White Mountains and the Cog Railroad

Monday, June 10, Day 49

Time to leave New Hampshire, and head across the Connecticut River .

All of the rivers are so high from the steady rains, and the Connecticut is no exception.

We are passing into Vermont, but not for long.  We are going to spend a day in the White Mountains.  We went through here on our way to Plainfield, but didn't really get to look around. In the meantime, we have crossed back into New Hampshire. And we've crossed the Omponpanoosuc River.
We've seen deer in the fields, passed The Brick House, the oldest continuously operating general store in the country,  and through Littleton and Bethlehem, where the "Welcome to the Bethlehem Country Club" sign is right in front of the cemetery.

This is the largest peak in the White Mountains, Mount Washington.  John had a wonderful teenage trip here with the Renna family.  He has always had great memories of that trip!

Mt. Washington is the highest peak in the Northeastern US at 6,288 feet.  It is known for its very erratic weather patterns, and you'll often hear about it on the national weather reports.  Winds clocked at 231 mph at ground level were recorded here in 1934.

The long line on the left of Mt. Washington is the cog railroad.  Built in 1868, it was the first such railroad built in the US.  The originator, Sylvester Marsh, had the idea to build the railroad after getting caught in a storm there while on a hike.   He was viewed as insane, and one legislator suggested he also be given a charter to go to the moon!

The entire railroad is 3 miles long.

I mailed a letter to Uncle Bill from here.  This is the post office, so I hope he gets it!

The first engine.

We decided not to spend the three hours going on the railroad, but we had a great time exploring the museum, looking at the railroad, and watching the car climb toward the top.