Vacation (Day Eight) Whitehouse Brook

    Before my parents left this morning we went to Woodwards for breakfast. It was as good as it was last year, I never remembered them having good food there. Then we walked back to the hotel where Jaime hung out alone while I went in search of some nearby mines in Woodstock.

    I found a mining map online that has a small symbol on all of the mines and quarries but it’s the basic Google map, not the topographic one so its not very detailed. But by matching that up with Google Earth I got a general idea of where the mines were located. So I drove down the road looking for landmarks from the map. I didn’t do so good. In fact I didn’t see a single one. So I turned around and drove back, finding a couple of the landmarks and possible mining spots, as well as the road beneath Parker’s Ledge which might have an incredible view of Franconia Notch.

    On my way back to the hotel to recheck the map, I decided to turn around, go back and try to find one of the mines. First I checked out the old cemetery beneath Parker’s Ledge hoping for a good place to make my ascent but its surrounded by homes and backyards so I decided not to trespass on their land.

    I found a good parking spot down the road near an area I thought one of the mines might be. Just off the road, hidden by trees was a metal gate with some fencing on either side of it. There was definitely something out there at some point, otherwise there’s be no locked gate. It was easy enough to go under and follow a slightly worn path through the woods. After a short ways I came across lots of garbage and bottles before stumbling upon a giant abandoned tree house that appeared to be someone’s fort or perhaps home. It was made quite well using the surrounding trees and lots of branches as support beams and walls, with tarps to fill in the holes. It was actually quite impressive although a little dumpy. Abandoned, yes, but it wasn’t a mine.

    I continued on through the woods but found nothing so headed towards a stream I could hear through the trees. It turns out there was once a road through the woods, beneath the leaves I could make out multiple layers of pavement. I followed it to the stream where I left the road and went uphill. The brook was pretty but too small to photograph. Again there were lots of beer cans and bottles so I hoped maybe the mine would be nearby and that the locals just party there. Still nothing so I turned around and went back to the abandoned road and continued on. It ended at some old cabins along Route 3, still no mine. This is where I gave up and decided to return to the car. I think I saw a couple of the old roads that the mines were located on but there were gates blocking them with private property signs, one of them was actually a new road being blasted into the ledges where a development will probably sit.

    I went back to pick up Jaime and we checked out some houses for sale in the area, most of them way too expensive for the dumps that they were, or the dumps they were located in. We would love to have a house or trailer on land but its looking more and more like a condo might be the only way to go. We did go out to Grandview Drive where some of the houses had views of Franconia Notch from the south, my favorite view. The views were slightly obstructed by trees or houses but it was still cool, the gorgeous houses up there had decks overlooking the view.

    We ate lunch at the brook behind the hotel, she had my Dad’s leftover alfredo from last night while I finished up all the leftovers that had accumulated over the past week. We discussed moving here more and Jaime decided she could do a small condo, not much bigger than our hotel room. We will need about $10,000 for the down payment, something that is almost attainable. If we save and I sell some more of my figures, we might be able to do it in a year.

    Then we went to The Basin and headed down the Pemi Trail in search of Whitehouse Brook. When we found it Jaime sat on a rock to read while I rock hopped upstream in search of waterfalls. I figure if the other two major brooks on that side of the ridge have spectacular falls, this one would too. The lower part was rather boring but through the trees I could make out some open ledges. I passed a couple makeshift camping sites where people were either camping illegally for long periods of time or possibly living. Then I heard voices up ahead. Who else would be out bushwhacking along a brook with no trail? Maybe the people living at the campsites I just passed. Then I saw children. It was a family. Why would a family be following a brook upstream, unless… crap, not Whitehouse Brook. I was following Basin Cascade Brook, the one just above the Basin with an extremely popular trail on it I’ve done a million times. So I went over the small ridge to the Basin trail where I hurried back down the trail Jaime and I had already taken until I got to where she was sitting on the rock where I left her. And this is why I haven’t done any long bushwhacks yet.



    She stayed put while I continued on to Whitehouse Brook, the real one. Being in the right place this time, I went up. After only a short distance I came to what I was looking for, a waterfall. It was gorgeous, dark and secluded in a small ravine, one of the streams of water splashed off a ledge, spraying into the air making for beautiful pictures. I climbed up the wet rocks on both sides of the fall to get views from every angle. After spending far too long on the picturesque cascade I finally moved on. Upstream a little further I came across some open ledges where the water fanned out and slid down the steep ledges like a giant waterslide. It wasn’t much to see in the low water but in Spring it would be an impressive waterfall similar to the ones on Basin Cascade Brook and the one just below The Flume. From the rock slabs I got a great view of Mt Flume and Mt Liberty. At the top there was another small dual waterfall that made for some nice pictures.


    It was getting late and closing in on the time I told Jaime I’d return by so I made my way down stream and jogged along the trail to get back to her on time. I made it twenty minutes early but it was better than making her worry. It looked like I poured water on myself though, quite a bit of sweat around my neck.

    We went to the ice cream place so I could get another cotton candy ice cream with sprinkles for supper but they weren’t open. We don’t know why, there was no sign or anything, nothing to indicate they were closed except for the fact that the open signs weren’t out and the place was dark and closed up. It was open yesterday, why someone would close their business on a Friday is beyond us but apparently they did. So I got a Spongebob ice cream for supper from the gas station that claimed to be fruit punch and cotton candy. Fruit punch, yes, cotton candy, no. Jaime got a buffalo calzone from GH Pizza next door that was really good. I had a great night anyway.