Rocks and Trees, you and me: part IV

The Lost River was very impressive. It's a gorge filled with humongous boulders and a river running through it. There were also some caves that we got to explore as part of the trail- simple ones that would be safe for the public to go through alone (some were closed off because of water conditions). It didn't give us a chance to go exploring off the trail, but in these circumstances it was probably best. There really wasn't anywhere safe to go! All the rocks were wet with water or at angles that would have been extremely difficult to remain balanced.

I managed to balance my camera in a little nook in the wall. Yes, it was chilly down in the gorge.

There were many trees growing out of the rocks at crazy angles, much like this one... it was amazing.

This was the entrance to one cave called the Lemon Squeezer, which connected to another cave that had no other entrance (forget the name). This little device was set up so that, if you couldn't get through the "Squeezer Gauge," you were NOT going to fit through certain areas of the cave. It's also designed so that the only way into the cave is to go through the gauge; very smart. Scott and I fit through with ease, and they weren't kidding about parts you had to squeeze through; one spot in particular made you wiggle through on your stomach. I miss caving.

Other random photos from our adventure include these:

I kept trying to get a shot of the White Mountain National Forest sign while in the car, but kept missing. This was the best I managed to get.

You got to have your mini-golf... it took us forever to find one that was open after 5pm.

We couldn't agree on whether this was a crow or a raven. I say it's a raven because it was a very large bird, but Scott says it's a crow. It actually was a lot closer to us than the picture conveys.

How is it that the STATE liquor store is bigger than the "safety rest area?"

I love my bridesmaids. Thanks girls. ;)

Rocks and Trees, you and me: part III

Glen Ellis Falls was probably our most treasured place to visit through the trip. I know it was for me, because not only did it give me a chance to let my little-mountain-climbing-inner-child at play, but it was also a place where the impact of God's handiwork particularly struck us. I'm not exactly one to stay on the beaten or marked path when I end up in national park settings... So while we did follow the initial route, Scott and I hopped the fence and crawled all over rocks and gazed at water running less than a foot away from our feet. Because of our possibly illegal off-trail-blazing, we were at the Falls for a good hour or more just taking it all in. All of NH was beautiful, but there was one point in which we were standing on the edge of the falls and looking into a vast valley, and realized the small-ness of our existence. It was gorgeous.

That little space up in the rocks is where Glen Ellis drops.

Closer to the drop, I took a picture looking back at the water headed for the edge.

You can't completely tell, but I took this picture by perching on a rock right on the edge of the waterfall, right near that space in the rocks in the previous photo. It was really breathtaking, not to mention probably very dangerous; had I slipped I would have been done for. But I was fine, Scott was nearby the whole time. I need a little more adventure like this in my life.

Safe on ground level = VERY LOUD and misty

I took more pictures further on from this point, but figured I'd spare you even more rocks and water. But we did get to a point where we couldn't go off the beaten path anymore, at least not easily; the rocks kind of just dropped twenty feet and became smaller and smaller down the river.

Rocks and trees, you and me: part II

Mount Washington was an adventure I won't easily forget. I'd never really been up a true mountain before (everything in PA that's called a mountain really is not - they don't actually reach the altitude needed to be called mountains), and since Mt. Washington is the highest peak in the northeast, what better way to start?? Unfortunately, once we got close to the top it was completely shrouded in fog, so we didn't get to see the view. In fact, we could barely see ten feet in front of the truck or our noses.

Taken on the way to Mount Washington. We came around a bend and immediately when saw this amazing view went, "Woooooooah..." and pulled over.

I was pretty amazed at how the trees and plant-life changed before my eyes as we went up the mountain. I didn't realize that these were the same plants at a lower altitude; they're just stunted because of being so high up. The progressively got shorter and stumpier as we went.

"It's COLD!" The wind was incredible, and very bitingly cold. Here, Scott demonstrates thus. :) And we weren't even near the top yet!

Steep incline getting nearer to the top... and 20 mph the whole way up the mountain.

Talk about eerie: this spot was silent besides the occasional sound of wind and one truck going back down the mountain. If you looked up towards the sky, all you could see was a void of white; it was very disorienting and just creepy.

Rocks and trees, you and me: part I

Finally, some photos from our adventures in New Hampshire. This was such a great trip for me personally, because I'd never been on vacation before. I know, you must be thinking, Never been on vacation? What kind of crazy talk is that? But it's true! I've been on some mission related trips, but that's not exactly vacation time. Then again, I suppose you could say that my trip to visit my parents in Nevada over Christmas was technically going on vacation, although I never really thought of it that way. Hmmm.... nor the visits to Ohio to visit family. I guess I've never been on a vacation that didn't involve family members before. But of course that's not the only reason it was a great trip, since Scott and I FINALLY got to spend some quality intimate time together without any other distractions or obligations. It was just us, nature, and God. Scott got a little antsy towards the end, since the towns we were nearest to pretty much shut down by 5:00pm, which left us with little to do -- and it rained for the last half of the week, keeping us indoors. But we still had a good time.

It was just beautiful, a much needed retreat from the concrete and noise of the city. New Hampshire was quiet and nothing but trees, mountains, rocks, moose, and bear. Okay, so we didn't really get to see any moose or bears, which was only slightly disappointing. I really wanted to see a real moose! But I digress... these photos will come to you in parts, because there are just too many to put in one blog post to be user-friendly. The photos are also primarily of the sight-seeing we went to, and not much else... so lots of pictures of rocks, trees, water, and fog.

On the way...



We're here! ... Er.. I didn't think to take more pictures of the place we stayed... One nice thing was that the ski resort was in-between seasons, so no ski traffic and no summer traffic. It was VERY quiet, and I liked that. The room/house we stayed in was a cute and giant bi-level kind of place that spoiled me all week. 1200 sq. ft. verses the little apartment of probably like 300 sq. ft. Full kitchen, full living room, and a huge bedroom upstairs. It was awesome.


The Saco River ran right next to the place we were staying at, so close that they had a trail marked out that would take you there from 'campus.' It was really neat, and our first romp in the nature of NH. The trail was primarily in woods, but it cleared out once we got nearer the riverbed.

Tracks that I found right before the river... I don't know what it is, but it looked relatively fresh. Looks too small to be a bear...? Hmm..

We did not set these rocks up, but apparently many other people did. There were quite a few of these stacks along the river...

My first encounter with Black Flies... I'd never heard of them before but WOW are they nasty! Good thing that we discovered this pest (though I got bit up pretty good) early on, and bought deep woods bug spray the next day.