Kancamagus Pass

"Sunshine on my shoulders, makes me happy...." We played golf yesterday - the course beat our butts! Don't know why we expected to do well when we haven't played in ages!
We hiked 1.5 miles up to Artists Bluff in the afternoon. It's about 200 feet high - known as a popular place for artists to go to paint the mountains. More beautiful views.
Today we packed another picnic lunch and drove the Kancamagus Scenic Byway. A gorgeous drive through the mountains with numerous stops at scenic overlooks and 3 hikes to gorges and falls. Streams tumbling over rocks & boulders all along the way.
We ended up at Mt. Washington. At 6,288 feet, it is the highest peak in the northeast. We decided to drive to the summit on the Mt. Washington Auto Road - an 8 mile, 12 degree grade two-way road. There is a sign that says something like "if you are afraid of heights you might not enjoy this trip as much as others." Now, I'm a little hesitant about high places - never would I go to the edge and look down! - but, I don't panic either, so I didn't think much about it. The lower part of the road was lovely but then we got to the part where there are no guard rails and a sheer cliff is right next to the car - I mean, if you stopped the car you could not open the door and step out without falling off the edge! We finally got within a mile of the summit and a cloud rolled in and we couldn't see a thing in front of us -luckily there was a service road that Roger could pull over on. We waited for awhile, the cloud finally blew away and we ascended to the top. There is an observation tower & museum there - by the time we parked and got ready to go tour it - it was gone! Another cloud came in and we truly could not see it! The temperature at the base of the mountain was about 67 degrees - at the summit it was 55 degrees and so windy you could hardly stand up. In fact, the highest winds ever recorded were on Mt. Washington, in 1934, at 231 miles/hour! By that time I was really worried about how we were going to see to get down! We waited for the cloud to move on and seized the moment to begin our descent. My footprint is embedded in the floor board of the passenger side as I applied "my brake" all the way! Forget the panoramic views - our eyes were staring at the road! I literally started to do the relaxation breathing they taught me at Lamaze Classes - 35 yrs ago! - "in through your nose and out through your mouth - slowly, slowly!!!" Forget any pictures - I was too afraid to let go of the door handle! Thank you Roger, for driving us safely. We came home, kissed the ground, and slurped down margaritas on the "patio!"