Vacation (Day Seven) Zealand Notch

    We hit the Zealand Falls trail early enough this morning that the lot wasn’t packed and made good time heading out. I’ve done this hike so many times that I know where all the twists and turns are so I didn’t take many photos. The weather was perfect with only a few clouds and we all got a little sunburned. 

    I was pretty sure we wouldn’t be going up Whitewall Mountain as we’d originally planned but we went out to the rockslide at the base of the cliffs and checked it out. I scrambled around the rocks for a bit while Mom and Dad ate lunch and decided we definitely would not be going up the slide. If it were just me I’d do it in a heartbeat but I didn’t want Jaime to do something stupid. The areas with larger rocks were fine but the strips of the slide with smaller rocks were very unstable and not safe. Plus Jaime hates rocks that move beneath her so I figured she wouldn’t be too impressed. We decided that when we do make our way up Whitewall we’ll take the longer bushwhacking route through the trees rather than up the slide but we’re not that well versed in bushwhacking yet.

    My parents continued on to Thoreau Falls while Jaime and I headed back towards the car with plans of bushwhacking up to the talus field below East Hale at the beginning of the hike. We talked about living in New Hampshire and the next moves we should make to make it a reality. After getting back to the car eight miles after we started, Jaime didn’t have the strength to bushwhack up the stream to the talus fields. I went up the old logging road towards the slopes of East Hale but it quickly became too overgrown with prickly raspberry bushes and it was surprisingly wet despite our dry weather. I left the logging road and headed for the stream that runs by the Zealand Falls parking lot which I located without much difficulty. I did encounter a lot of hobblebush along the way which scraped up my shins a bit and made travel a little tough. I did get a couple obstructed views of East Hale and after checking the maps afterward I realized I was just around the corner from what would probably be the best view of the ledges and wasn’t too far from the base of the rockslide. This is why a GPS would really come in handy.

    For supper we all went CJ’s Penalty Box/Brittany’s right in the Kanakamagus Hotel. The menu had lots of good stuff to choose from and I found myself wanting all of it. I got the clam chowder which was incredible and a stroganoff burger with sweet potato fries which was really good as well. It was a little pricey but delicious.

    Tomorrow morning we’re meeting my parents for breakfast before they leave and we’re not really sure after that. I’m thinking about maybe searching for abandoned mines down the road from us a little ways or exploring the Lafayette Brook, maybe both.