2016 Holiday Day 12 - Kancamagus Scenic Highway

Today we were going to take in the scenic sights of the Kancamagus Highway - about a 35 mile drive between Conway and Lincoln on Route 112 - with plenty of stops on the way for walking and scenic viewing. We'd bought a parking pass from the ranger station near Conway so we were able to park in all the parking spots on the highway.

We stopped near a covered bridge to begin with (the Albany Covered Bridge) where I also finally photographed the car we hired. It's a Chevrolet Traverse and it's huge! I wanted a big car, as I drive such a little car back home, and it's really fun to drive - although tricky to park!

We then headed to the Lower Falls a where we skipped over the large flat rocks and had a paddle in the cool, clear water

We then had a walk round Rocky Gorge Scenic Area, where there was a lovely bridge and a short walk to a tranquil pond (Falls Pond) where we spotted a frog in the shallows, but no moose much to Clare's disappointment...

We then parked up and had a short walk to Sabbaday Falls (maybe about half a mile or so). They were a lovely cascade - not the biggest - but pretty nonetheless. Lots of people stopped at this one - even thought we'd been early to try and avoid the crowds - because it is such an easy hike. Lots of good viewing platforms - the falls come down in sections - so it was good to see the bridges and stairs to help see them as well as possible

We stopped at a number of other viewpoints on the way across the highway - looking out over lovely views of the White Mountains National Park. Mt. Kancamagus tops out at 3763 ft - so your ears don't half pop on the way up and down!

We then decided to head to Vermont - so Matthew could tick off another American state. It was a 90 minute drive into the State and round back into New Hampshire and on the way back Clare wanted to stop off at Ripley Falls - somewhere we'd been in 1998 when we last visited New Hampshire. The hike is a hard one - it's not paved in any way and you are constantly traversing over tree roots and rocks either descending or ascending. We passed people on the way who'd given up but we finally made it and it was spectacular...

Having got back to the car we were pretty tired at this point - and hungry and thirsty having exhausted our supplies - so as we drove back we agreed to stop in McDonalds in North Conway. They still have the cable cars that you can eat in - as they did in 98 - so it was fun to sit in them again. A word of advice - if you order a meal in the US it does not come with a drink - they are charged separately. It you all want Coke - order one drink and use the fountains to refill as many times as you like! We forgot this...