We haven't exactly been touring up here because this place we've landed is so conducive to relaxation. However, we have also been part of the national heatwave, OK, up here the warmwave, so we decided to abandon the warmish house (no AC up here) for an afternoon's tour. We live within a couple of miles of the Kancamagus Highway which is a two lane road that traverses East/West through the White Mountains. It's New Hampshire's only National Scenic Byway. I got curious as to why it's called a 'byway', and I've discovered that byway has the specific meaning of a little traveled road. This byway is 34 miles long, no houses, restaurants, gas stations, or tourist attractions built prior to 1800, and is a straight shot across the White Mountains utilizing the Franconia Notch at one end and the Crawford Notch at the other. This highway was started in 1837, but not completed until 1959. A "notch" is what we westerners would call a 'pass' - literally a way through a chain of mountains that doesn't require you to climb up and down everyone to cross them.
The Franconia Notch is very impressive. It's the path that a glacier left behind. In these northern Appalachians, you can follow the paths of the glaciers because they scraped off all the soil as they receded and left bare mountain faces. These bare rock faces are sporadic, thus easy to see the glacial path. I learned these are old, old mountains because they look like big rounded hills. Geologists think that the Appalachians were at one time in the dim past as high or higher than the current Rocky Mountain chain. Now, the highest mountain, Mount Washington, is only about 7000 feet. We haven't seen this one yet. It's claim to fame is that there are often 200+ mile per hour winds at its top, and up to a 40 degree temperature change from bottom to top. The White Mountains consist of three distinct ranges within it - the most famous being the set named for presidents (Adams, Washington, Monroe, Jackson, etc.) My point is that compared to the Rocky Mountains, these are pretty small - although there are 48 peaks higher than 4000 feet. (There are people who have formed a '48' club, meaning they have hiked all 48 - a few people have carried this to an extreme and have hiked all 48 in the winter.)
The name of the highway and some of the rivers in this area commemorate the Indians that inhabited this area prior to the arrival of the Europeans. Kancamagus (The Fearless One) was a major chieftain of 17 tribes united into the Penacook Confederacy - an organization conceived and ruled by his grandfather as the first 'Sagamon'. This confederacy covered most of northern New England, and was broken by English harassment and bloody clashes. Kancamagus withdrew to northern New Hampshire and Canada. If you read between the lines, this tells you that northern new Hampshire was NOT exactly a desirable place. There was very little settlement here, and those who did come in the late 18th and early 19th century eked out a meager living. In other words, poor farmers who barely managed to find enough flat land to plant a subsistence crop, and then had to battle terrible winter conditions for more than six months of the year.
With that said, now this area is managed by the National Forest Service. There are wonderful overlooks, picnic grounds, waterfalls, and the Swift River (aptly named) that flows next to the road for part of the way. There are multiple hiking trails ranging from half an hour to several days. And there's skiing which is really the 'tourist' season here. Winter sports have been a way for the locals to make money since about 1890.
When you look out over these mountains, it's solid green trees except for the ski runs, and small patches where the trees have been removed for some purpose such as a house or a small field. There are very few roads and the ones here are tortured and circuitously winding in a serpentine flow over and around mountains. The only industry up here for decades of the 19th century was logging - specifically logging of the giant fir trees. The logging industry is why New England has the colorful autumns. As the fir trees were taken, it opened up the forest so sunlight could reach the deciduous trees (maples, elms, two kinds of beech, and a host of others). These trees filled the void left by the absent fir trees, and now, every fall they fill the mountains with color as their leaves turn.
Here are a few pictures of the Kancamagus Highway and the scenery of the White Mountains. https://picasaweb.google.com/jalyss1/2011NewHampshireTour1KancanmagusRoadScenicHighwayThruTheWhiteMountains?authkey=Gv1sRgCNXW3bSd2ISs_wE#
