Flume Gorge

Franconia Notch State Park was weird because you get on Interstate 95 and then the exits are the different scenic areas of the park. The first exit was the Flume Gorge. It costs $13 to get there but since I saw Grandma and Grandpa Burns had been there I figured I would go. I had on a yellow rain jacket, flip flops, and a t-shirt and jeans because it was muggy with the rain. I opted to take the bus up to the Flume since I didn’t want to hike 3 miles in my flippy floppies in the rain. Sitting on the bus I hear men shouting on the radio about the treacherous conditions in the Flume and they are advising someone to stop selling tickets so they can clear people out. With that playing loudly the bus driver pulls up to the trail, opens the door and says "have a good day". What!? The Flume is a natural granite gorge that has stairs built into it so you can walk up it. Photos and video show a trickling stream where families walk along and enjoy the bubbling brook. This is what I saw:

Because of the rain the water had risen 4 FEET and was lapping at the wooden supports. The wood was slippery as hell. I went along until I saw a guy blocking the trail. He didn’t stop me, just warned me to be careful up ahead. Further up someone stops me and tells me to put away my camera because of the waterfall (Avalanche Falls). I zipped up my pocket, grabbed both sides of the rail and carefully stepped up the ramp that passed the waterfall. The water was so powerful that the falls were coming over the walkway and I blindly dashed through what felt like a car wash. When I emerged breathlessly on the other side every single part of me was drenched. It was exhilarating. Instead of going back down (yeah right) I decided to hike the scenic mile through the forest back to the bus stop. I passed the Liberty Gorge and went on to the Sentinel Pine Bridge. The bridge is so called because a hurricane blew down a pine and settlers used it to construct a bridge. It was really pretty and a nice respite from the rain. I hiked back past glacial boulders and crossed another covered bridge that the bus had driven over earlier (the Flume bridge). I was pretty exhilarated at my insane trek so I drove another couple miles to the Basin- granite pothole 20 feet in diameter. This is what its supposed to look like

And this is what I saw:

WTF!? The entire viewing platform was washed out!! Water was gushing everywhere. I crossed one bridge with some water across it and stopped when I saw the sign almost submerged. If you leapt across the water and swung around a tree you could proceed further but even I’m not that crazy. I could just picture me being across the bridge when it got washed out and being stuck in soaking wet clothes. I quickly went back across the bridge and fled. Even the trail was a sopping mess. I made one more quick stop at Boise Rock. Here’s the story of it: “Thomas Boise, a noted teamster of this region was sledding through the Notch in mid-winter, soon after the first road was built. Overtaken by a fierce snowstorm, he was unable to continue on. Realizing he must take drastic action to survive, he killed and skinned his horse. Crawling under the overhang of this rock, he wrapped himself in the hide and spent the night.

Men sent out the next day to search for him found Tom still alive but encased in the frozen hide that had to be cut away with axes in order to release him.” I was pretty sure the park was going to kill me if I hung around too long so I left and headed back to Conway via the White Mountain Scenic Byway. This passed by Crawford Notch State Park. The mountains were gorgeous had exposed rock faces and I could see water cascading down them. There was one really cool waterfall-the Silver Cascades along the roadside. I drove through the rest of the park but it was raining too hard to do much.