But first….
07.25.22- Monday
After we nearly killed ourselves and our children at the botanical garden yesterday, we were all in the mood to move a little more slowly. So we took it nice and slow in the morning, just doing school and chores. And then we went swimming in the afternoon/evening.
07.26.22- Tuesday
The next day, we were ready to go again.
We chose this particular Airbnb because of its proximity to the mountains and lots of hiking. One of the most popular hikes in the area is Flume Gorge It is so popular that they actually charge admission to keep the place in good repair.
And it’s only a 10 minute drive from our house. Sweet! So, we took off as soon as Jonathan was done with work and we arrived just in the nick of time, just before they closed everything down for the evening.
There are many things to love about this hike. It winds through the beautiful White Mountain National forest. But also. A COVERED BRIDGE!!! I love covered bridges. They are just so quaint.
We continued walking along the Pemigewasset River until we came to a section known as “Table Rock” It’s basically an enormous chunk of granite that has slowly been shaped by the river flowing over it. It looks like a water slide in a lot of places. We practically had to handcuff the children to the trees to prevent them from climbing around on the slippery rocks.
After Table Rock, we came to the main event: the Flume Gorge!
And just….Wow!!
You walk through the 800 foot gorge on a wooden boardwalk. At times the space between the canyon walls narrows down to 12 feet. And these canyon walls reach up to 90 feet in height.
It is absolutely stunning. And I don’t really feel like my phone camera could really capture just how amazing it is. So I borrowed one…
The limitations of my camera sure didn’t stop me from taking tons of pictures though. I couldn’t stop!
And if you’re really keen, here’s a video I found on YouTube that does a walkthrough of the whole darn hike (without lots of annoying chatter 🤓)
Once we reached the top of the gorge, it was snack time. We didn’t eat dinner before we left and so, everyone was definitely feeling a little peckish.
This hike is a 1-way hike and so once we got to the top, we continued along on the trail.
There were lots of other lovely things to see: more views of the river, a pool, another covered bridge 🤩
As we walked, we came across an older Jewish couple (probably in their 70s) coming toward us. The lady was walking with a cane, so they weren’t moving too quickly. They stopped and asked us for directions. They were looking for their granddaughter and her husband and were rather confused about where they were and where the parking lot was.
Jonathan invited them to walk with us as we were heading back to the parking lot, and we had a map of the park.
To be honest, I was impressed that they had gotten as far as they had given that she was walking with a cane and that the terrain was definitely on the hilly side. They had made it at least a mile in.
Also, they didn’t have any water with them. And I “happened to have” an unopened disposable water bottle in my backpack, and so we gave it to them.
They spoke pretty good English and so we learned a little bit about them. They live in Brooklyn with pretty much their entire family. And they have 7 kids. It was cool to walk with them.
And I have to say that it was really cool to help someone. We have been living a pretty insular/self-focused existence as nomads and we haven’t had the chance to be of service for a long time. So we all really appreciated that.
(Also, Jonathan is seriously one of the kindest people I have ever known. He has a unique gift of really being able to just “be” with the person or people that he is with. And he is able to make people feel like a million bucks. I’m a lucky gal.)
So, in some ways, that was the best part of this little hike we did: helping someone ❤️
We were literally the last people to exit the park. (We know because there was a ranger who came up on our tail; she had done the entire hike, start to finish, to make sure that everyone got out ok.)
And our new friends were reunited with their grandchildren.
We went home, ate dinner real fast, and did a past-the-bedtime swim. Diem Carpe-d.
