Livin' Outside the Box!: The White Mountains of New Hamshire.

After our 8 days exploring Bar Harbor and Acadia, it was time to say goodbye and start our journey to the west toward Michigan. Diane spent many years of her adult life in New Hampshire and her experiences in the White Mountains made this a natural stop since I've never been there.

We booked 3 nights at Timberland Campground in Shelburne, New Hampshire which is located in the heart of the White Mountains. We stayed here 3 nights while sight seeing in the White Mountains. This a good location close to the Mt. Washington auto road and shopping in Gorham. The campground is fairly easy to get in and out. Utilities are solid although water pressure was a bit weak ( 25 psi on my gauge). Entry road is gravel, as are the sites and heavy woods with level sites. You do get some road noise from Route 2 and there is a train track at the back of the park but we never heard it during our stay. They have a nice play area for the kids and there is a hiking trail across the river. No Wifi at the camp sites but we had strong Verizon LTE so it was all good. Each site has a table and fire ring. Owners are great and gave us a package of suggested scenic drives, shopping, and other area info that I thought was a great touch. The new Owners are working to make improvements daily. You won't go wrong with a stay here.

The highlight of our time in the White Mountains was surely the time we spent at the top of Mt. Washington. Mt. Washington, at 6288 feet above sea level, is the highest point in the Northeast. The summit is accessed via hiking, (no way!),

via a cog railway, ( Diane said no way!),

or by a privately owned and operated paved road. Using the paved road, you have two options; drive yourself, or take a tour bus.

Having experienced this road in the past, Diane highly recommended the tour bus and she was totally right. The road is narrow, twisting, turning, with unprotected steep drop offs in many places. There is no way the driver of a vehicle could enjoy the view ascending or descending this mountain. Also, with the tour bus, you get an experienced guide that gives all kinds of information about the area an the history of the mountain. Here is a link to the road website LINK

This is the beginning of the Mt. Washington auto road.

There is a snack shop and museum located at the bottom of the mountain across the road from the auto road entrance. They have the first auto that made the climb to the top on the newly completed road in 1899! Having made the ride in a modern vehicle, I couldn't imagine doing it on a dirt road in a Stanley Steamer. Going up would be OK but coming back down, I'm not so sure. This thing doesn't have much for brakes!

You start the climb in a temperate region and actually go through 4 distinct zones of vegetation driven by the climate as you climb. The bottom is characterized by an abundance of deciduous hardwood trees that gradually give way to more predominate pine species. Higher up, you travel through a sub-arctic zone and finally an arctic zone at the top.