Franconia Notch State Park
Manchester, NH to Hyde Park, VT | New Hampshire State Capitol | Franconia Notch State Park | April 2023
On Monday morning, we packed up our things and checked out of the hotel in downtown Manchester. Today we would be driving back to Northern Vermont, where we had an Airbnb reserved for the next week until Charlotte’s follow up appointment. Since we couldn’t check in until mid-afternoon, we planned a few stops along the way that would be enjoyable and not too difficult for Charlotte. We were especially excited to see the White Mountains again, even just in passing.
Our first stop came just up US-3 in Concord, where we stopped to see the State Capitol building. We parked on the street right next to it and paid to park for 15 minutes, which was just enough time to snap some pictures and let Charlotte lead us in circles for 14 minutes.
We then continued driving North on I-93, all the way up to the mountains. The only time we’d driven part of this interstate was coming back from a camping trip in 2016, and it was raining that day so we weren’t able to fully enjoy the views.
Today’s main hike was in Franconia Notch State Park, located right off the interstate. Because it was off season, we were limited on what we could do, but on the plus side it was free and Charlotte could hike with us. We knew there was still snow on the mountain tops, but having been all over the past week, we just weren’t sure what trail conditions would be like; snow, ice, mud or otherwise; so just to be safe, we brought our microspikes. At first it seemed like overkill because no one else was using them and the trail seemed to be on asphalt, but after getting passed the pavement and onto the main trail, we were very glad we did!
We made our way to the Flume Trail, which we knew would be closed at some point for maintenance, but thought we would just go as far as Charlotte wanted and enjoy whatever we could see. The first highlight along the trail was the red covered bridge over the Pemigewasset River, which stood out nicely among the bare trees and was very photogenic with the snow capped mountains in the background. After getting passed the bridge, the trail started going uphill following the Flume Brook. Here the snow became more packed down and slick from use, but it didn’t affect us at all with our microspikes. We followed the trail a ways until Charlotte decided we were done, then Curtis and I took turns running up to see the entrance of the Flume.
The trail through the gorge was closed for the season — in fact, part of it was completely disassembled in order to preserve it through the winter. But we were able to see the beginning, and it was still a magical winter wonderland with snow and icicles on the walls. The temperature as we neared the Flume also dropped a noticeable amount as we approached. People all around were basically crab-crawling to get over the snow and still slipping and sliding every which way, but both of us had no problem walking in and out. As Curtis commented when he returned from his turn, “I feel like a god walking among men.” After we had each seen the Flume and Charlotte was ready, we began our return trip, this time following the road which was still closed for the season. The day was even starting to warm up, but walking on snow helped keep Charlotte cool. This is clearly one of the most popular trails in the park, but off season hiking really paid off – especially with the right equipment.
Once we returned to the car, we continued our drive into Vermont and made our way up to Hyde Park where we were staying for the week. We made a quick stop in nearby Morristown to pick up groceries and then checked in to our rental, which was the third floor of someone’s home in Hyde Park. We settled in and helped Charlotte become acquainted with the space.
