# NH White Mountains Ride Photos



## zpl (May 7, 2007)

I had been planning on taking a day off of work mid-week and doing a ride up in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The weather has been getting colder and the days are getting shorter, so I figured this week would have to be it. I surprised my wife by reserving a room at the Woodstock Inn and brewery Wednesday night - we stayed overnight and I went for my ride during the day today. In addition to a growler of Woodstock's Autumn Ale, I came home this afternoon with sore quads and many great memories of this ride. 










The ride started from the inn in North Woodstock and just a few miles north I took the Franconia Notch bike path - which as you can see from the elevation profile gains 1,000 feet over about eight miles (!). It was a balmy 38 F when I started the ride at 10:30 AM, and I came across semi-frozen puddles (and lots of slippery leaf patches) here and there on the path. 










Heading North on Route 3 toward the start of the Franconia Notch bike path.










The Basin: https://www.newhampshire.com/nh-attractions/basin.aspx










Gratuitous bike photo.




































The mountain tops are already starting to get snow.






















































On the Kangamangus (Rt 112) heading back to North Woodstock

Although this ride was "only a 40-miler" it still kicked my butt and I finished with a whopping average speed of just over 12 MPH. Climbing is rough on us clydesdales!

Enjoy,

Scott


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

Great photos!


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## rodar y rodar (Jul 20, 2007)

Your "basin" looks really neat! Huh- all the leaves gone from the trees already?


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## Blade-Runner (Jun 4, 2008)

Pablo said:


> Great photos!


I 2nd that!


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## lx93 (Jun 14, 2007)

Nice. Absolutely no blur whatosever, almost looks as though you were using a tri-pod.


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

Good stuff.

The basin looks like a nice place for a dip (but perhaps for another day)!


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## wooglin (Feb 22, 2002)

I like that shot of Cannon with the bike path. Very nice.


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## llama31 (Jan 13, 2006)

Winter already! Nice shots. NH is beautiful.


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## ruckerz (Jun 23, 2008)

Great shots. Reminds me of my college days backpacking through there. One of the many things of New England I miss!


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## Slim Again Soon (Oct 25, 2005)

*Winter comes early*

Nice photos -- beautiful state.

I don't see any car traffic in your photos. Must have made for a nice ride.

Like someone above, I'm surprised to see all the bare trees.

I hiked the Appalachian Trail across New Hampshine once, in September, and at the time I wondered when the weather turned frosty, because I had some dang nippy nights.

Had no idea there'd be ice and snow before Halloween.

Gotta be tough to call New England home.


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## onrhodes (Feb 19, 2004)

I like the shot from the Lafayette Campground. I was just hiking up there last weekend to do the Kinsmans.


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## PCM (May 27, 2004)

*What Route?*



zpl said:


> I had been planning on taking a day off of work mid-week and doing a ride up in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.


What route did you take? Assuming you did the bikepath going north and the Kanc in a loop then did you also do Crawford and Bear Notch?

A friend and I were planning to do that route back in September but it rained the day we were up there. We did manage to do a Mt. Washington loop the day before and had a great ride. Can't wait to get back up there and do it again next year.


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## zpl (May 7, 2007)

Thanks for the comments, everyone. It is now beyond foliage season in the Whites - our inn stay was $50 cheaper than it would have been had we gone two weeks ago. The colors are still vivid in southern NH but are on their way out here too.

And I wasn't using a tri-pod, but I did stop to take all of these photos. I always take 2-4 shots of every scene so I can weed out the shaky ones.


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## zpl (May 7, 2007)

PCM said:


> What route did you take? Assuming you did the bikepath going north and the Kanc in a loop then did you also do Crawford and Bear Notch?


I didn't have the time (or the stamina, for that matter) to ride the Kanc loop. 

The ride started in North Woodstock, I went up Route 3 for about 4 miles to the Flume parking lot and then took the Franconia Notch bike path up to its end, then turned around and left the path at the Route 18 intersection. From 18 I went to Route 116 South (no shoulder, but no traffic) and then took 112 (Kanc) back to North Woodstock.


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## BKRyan (Apr 15, 2008)

I don't know if you know this, but how far are the White Mountains from the Boston area? I might have to check this out sometime when I am in the Boston area on vacation. The pictures look amazing!


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## Sprocket - Matt (Sep 13, 2005)

My first Century ride was the Kank, starting and ending in Lincoln when I was 14.
My family still lives in Plymouth, Holderness,(about 20 min. south of Lincoln) and Wolfeboro.... which is like an hour south on 16, and on the east side of the ridgeline...
I love that place.. But winters are tough for sure...

As for how far is it from Boston, you could get up to the intersection of rt. 112 (the eastern end of the Kank highway) & 16 in about 45 minutes once you get to Portsmouth, NH. maybe an hour depending on the traffic thru Portsmouth and a stop for the state owned Liquor store... Ha aha


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

Very nice. Love the frosting on the mountains.


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## Loraura (Jun 30, 2008)

Wonderful pictures! Thank you for posting them.


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## rufus (Feb 3, 2004)

PCM said:


> What route did you take? Assuming you did the bikepath going north and the Kanc in a loop then did you also do Crawford and Bear Notch?
> 
> A friend and I were planning to do that route back in September but it rained the day we were up there. We did manage to do a Mt. Washington loop the day before and had a great ride. Can't wait to get back up there and do it again next year.


I'm curious too, because he obviously didn't do that loop, which would be at least an 80 mile ride. And the second climb's elevation doesn't come out to be near the height that the Kanc gets. 

I'm guessing maybe took 116(or is it 114?) over Sugar Hill and came back down on the upper Kanc, over by Lost River? 

I did the Kanc/Franconia/Crawford loop last year, and after going over the Kanc climb, I thought the bike path through Franconia was pretty challenging, nothing super hard, but just constant small gradient climbing that just killed me. Except the last part passing under the highway, and then suddenly a 20% wall where I was massively overgeared and couldn't downshift.

As for the leaves, we had a few pretty windy days last weekend/early in the week, and the leaves were just flyig off the trees. Winter's gonna be here soon enough, but hopefully without so much of the snow we had last year.

The White Mountains in either direction, either up 93 to Franconia, or up 95 and 16 to the Conway area where I live, is about 2.5-3 hours from Boston, depending on traffic, and how heavy your pedal foot is.

When I first started this job with my previous employer, I had to make the drive from Conway to Littleton two days a week, early in the mornings, passing by the back side of Mount Washington and the Mount Washington Hotel. One morning about this time of year on the way back, Mount Washington was coated with just this sort of dusting of light snow/frost, and the sun was hitting it just right that it was sparkling like it was coated with diamonds. I wish I had my camera with me at the time so I could have gotten a picture. I sometimes wish I still had to make this drive, just to catch this beautiful sight again.


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## rkj__ (Mar 21, 2007)

Awesome pictures!


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