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The Waterfall Trip...  June 23-25, 2011

Staying wet for three days

The Birches Yurt on the evening of our arrival

Chronicle by Borb

	The winter Frost Mountain yurt adventure was postponed due to the unforeseen audit requirements of a certain Fortune 500 company.   A proposal by Borb to reschedule to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the Mount Washington auto road with its Race to the Clouds Auto Rally was unanimously agreed to.   There would be hiking to a suitable vantage point for viewing.

Matt offered to drive his 221,000 mile Valvo, getting an early start for the long drive up to Brownfield Maine.   The “Plan” as stipulated would be dinner on Thursday night by Matt.   The “Plan” as we all know is worked on endlessly and some would think only by the currently un-retired members.   The retired members are much too busy pursuing more important things.

So much for the “Plan”. The day before the adventure Matt indicated that further unforeseen audit requirements were in order. We would not be leaving according to the “Plan” but at 1:00PM. This subsequently disintegrated into a switch to different drivers and a different chef for Thursday’s dinner. A rather large carbon footprint from 4 autos for 5 members was stomped upon the air quality of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine.

The drive up was ominous with darkening skies and rain. Upon arrival of the advance party, dinner was prepared by Torm who stopped by an Italian butcher in Saugus for some delicious sausage blended with onions, mushrooms and peppers on appropriate torpedo roll.
Dave provided snackage and vino.   Quite the feast.   A portion was saved for Matt who was giving reports about his impending arrival.   He finally arrived at 9:47 pm. We were planning on giving him grief but all felt sorry for him.

Borb was asked to recount his recent cruising experience to Bermuda since amazingly none of the PHD’s had any experience with cruising.   Borb loved the experience and gave a full accounting.   One by one the remaining PHD’s indicated that they would never cruise, very strange in Borb’s opinion who was already planning cruise #2.

After a rain delayed campfire it was time to turn in. The usual dispute about the air temperature and appropriate position of doors and windows finally erupted into a verbal barrage of unprecedented abuse and finally lights out.

Day two arrived with rain continuing. Breakfast was served by Borb who showed his usual willingness to try new technology. Pancakes are now packaged in plastic containers, just add water then shake and pour. Additionally, Spam lite is now available as well as pre-cooked bacon. None of this requires refrigeration which is great for camping. Breakfast was heartily consumed; preparing us for the day’s adventure.

As it was still raining we assumed that the Climb to the Clouds auto rally in the “Plan” would be cancelled.  We visited Pinkham Notch, and the auto road start.  There were rally people on hand under tents, but the day's activities had been completed.
Torm offered up an alternate rain hike.  We went to Crawford Notch; parked at the Arethusa Falls trailhead along 302, and surveyed a possible ascent to the Falls via Frankenstien Cliff.  The challenge seemed greater than sensible under wet conditions, so we opted for the more conservative climb.  The trailhead crossed the Crawford Notch railway, which was being serviced by a rail truck as we passed by.
The trail up had a branch path that went along the river's edge.  We took this rough lower route & there were many opportunities to view the swollen river cascading down the rocks.  Arethusia Falls. This is the highest water fall in New Hampshire and is quite a sight. The usual P & J sandwiches were served up on the trail by Charlie.  A geocache was found on the hillside bordering the Falls.
On the descent we encountered a surprising number of rainy day tourists and old people from Ohio.
After the hike, we drove to the top of Crawford Notch and visited the new AMC Highland Center; and viewed an exhibit of photographs by mountaineer Brad Washburn.

After that, we drove through the Notch again, and turned north to Pinkham Notch, to visit the Glen Ellis Falls.  
The river was roaring and the falls were spectacular; especially the view from the rocky head of the falls.  The place was wet with the mist.  We encountered no other visitors on this harrowing adventure.  We returned to the yurt for the remainder of the afternoon

A fine dinner of grilled chicken and sirloin tips with vegetables was prepared by Matt. It was agreed by all that the Frost Mountain yurts are truly the finest yurts available. The rain continued into the second night with an additional wet campfire.

We arose the next day to continuing rain, packed up and proceeded to the Diner in Freyberg center for breakfast.   A 58 Ford was a showpiece belonging to one of the patrons.  The homey ambiance and congenial locals were an expected experience.  The time spent waiting for the meal was not as objectionable long as it was on our previous visit.
After that we parted company in many vehicles for the trip home.