Last month, I shared photos from our visit to historic Plymouth, Massachusetts. We spent a few days in Boston and the surrounding area (photos from Lexington, Concord, the coast, and the Freedom Trail coming soon), drove up to Quebec City through New Hampshire, and then returned to Boston via the stunning Maine coast. It was a quick trip, but we packed a lot in. Mr. Handsome has been to Boston, but this was my first time to any of the New England states.
It was pouring rain on the day we drove through New Hampshire, but the fall colors were so gorgeous that we just had to stop somewhere and take in the scenery. Two hours northwest of Boston, we hopped off the interstate and spent 90 minutes at Flume Gorge.
Have any of you been to Flume Gorge? Nestled in the middle of White Mountain National Forest and Franconia Notch State Park, it’s a 2-mile trail that winds along a natural, 800-foot-long gorge. The granite gorge is narrow but deep (up to 90 feet in some places) and has an impressive amount of water running through it. The gorge also features a beautiful overlook to a pool that’s 40 feet deep.
The individual credited for discovering Flume Gorge is Jess Guernsey, who, according to local legend, stumbled upon the natural wonder in 1808. And did I mention that she was 93 years old? Now that’s impressive!
By the late 1800s, the area was a popular tourist destination. A covered bridge built in 1886 allows both foot and vehicle traffic to reach the start of the trail.
As someone who dislikes rain, walking through the woods on a rainy day was a big accomplishment for me. We were very wet by the end of the excursion, but the views were well worth it. I may or may not have used Mr. Handsome’s sweatshirt to cover my head and face. Okay, I’ll admit that I did. But only because he didn’t want it. It helped..until it, too, was soaked through.
For those who enjoy learning random but fascinating pieces of information, prepare to have your mind blown. Near Flume Gorge is Mt. Washington, which reaches an elevation of 6,288 feet. While that may not sound too impressive, it isn’t the mountain’s height that makes it famous, but what has occurred at its peak.
In the 1870s, a weather observatory station—one of the first in the world—was established on Mt. Washington. And what better place to put a weather station than in a location touted as having the “the world’s worst weather”? In 1934, a 231-mile-per-hour gust of wind set the world record. It was broken in 1996 by a typhoon in Australia, but it is important to note that the current record-breaking gust was recorded at an unmanned weather station, while the observatory on Mt. Washington is manned.
Below is a video that Mr. Handsome and I filmed at Flume Gorge.
Neat place! Do you know why it’s called Flume Gorge? and off the subject here, but did you get to go to John and Abbie’s wedding? I was hoping you did so we could see some pics of it right away!
Hi Candi,
Good question! I looked it up, and a flume is a “deep narrow channel with a stream running through it.” Sadly, we weren’t able to go to the wedding. The location was quite far to drive with me being so far along in my pregnancy, and we had previous commitments this weekend. But I hear it was lovely!
Ellie
That’s the product of at least 200 million years of rock formation and erosion at work. If you’ve never been to the gorges in the Finger Lakes region of New York state, they are just as “gorge”-ous. Those have the Ice Age to thank for their beauty, too.
Please watch Dr Kent Hovind videos and get educated on the information that supports the truth of the Torah scriptures as written down by Moses. The topography around the world is a consequence of the great flood in which Noah and his family survived in an ark. The earth was created in six days six thousand years ago as I understand and believe. Read Genesis.
I visited Flume Gorge at the beginning of October. It was a beautiful experience. Looks like you had a little color in the foliage while you were there.
That’s right when we were there! It was a great time to go. Did you have a rainy day or a clear day?
My goodness the scenery is breath taking!!! What I would do to just be sitting on one of those rocks looking at them waterfalls. We sometimes forget in our hectic schedules how absolutely beautiful the natural world is. Thank you Ellie for these pictures and for the reminder to not forget to enjoy these kind of things in.
My pleasure. I completely agree–it’s so easy to allow the busyness of life to prevent us from slowing down and enjoying the beauty around us.
Ellie
Never heard of Flume Gorge. What a lovely trail to walk. The water scenery pictures are beautiful. Under a picture in my calendar it says, “In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.”–John Muir. Thank you Ellie for sharing…Jane
Ellie and Mr Handsome transformed into Mary and Joseph in the stable…..that was amazing!
So beautiful and it reminds me of my trip to the Pocono Mountains. These pictures bring back so many memories of my trip there. We drank the water right from the clear streams up there. Good memories and now I think I will plan a trip back there. ☺
Where are the Pocono Mountains?
Ellie the Pocono Mountains are in Pa. We went to Bushkill Falls in the Pocono Mountains and had the time of our life walking through the trails and drinking water from the crystal clear streams. There are lots of beautiful waterfalls there which we couldn’t get enough of. We stayed there for 3 days and loved it.
Sounds lovely! I’ll have to add that to our list of places to visit.
Ellie
Ellie, even soaking wet you look like the picture of pregnancy health. This is completely off topic, but by any chance have you decided on nursery decor/theme yet? Forgive me for being so nosy, but we are leaving in a couple of weeks for the next four months and I was really hoping to be able to send a little something before we go.
Hi Lisa,
That’s very kind of you! The baby room is two colors–deep blue and gray. I really want to decorate with paintings that Mr. Handsome makes (that will probably be our December project). I’m thinking either animals or ships. And we might do both. I don’t see myself going all out because I want to keep things fairly gender neutral in case we have a girl next. 🙂
Ellie
Okay, that place is stunningly beautiful. Please post a picture of it when your husband paints one of the pics in this post!! 😉
Will do! 🙂
Hi Ellie, I live in NH about 1 1/2 hours South of the White Mountains. I have visited The Flume Gorge a couple of times. Both of my boys went on their 4th grade field trip and I was a chaperone. The first time we went, it rained all day, but we still had fun! We were dressed in rain gear since we knew the weather forecast. The second time, the weather was very nice. It is beautiful there and we have been wanting to go as a family, hopefully one day soon.
You live in a very beautiful part of the country, Doreen!
Has anyone ever gotten sick drinking wate from the flume? We were just there & i would’ve loved to have taken a drink! But was kinda leary as there’s prob micro organisms?