For our third camping weekend in a row exploring New England, we decided to go leaf-peeping in New Hampshire’s White Mountains! And this is what we came for! The colors were absolutely mesmerizing and looked almost fake. Little did we know, this was the busiest weekend of the year due to it being peak for foliage and it being a long weekend for Columbus Day.
A glimpse at the autumn colors on our drive up!
A glimpse at the autumn colors on our drive up!
Mount Washington
We were planning to hike Mount Washington on Saturday, but the weather was so great on our drive up on Friday that we last minute decided to tackle our longest hike first! We arrived at the trailhead a little after noon and definitely wouldn’t have been able to start any later because the sun was setting as we returned to the parking lot six hours later. Mount Washington is the highest peak in New England, known for having the “world’s worst weather.” You think no way- but literally Google it. It’s crazy. There are several ways to get up to the summit. We opted to take a steeper way up and a slightly more gradual trail down. We took the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail up which was very beautiful and surprised us several times with waterfalls! Once we got to the Lakes of the Clouds Hut, we turned onto Crawford Path, which is the oldest trail in America. This is above the tree line and there’s no protection, so expect wind! There are other ways to get to the summit aside from hiking: the cog railway or an adventurous car ride. Because of these other forms of transportation, the summit is quite bustling with all forms of tourists. There are several structures including rest rooms, a snack bar, a museum, and lots of equipment for tracking the crazy weather at the top of this mountain. After enjoying the summit while almost being blown over by 70 mph gusts, we started our hike down pretty quickly in order to beat the sunset. We took the Gulfside Trail to the Jewell Trail down, which brought us back to the same parking lot as where the Ammonoosuc started. Overall, this loop was about 10.5 miles with about 4,000 ft of elevation. Mount Washington is known as a “pile of rocks” and for good reason. You have to be intentional about your foot placement on the uneven rocks throughout the entire hike in order to avoid busting an ankle!
The start of the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail.
Which then turns into surprise waterfalls!
And eventually you’ll find the start of beautiful views!
You definitely need to be intentional about your steps all the way up this trail.
We packed extra into our packs for this hike into the “worst weather in the world.”
You’ll run into the Lakes of the Clouds Hut about 1.5 miles from the summit, but it was closed for the season when we arrived in October.
This sign is a good reminder to come prepared!
I had to hold onto rocks at some points to avoid being blown over by the 70 mph winds.
But it was totally worth it for the views!
At the official Mount Washington summit!
Even though we think it’s prettier here!
We chose to hike up and down, but you can also opt to take the Cog Railway.
The start of the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail.
Which then turns into surprise waterfalls!
And eventually you’ll find the start of beautiful views!
You definitely need to be intentional about your steps all the way up this trail.
We packed extra into our packs for this hike into the “worst weather in the world.”
You’ll run into the Lakes of the Clouds Hut about 1.5 miles from the summit, but it was closed for the season when we arrived in October.
This sign is a good reminder to come prepared!
I had to hold onto rocks at some points to avoid being blown over by the 70 mph winds.
But it was totally worth it for the views!
At the official Mount Washington summit!
Even though we think it’s prettier here!
We chose to hike up and down, but you can also opt to take the Cog Railway.
Rek-Lis Brewing Company
After enjoying the sunset through the trees on our hike down, we went straight for food! One of Adam’s coworkers recommended Rek-Lis Brewing Company in Bethlehem and it was fantastic. Clearly the place to be on a weekend night in this small town. It’s a cozy brewery with good beer (constantly rotating), live music, and tasty food with plenty of calories to fuel up post-hike.
Rek-Lis Brewing Company in Bethlehem.
With the coziest of vibes!
Great live music!
And some tasty food and beer!
Rek-Lis Brewing Company in Bethlehem.
With the coziest of vibes!
Great live music!
And some tasty food and beer!
Schilling Beer Co.
We then drove about 10 minutes west to Littleton where we checked out Schilling Brewery. This one is right on the Ammonoosuc River and is right next to a covered bridge. They had a cozy barn vibe with some outdoor seating overlooking the river. We enjoyed their beers here, especially Thaddeus, but I especially liked the cookie pie made in their wood-fired oven!
Schilling Beer Co. in Littleton.
Solid beer and a cookie pie dessert!
With a classic covered bridge right next door!
Schilling Beer Co. in Littleton.
Solid beer and a cookie pie dessert!
With a classic covered bridge right next door!
The Cave
To end our night, we made our way down to The Cave in the basement of the extravagant Omni Mount Washington Resort. As most of you know, we usually tent camp, so it was fun to see what the accommodations of a 4-star hotel would provide us! This hotel has lots of history and is quite charming. We enjoyed our stroll through the fancy lobby on our way down to the speak-easy inspired Cave to partake in cocktails and live music!
A glimpse at the lobby of the Mount Washington Resort!
The Cave: a fun speakeasy bar.
With awesome live tunes!
A glimpse at the lobby of the Mount Washington Resort!
The Cave: a fun speakeasy bar.
With awesome live tunes!
Sugarloaf Campground I
After making some friends in The Cave, we drove the short 5-minute jaunt to our campground for the weekend- Sugarloaf Campground I. This was a great jump off point for what we wanted to do, and we were able to snag a spot on the very last weekend of the season! We pitched our tent quickly in the dark and slid into our warm sleeping bags. Our favorite part about our Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL3 tent is the mtnGLO lighting so we can get comfortably situated to handle the dropping temperatures.
It’s a good thing our tent has built in lights!
Sugarloaf Campground I
It’s a good thing our tent has built in lights!
Sugarloaf Campground I
Arethusa Falls
We took advantage of our opportunity to sleep in before starting our hikes in Crawford Notch State Park on Saturday morning. We decided to start our day hiking to the highest waterfall in New Hampshire, Arethusa Falls. You can make this hike a 2.8-mile 784 ft out and back or a 4.2-mile loop via the Frankenstein Cliff Trail, which is then 1,538 ft elevation in total. Obviously, we opted for the longer version and were happy to get the extra lookout point at Frankenstein Cliff! Just make sure to cross the train tracks near the beginning of this hike to know you’re on your way!
Frankenstein Cliff from afar.
And Frankenstein Cliff up close!
With some beautiful colors in between!
Quite spectacular foliage!
Arethusa Falls
With an awesome trail to it!
Frankenstein Cliff from afar.
And Frankenstein Cliff up close!
With some beautiful colors in between!
Quite spectacular foliage!
Arethusa Falls
With an awesome trail to it!
Mount Willard Trail
For our second hike in Crawford Notch State Park, we decided to do a lookout peak to see all the beautiful foliage! We chose the 3.2-mile 905 ft out and back Mount Willard Trail. This trail was definitely the most popular and heavily trafficked experience of the weekend, but the views of the valley at the end are very worth it!
You will find Mount Willard Trailhead behind this train depot.
Great view of the valley!
Soaking in this whole leaf-peeping thing!
You will find Mount Willard Trailhead behind this train depot.
Great view of the valley!
Soaking in this whole leaf-peeping thing!
White Mountain Oktoberfest
Our Saturday hiking wasn’t quite as intense as Friday’s, but we still left the trails with growling bellies. Another thing Adam’s coworker recommended to us was the White Mountain Oktoberfest at Loon Mountain Ski Resort. This free event had all the Oktoberfest beer and German food you could want! We enjoyed watching the keg toss and listening to the Oompah band.
White Mountain Oktoberfest
Where they turned chalets into German Hangouts!
And served traditional German snacks!
White Mountain Oktoberfest
Where they turned chalets into German Hangouts!
And served traditional German snacks!
Lincoln, NH
Loon Mountain is on the outskirts of Lincoln, one of many cute New Hampshire towns. Downtown was bustling with a craft fair and more this weekend, but we opted to check out the quaint movie theater and watch The Joker. The movie was a bit depressing really but has very good character development and acting. We were refreshed having some inside time after spending the rest of the day outdoors.
Polly’s Pancake Parlor
We knew we picked a busy weekend to go the White Mountains, but we didn’t realize just how many people were going to take advantage of the peak-foliage Columbus Day weekend until Sunday. We woke up early to pack up our camp and head to Polly’s Pancake Parlor to carbo load for our final hikes, but not quite early enough. Polly’s opens at 7 a.m., so we arrived at 7:20 thinking we’d be early enough to snag a table right away. We were dead wrong. We had to wait about 40 minutes for a table, but it went by quickly since we had a gift shop to peruse and all sorts of articles to read about how great these pancakes are. Once we were seated, I ordered my usual out-to-eat breakfast drink, hot chocolate, and I was delighted when they delivered a mug with a giant pile of whipped cream and sprinkles on top! We then discovered why this place is so awesome. They have all homemade food with local ingredients and for each pancake order (which includes three cakes) you get to pick your batter and your mix in. So, this means you get to try three different types of pancakes! And they have their own 100% pure maple syrup, maple cream, and maple sugar that you can add to whatever you’d like. This isn’t the type of pancake place where they give you a giant stack of somewhat decent cakes to soak in high fructose corn syrup; they definitely focus on quality over quantity and they do it well! This is also the only time we’ve come across our food order be prepared by our server. Yes- your server goes and fries each of your pancake orders independently! No wonder Polly’s has been doing this for 75+ years! By the time we left, the wait for a table was 1.5-2 hours. We highly recommend everyone try this place when in New Hampshire and we recommend either showing up right at 7 a.m. or calling in right away to make a same day “reservation.”
Polly’s Pancake Parlor on Sugarhill!
They put sprinkles on their hot chocolate!!
And their made-to-order organic pancakes are delicious!
Polly’s Pancake Parlor on Sugarhill!
They put sprinkles on their hot chocolate!!
And their made-to-order organic pancakes are delicious!
Franconia Notch State Park
After loading up on plenty of calories, we were ready for the last area of the White Mountains we for sure wanted to check out, Franconia Notch State Park. Our first stop was the Artist Bluff Trail, a quick 1.4-mile 387 ft loop that show-cased the fall colors surrounding a quiet lake. However, this wasn’t our favorite overlook because with the pretty lake and colorful backdrop you also get a close-up view of the highway.
Artist Bluff Trailhead
A beautiful lookout along the trail.
Artist Bluff
Artist Bluff Trailhead
A beautiful lookout along the trail.
Artist Bluff
We then thought we had a great idea to drive a few exits down to the Lonesome Lake Trailhead, but we didn’t realize what we were getting ourselves into. The parking lot for Lonesome Lake was full with a ranger there to turn us around and he told us to go back to the Artist Bluff parking lot in order to pay $5 for a shuttle to the trailhead. We really wanted to do this final hike, so we obliged, but it took us a couple hours longer due to the process and amount of traffic involved. Lonesome Lake Trail is a 3.1 mile 1,026 ft loop trail that was nice to end on because it was beautiful and more secluded from the Columbus Day hordes. You basically hike straight up for a mile, then it levels out for the loop around the alpine lake, and then you hike back down the steep incline.
Lonesome Lake
Lonesome Lake Hut
A solid final hike for the weekend!
Lonesome Lake
Lonesome Lake Hut
A solid final hike for the weekend!
Luckily, we had to work on Monday, so we beat the traffic driving back Sunday instead of Monday with the masses. Several rangers told us that this was the busiest weekend of the season for the White Mountains and for good reason. The foliage was at its peak and the weather was perfectly crisp. Despite the traffic, we would highly recommend visiting these seemingly endless mountains in New Hampshire at this time of year! Know that nearly all these hikes are not easy to complete as they entail a lot of incline/decline and careful placing of each step on a non-moving rock. If you don’t trust your balance definitely bring hiking sticks!