Aug 18
No access yesterday but the day was incredibly memorable. We travelled a mere 69 miles to Mount Washington in New Hampshire where you will find the unique cog railway that will take you from 2700ft above sea level (base station as it is called) up to 6288ft above sea level at the speed of 3 mph!! Swift huh? It is an almost vertical assent which burns 1 ton of coal and uses 1000 gallons of water to make it to the summit. There is a stop at approx 4800ft to refill the water tank as it holds only 700 gallons! Traversing 'Jacobs Ladder' a man made wooden structure that has a 30 deg turn, a 30ft drop and a 37.4 deg gradient is something else. The front of the passenger carriage is some 14 - 16ft above the rear! Taking the photos of the ladder is somewhat tricky but hey, it has to be done! Good job there are holds on the backs of the seats or you'd be out the rear door of the carriage straight into the engine which, unusually, pushes and not pulls the carriage! The only engine too that is on a slope so the the boiler is horizontal when climbing the mountain. Worth the $59 each fare. No views from the top of the mountain, unless you count the people who are only 10ft away...... 74 deg fahrenheit at the botton 47 deg at the top but only 36 deg when the wind chill is factored in... quite chilly in fact. Could have been worse, in 1934 the strongest wind on earth was recorded here at 231mph! Gale, what gale? It is part of the Appalachian Trail and the hikers have a special way to greet the train.... they moon! Didn't see any, but it was cold!!
Onto Maine and Bar Harbor. Another of the places we've all read about and it certainly doesn't disappoint. Yeah, it's a tourist trap but, what a tourist trap. We have found the most beautiful hotel, just pulled in and, I'm sitting here at 11:35pm local time with the patio door open, breeze in the trees and the sea lapping at the shore, heavenly. The town is very pretty with lots of restaurants mostly selling lobster, can't understand why.. and whilst it does have all the usual rubbish it has some beautifully crafted keepsakes too. The other outstanding quality of the area is the friendliness of the local people and their genuine wish to make your stay here as pleasant and memorable as they can make it. Do come if you can.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
It sounds like you are chilling out for the last bit of your holiday I'd say you both deserve it for all that you have done and the miles you've travelled. There is nothing to come home to the weather is wet wet and more wet your work pile is just about reaching the ceiling. And the people we would like to leave are still here!see you soon xL
As there's nothing but rain,work and no resignations perhaps we'll stay......J x
Post a Comment