overlook off the main bridge, where the morning fog cleared the scene for an outlook of the mountains. With a cloudier day compared to yesterday and little sun, the mountains appeared to be in deeper shades of red, yellow and green.
After the stop it was time to embark on the hike - we parked at Echo Lake Beach and headed onto the Artist Bluff trail. The start of the trail is pretty difficult but short - almost a straight ascend up through rocky steps. Once we got to the top the view was great. The highway and the pretty Fall colors framed Echo Lake, and fellow hikers all sat down to soak in the view.
Artist Bluff.
On the other side of Artist Bluff was another trail, which we heard from our fellow hikers that it is flatter and easier compared to the journey up to Artist Bluff. We decided to go on a whim since we have some time. We followed the well marked trail and made it to other trail marking towards Bald Mountain, with some large, steep rocks at the top (hence the name Bald Mountain)! My parents stayed back at the bottom of the large boulders as the rocks were too steep, and my sister and I made our way up climbing with our hands.
The view up top on Bald Mountain was even better than that of Artist Bluff, with a full view of the mountain and the lake behind. My parents looked like they are in the middle of the forest (which they were) when we looked for them from up top.
The way down from the Bald Mountain side of the trail was much easier, and we exited through a parking lot and walked back to our car. With no signal on our phones we headed towards Lincoln for lunch, and noticed the heavy traffic on the other side as hikers packed the trails around the State Park. Traffic in Lincoln was equally heavy with people for lunch. Over lunch we debated whether or not to return to the hotel for the drone - heavy traffic deterred that plan and we decided to head straight for the Kancamagus Highway scenic drive, the drive that includes a hairpin curve and is well known for the best Fall foliage viewing. Little did we know how bad the traffic would be… We made a small stop at the Lincoln Woods hiking trail for the suspension bridge before continuing our drive, but the heavy traffic on both sides of the highway locked us in and it took us 2 hours to get to the hairpin curve.
After being stuck in traffic we didn’t really get to enjoy the views at the scenic overlook as we worry the traffic on the way back down. We ended up spending another 3 hours in traffic, traffic so slowed that there was enough time for us to play rounds of cards in the car. While waiting we spoke to a few others and some locals - all in agreement that we have never experienced traffic this bad. Since we have time in the morning before we depart the state the next morning, we decided to give this another try early in the morning, getting another chance for a drone shot (and hopefully a proper scenic drive).
Kancamagus Highway
Early bird gets the worms! The traffic was much better in the early morning of the Kancamagus Highway as the fog clears. The drive to the hairpin curve took less than 20 mins. There were already people up at Hancock Overlook, but most were hikers determined to beat the morning crowd. My sister got a chance to fly her drone in the sunny morning weather, capturing the iconic video over the hairpin curve.
We continued the drive down the Kanc to another overlook that offers a panoramic view of the area, and then one more stop at CL Graham Wangan Overlook for a great view before turning back to head home, rounding up another road trip with the family.
I am not sure what the rest of 2020 holds, what I am sure is that you don’t have to go far to experience the joy of traveling.
