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DAY SIX:
PORTLAND, MAINE
AND THE
WHITE MOUNTAINS
OF NEW HAMPSHIRE |
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I suppose you were hoping
for some information on Portland, Maine. Well, I don't
know anything more than you do so I will visit my friend Mr.
Wikipedia on the Internet.
Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine, with a 2004
population of 63,882. Portland is Maine's cultural, social and
economic capital. Tourists are drawn to Portland's historic Old Port
district along Portland Harbor, which is at the mouth of the Fore
River and part of Casco Bay. Portland Head Light in nearby Cape
Elizabeth is also a popular tourist draw.
Portland is the tough luck city of the country. It has been
destroyed seven times! Twice by Indians, once by the British
during the Revolutionary War, and four times by fire.
As a result, the city motto is "Resurgam," Latin for "I will rise
again", in reference to Portland's recoveries from four devastating
fires. Now for some pictures.
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The Bus Trip to Mount Washington |
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Marla discovered a two hour
bus trip that went from Portland to Mt. Washington, the tallest
mountain on the east coast. Mt Washington is located in the
White Mountains, a national park in New Hampshire right across the
border from Maine. Apparently waiting for us was a delightful
cog train that takes you up to the top of the mountain. From
there you could see practically all of New England!
That sounded good to me. However we learned a small detail
along the way: Mt. Washington is considered the home of the worst
weather in the world! This mountain boasts some of the
planet's most severe weather, and retains the world record for wind
speed, 231 MPH. And you know what? Based on my own
experience, they are not exaggerating. I doubt the top of Mt.
Everest could be much worse than this place.
One thing I learned is to read between the lines on all tour
advertising. If it discourages you like the Bay of Fundy
Frolics, by all means take it. But if it sounds wonderful, then
be utterly suspicious.
After all is said and done, I am glad I took the trip because I got
to see the beautiful mountains and forest of the White Mountain
National Park. But I could easily have skipped the Cog Ride up
the side of Mt Washington. The train looked cute, but the slow ride
(90 minutes) in bitter cold turned out to be a huge ordeal.
Now that I was trapped on the Cog train watching it inch up the
mountain, the higher we got, the more I noticed how bad the weather getting.
The windows in the train clouded up so completely, you could not see
a thing. So the man assigned to guide our train opened
the front door to give us some visibility. Marla and I were
right in front and we started to freeze.
As miserable as I was, I couldn't figure out why the young man was
sitting outside the car peering intently ahead. Curious, I asked
him why he was sitting outside in such freezing cold.
The young man replied he was keeping an eye on the track for signs of sabotage (I kid
you not). He said some jerk spiked the cog rail back in the
60s, which caused an accident and killed people. Now it is his job
to make sure we live. I stared at him in stupefied horror.
He added that this horrible weather is normal. In fact, Mt.
Washington averages only one clear day in six and most of those nice days
are in the summer. The rest of the time the place is
miserable.
I had no trouble believing every word he said.
On this trip, I took some truly horrible
pictures. However they capture the bleakness of this place
perfectly. I have offered up many beautiful
pictures so far. Now how about some ugly ones?
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I was determined to
take some good pictures.
So Marla and I got seats right in front. |
Aren't these the worst
pictures
you have ever seen? |
Here is our engineer.
He looked like an extra from Deliverance |
Here is my best picture
of our guide. |
He told me he was
looking for problems. |
Look how steep it is!
This ride was scary. |
The worst accident they
ever had was caused by someone sabotaging the cog rail.
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The windows soon fogged
up. The only way to take pictures was through the doorway. |
It is impossible to
describe just how
miserable this ride was. Take my word for it. |
The problem with taking
pictures through the doorway was that it let in the cold air.
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Poor Marla was freezing
next to me. I explained I was perfecting my photo skills. |
She didn't appreciate
my quest
for
excellence. She continued to shiver. |
I guess there is no way
explain just how cold it was. Then it started to rain! |
I have seen snails
move faster than that stupid cog train to Mt. Frigid.
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Did I forget to mention
the moon probably has more interesting landscape than here? |
As we drove to
New Hampshire, Marla and I were so excited to see the Fall
leaves for the first time on this trip! Finally!
The leaves were simply beautiful! |
I asked my tour guide
if we could stop & let us take a couple pictures. She said
no.
So I took pictures thru the bus window.
Don't you
think they turned out well? |
What kind of moron tour
guide won't stop for ten minutes and let people take pictures?
There were several stunning shots I wanted
to show you, but oh no, gotta go. |
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Later after seeing the
results of my day's camera work, I was very disappointed. |
It dawned on me I might
be the worst photographer in history. |
Some people are born
photographers.
I think I am going to stick to dancing. |
Due to my rugged good
looks, people
ask me to take their picture all the
time. |
After
seeing my skills, it is my hope that if you ever go on a trip with me....
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you will know better
than to
ask me to take a picture of you. |
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Pictures
of New Hampshire & White Mountain National Park |
Quite a few people from the SSQQ Cruise group took the
trip to Mt Washington. Here is a group picture.
The reason they are smiling is because the picture was taken
before the cog train ride ordeal. Little do they know
what is ahead.
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Sol Eisenbaum,
Leeann Parkinson, Rebecca Thayer, Joe Pikas, Larry and Roz Weinstein,
Marla, Brenda and Chuck Morton, and me.
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When they tell
you Mount Washington has the worst weather in the world,
believe them. But for sheer misery, that cog
ride cannot be beat. I would have to go
back to a sub-zero sleigh ride in the snow many years back to come
close to equaling the suffering from the cog train trip.
For an hour and a half, we shivered as the cold wind
whistled through the open door. But I never imagined
things would get worse at the top.
The never-ending misery of that pitifully slow, ice-cold
cattle car was capped by a frozen rain
which attacked us at the top of Mt. Washington. That
rain was whipped into a frenzy by a near monsoon level wind.
Racing 30 yards from the train to the Observatory took an
act of courage. And let us not forget the impenetrable
fog. The total
absence of any view was the last straw. We were on top
of the world, but there was nothing to see. The fog
was so thick we couldn't see three feet past our noses.
Adding to my humiliation, when I got home, I received this
cruel email.
-----Original
Message-----
From: WorldMCMLXVI
Sent: Friday, October 06, 2006 1:52 AM
To: dance@ssqq.com
Subject: Leroy Ginzel
Mr. Archer, How are you?
I got a chance to watch the Mountain Lion himself (Leroy Ginzel)
climbing Mount Washington the highest and nastiest peak on the East
Coast of the United States. He picked a terrible day to climb it
too. Normally it's cold as ice (which is the way I'm used to
climbing it), but that day was hotter than all hell.
Leroy just finished climbing a mountain called Katahdin in Maine the
day before, and the day after I met him he was going to climb Mount
Marcy the highest mountain in New York State.
Leroy is definitely tougher than stone.
He mentioned going around with your crew dancing as another thing he
loves to do.
Anyway I tried emailing him a few times since I got back from Mont
Blanc, but I haven't heard from him. It would be great if you could
let him know that Enzo was looking for him to say hi.
Ciao, Enzo Simone
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I went up Mt.
Washington sitting on my butt in a train. I complained
bitterly about how miserable I was the whole time to anyone
who would listen.
Then I came home and found out that Leroy climbed the
same mountain on foot and was
tougher than
stone in the process! The guy is closing in on
80 and he climbs a different mountain each day!
For the record, Leroy is 20 years older than me. After I read that email, I never felt more like a
wimp
in my entire life.
Oh well, the
trip to Mt. Washington was a tough day all around. At
least I got to see the beauty of the leaves. It turns
out that in the higher elevation, it had been cold enough to
convince the leaves to do their thing. However, seeing
the leaves turn red and yellow led to further frustration!
Now that I had finally witnessed the Holy Grail of the Trip
- Fall Leaves - I was angry over to my lack of
opportunity (and skill) to take any good pictures.
That stupid tour guide wouldn't stop the bus for even one
picture on the trip up and the trip back. And believe
me, we got to both destinations with plenty of time to
spare.
After suffering through my horrible pictures above, now you
get to see some truly beautiful pictures. Mind you, I was tempted to lie
and say I took these pictures, but I knew my wife would find
a way to get the truth out. Instead, through the magic
of spending lots of money, I was able to obtain commercial
pictures to bring back home.
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Covered Bridge |
North Conway |
Mount
Washington seen from Conway |
Presidential
Range |
Franconia Notch |
Mount
Washington Observatory |
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Old Man of the
Mountain |
Jackson Falls
at Jackson |
Lupine |
The Flume |
Eaton Lake |
Franconia Ridge
Trail |
Mount
Washington seen from Conway |
Great Gulf
Wilderness |
Mount
Washington seen from Square Ledge |
Above
timberline, Mount Washington |
Mount
Washington seen from Wildcat Mountain |
Mount
Washington sunrise at the summit |
Crawford Path,
Mount Washington |
Mount
Washington Cog Railway |
Presidential
Range seen from Mount Washington |
Mount
Washington Hotel at dusk |
Jackson Covered
Bridge |
Mount Chocorua |
Crawford Notch
seen from Mount Willard |
Mount
Washington seen from Jefferson |
White Mountain
National Park |
White Mountain
National Park |
Flume Covered
Bridge |
Tuckerman
Ravine |
Livermore |
Swift River |
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Next
Page:
Day at Sea |
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