Cannon/ Bretton Woods/ Mt. Washington Cog Railway
February 2006
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It was the best of times. It was the worst of snow conditions. Could we actually have a good time with bad snow? Apparently so. I got more compliments (and free drinks) for this trip than I have for any of the other twelve trips that I've run. Thanks to everyone who bought me a round (Thanks Wayne, Mike and whomever I've forgotten).
We arrived in New Hampshire in late spring 2006. Wait a minute. No. It was the first weekend in February!
Let me back up a minute. We got off to a slow start. We all got to BWI fine and everyone got checked in OK. Dennis was a bit surprised to find all of his luggage checked by the time he had returned from parking his car.
Then things went a little downhill. Apparently, several of our seats were passed on to standby passengers an hour and a half before our flight was supposed to take off. Our flight was a bit late due to storms in Florida from where our plane had come. Mary got tired of waiting and tried to board a plane to Chicago. We got to Manchester Airport an hour and a half late. Then our bus driver drove slowly in case the roads started to ice up. All of which got us into Bretton Woods at bit late. Everyone got unloaded OK. The Bretton Woods Lodge got dropped off first, then we headed over to the Mount Washington Hotel (I found out later that 25 rooms in the Bretton Woods Lodge were destroyed by fire the week before we got there). It was after 1:00 A.M. by the time the bell hop brought our luggage up.
Our arrival in New Hampshire came after the warmest January on record. Makes you wonder about global warming. Fortunately, there was still a little snow left.
A view of Mount Washington greeted us Saturday morning. The bear ice sculpture seemed uninterested.
We awoke the next morning to a wonderful sunrise peeking over Mount Washington. Then we headed downstairs for a gourmet breakfast. It was quite the spread, fresh fruit, pastries, smoked salmon, eggs benedict, made to order omelets and more. After we engorged ourselves, we loaded the bus and headed over to Cannon Mountain (Except for Charles, who did 7 Nordic miles, Helen who went snowshoeing, and Deb, who was sidelined with a wrist injury).
Breakfast was fabulous!
Saturday Morning at Cannon.
When we got to the mountain, we found the snow a bit icy in some places and a bit absent in others. But the sun was out and the day was beautiful.
About half of the trails were open. Most that were open had decent coverage. It did make it a little tricky getting around. Finding the tram meant finding a left turn on a catwalk trail. I found it on my second attempt by accident. As usual, Franconia Notch was spectacular. Views of the Notch and the Presidential Range were always available.
Evan ready to go.
Caren having a good time!
Enjoying the scenery.
The Teachers' Table at lunch.
Most everyone stopped for lunch at the base lodge and took advantage of the warm, sunny day to sit on the deck. Does anyone know if the teachers made it back to the slopes?
The afternoon found quite a few people over in the new Brookside area. The area wasn't the most challenging, but it did have the best snow on the mountain.
Wayne earned the nickname "The Turtle" for a certain maneuver he did on his back . . . for about 150 yards down the mountain. He did show great improvement on his third day of skiing, ever.
TROUBLE!
The Cannon Tram.
At the end of the day, we loaded up the bus and headed back to Bretton Woods. We made a quick stop for essentials on the way after deciding whether beer, wine, and munchies were enough or if we would need some hard liquor.
The hot tubs got heavy use at both hotels. We split up for the evening meal. Some of us went for the gourmet dinner in the Main Dining Room, some opted for the buffet at Stickney's, some went to Fabyan's Station, and a few decided they were going to eat pizza all weekend long and got started at Darby's.
Brice looking for a way to ride the tram.
The pool room in the back of The Cave.
Later, many folks made their way to the Cave for some drinks, pool, and dancing. The Electric Slide proved too much for me and I left it to the younger teachers and headed back to get some rest (us old people need that).
