By Shelby
This week we spent most of our time in Laconia, New Hampshire. We worked from the Laconia Public Library on Monday. I found it very cold, so I ended up moving to the car to work where it was warm. After work, we went to a small beach on Lake Winnisquam to eat leftovers and watch the sunset.
Tuesday, we worked from the Gilford Public Library. It was tiny but very nice and much warmer. After work, we walked part of the Lake Winnisquam Scenic Trail, a nice paved trail next to the lake. We saw another good sunset over the lake.
Since the weather looked better for Wednesday than it did for Friday, we decided to take Wednesday off and work Friday instead. That morning, Spencer had an eye doctor appointment to get some medicine to help with his allergies. After that, we drove north into the White Mountains. We were going to hike the Franconia Ridge Loop trail, a 9.3-mile hike over three high peaks.
We had two options at the start of the hike – the Old Bridle trail or the Falling Waters trail. We decided to hike up the Old Bridle trail. It was a rough hike up the mountain, with very few flat areas. Eventually, the trees started to become sparse and the trail a lot more rocky. We stopped to eat snacks at a viewpoint. We could see the ridge we were going to hike. It looked so far away, it was hard to believe that we had to make it all the way over there.
We continued on. The trail became steeper and we had to rock climb up near-vertical sections. It felt like we would never reach the top. Finally, we made it to the hut built on a flat area. It was a lot bigger than I had expected. There was a full kitchen, multiple rooms with bunks to sleep in, bathrooms, and drinking water. We had been running low on water, so it was good to refill our bottles.
We decided to continue on the trail and not turn back. We had a long way to go, but we were up for it. My shoes got soaked when we walked through a very wet area. Spencer made it across by walking on a few rocks. The trail got steep again as we made it to the tree line. I kept turning back around to get pictures of the amazing view. Finally, we made it to the top of the first peak, Mt. Lafayette at 5249 feet. We had a great view of the ridge we were going to hike.
We continued on to the next two peaks, taking many pictures along the way. We started to get a little worried. The hike was taking longer than we had expected and the sun was getting low. We picked up the pace and eventually made it to the end of the ridge where we would start our descent. It turned out that going down the mountain was as difficult as going up.
For a long while, going down was very rocky and required stepping very carefully. Our legs were very sore by that point. Eventually, we came to the waterfall that gave the trail its name – the Falling Waters Trail. The trail ran very closely along the waterfall. At some points, the trail became very steep and slippery and hard to follow. We had seen many dogs earlier and wondered how they had possibly made it up the trail.
We kept crossing over the water on rocks and logs. It surprised us that the trail became so dangerous. By the time we reached the trailhead, we were both exhausted and very sore. Thankfully we did make it back before sunset. We drove back to Laconia, stopping at Chipotle for dinner, and went right to sleep.
On Thursday, we decided to relax a bit at the beach before going to a bay off Lake Winnipesaukee to go canoeing. We had originally considered going for another shorter hike, but our legs were pretty much destroyed. We got in the canoe and paddled out to the middle of the bay. It was very windy and hard to control the canoe. The waves were huge. We paddled to a protected area where the water was calmer.
We drove back to Laconia and went to a small restaurant/seafood shop called Lobster Connection. It seemed like the place to be if you wanted lobster. I got a lobster roll, which was very good. Spencer got a cheeseburger to be safe but he tried the lobster too.
We worked from the Gilford Public Library again on Friday. After work, we left New Hampshire and drove to Planet Fitness in Montpelier, Vermont to sleep. The drive through Vermont was very nice with big mountains all around. We saw a few other people spending the night in cars and campervans at this Planet Fitness.
On Saturday, we drove towards Burlington. We stopped at the Ben & Jerry’s factory along the way. Unfortunately, the factory wasn’t open for tours yet, but we were able to walk around the Flavor Graveyard and see the flavors that were retired.
Near Burlington, we went to Shelburne Bay Park to do a short walk along Lake Champlain. It was a little buggy and our legs were still sore from the Wednesday hike. We barely made it back to the car when it started raining.
We drove on to Shelburne Farm, right down the road. It started to pour, so we decided to wait it out in the car. After the storm passed, we walked up the trail to the big barn. We saw a couple of cows, sheep, and goats. We also got to see some cheese being made, which we later bought from the farm shop.
After checking out the barn, we walked up a trail to the top of a hill. There was a great view of Lake Champlain and the Adirondack Mountains in New York. Spencer grew up hiking in the Adirondacks so he was very excited to see them again.
We left Shelburne Farm to get lunch at Al’s French Frys in South Burlington. Al’s is a classic American diner with famous fresh-cut fries. We then went into downtown Burlington to get some Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. The line was nearly out the door. I got strawberry marshmallow and Spencer got a shake.
We drove further north in Vermont to Grand Isle, an island on Lake Champlain. We took the ferry across Lake Champlain into Plattsburgh, NY. The ferry was a short 20-minute boat ride across the lake with great views of the Adirondack Mountains. We will spend the next few days in Plattsburgh with Spencer’s family.
Fun Facts from Week 5
- Shelburne Farm was originally owned by the Vanderbilts before being donated and becoming a nonprofit.
- The original Ben & Jerry’s was located in a gas station in Burlington, Vermont. Unfortunately, the location is now a parking lot, but there is a plaque embedded in the ground to memorialize it.
One response to “Week 5”
Love reading your blog. I did see the man in the mountains!