Franconia Notch State Park

[expedition_retirement]

Franconia Notch State Park encompasses the next north-south pass west of Crawford Notch, with I-93 running through the middle of the park. It was further away from where we were staying than the areas we had previously visited, but it was the last major area of the White Mountains we hadn't visited. So I put together a list of things to do in and near the state park for our fifth day.

We started in the morning by retracing our route from the previous day up and over Bear Notch to the Kancamagus Highway, but this time we took the highway all the way over the Kancamagus Pass to Lincoln. Our first hike was a two and half mile round trip hike to see the Georgiana Falls, just outside Lincoln. The hike began by going though a tunnel under the northbound lanes of I-93 and, after a short hike in the interstate median, under the southbound lanes. After the interstate, the trail climbed steadily up to the falls. The falls didn't have a lot of flow, and it was difficult to get a decent view of them, but the hike was a good warm up for the day.

Our next stop was the Flume Gorge, one of the main attractions in the park. Timed entry tickets were required, but since I wasn't sure when we would arrive, I was reluctant to pre-purchase them. But I checked availability before we started in the morning, and it didn't look like we would have any problem getting tickets when we arrived. What I didn't notice was that the online ticket price was discounted, so when we reached the ticket office, I ended up pulling out my phone and buying our tickets online just before we entered. As I was finishing that transaction, the couple that we had spoken to the night before in Conway arrived. We entered right behind them, and ended up doing the two mile walk around the loop here with them. We had a wonderful conversation with them as we walked and took photos. We spent far longer here than we would have on our own, but it was a very pleasurable visit.

The Flume Gorge itself is another example of an eroded basalt dike in the surrounding granite bedrock. Here, they've built a boardwalk inside the gorge, which allows for a much better view of the rock structure of the gorge, and the stairs out at the top of the gorge provide a close up view of Avalanche Falls, where the stream drops down into the gorge. There were several other waterfalls on the property, as well as two covered bridges. It was a lovely spot to visit, but was a relatively easy two mile walk. But eventually we reached the end and had to part ways with our new friends.

After a short drive up I-93, we arrived at the trailhead parking lot near the Basin, a large pool carved by the swirling water below a modest waterfall. We found some rocks by the stream to eat our lunch before we began our hike up the Basin Cascade trail, headed up to see several waterfalls. As it turns out, this was to be my favorite hike of the trip. After leaving the Basin, there were three named waterfalls on the Cascade Brook, Aliya Falls, Kinsman Falls, and Rocky Glen Falls, but this stream had dozens of smaller, unnamed falls and cascades. The two mile round trip hike was a never-ending series of amazing scenery, with the colorful foliage framing the constantly changing stream. As we were taking in the Rocky Glen Falls and prepared to retrace our steps, we met another couple who were descending the trail from further up. We hiked back down to the Basin with them, and had another lovely conversation. This was easily the most social hiking trip we have ever done.