A Drive to Bethlehem, New Hampshire

Dear Diary,

I had forgotten how awe inspiring a drive through the White Mountains National Forest could be.  I began in misty rain and as I climbed in elevation I entered the low clouds so dense that I could only see 100 feet in front of me.  It only lasted a few miles and then I descended into lower elevations and the weather cleared.  The majestic Mount Washington Hotel was sunlit and so beautiful.  But it was really odd to see The Mount in mid-December without its usual white covering of snow! 

You can just make out the weather observatory on the peak on the right.  Here, the second highest wind speed, 231 MPH, ever recorded on earth was made on 12 April 1934.  It was demoted to second place in 1996 when a cyclone on Barrow Island topped it at 253 MPH. The Mount is in the top 10, #8, for the deadliest mountains on earth; not bad for a mountain less than 8,000 feet high.  Everest which is more than 3 times as high is only #7.

I mailed my cards and packages in Bethlehem and then went to the Robert Frost House to walk the poetry trail.  (Extra photographs)  A short walk, it is interspersed with Frost's poems which make one slow their pace and really look around.  I had the place to myself...well, me and some unseen but noisy woodland creatures.  Heavenly.