| New Hampshire |
| New Hampshire is a small state located at the top of New England that shares a border with Canada. New Hampshire is mostly known for its two cities of Concord and Portsmouth, and also for its winter sports. |
| The first building with the golden dome is the state's capital house, one of the oldest in the nation. It was built in the early 1800s and the original rooms are still in use today. The arch you see on the right is directly in front of the state capital building and is a memorial for all soldiers who died fighting for the state. |
| The population of Concord is only around 42,000, making it an extremely small capital city. Above you can see the state library and the state court house which are both located in the downtown area of Concord. |
| On the left is a statue of Commodore George Hamilton Perkins who fought during the civil war. He was one of three people to be sent ashore to accept the surrender of New Orleans. At the time he was a very famous person, and over 10,000 people were present when the statue was dedicated to him. To the right is the Christian Church of Science, founded by Mary Baker Eddy in 1879. This religion is most known for the fact that believers do not use conventional medicine, and belief that all healing must be done through faith and prayer. |
| When I think of New Hampshire I definitely don't think of the ocean, but New Hampshire does actually have a 13 mile coastline along the Atlantic. The upper left photo is of the city of Portsmouth which is located along the coast and was once a major seaport. Today Portsmouth is better known as a tourist destination in the summer months. The top right photo is the coast with the ocean water reflecting the moonlight. |
| Franconia Notch park is located in the middle of the state, and is a very beautiful place to visit both in the summer and winter. On the left is a covered bridge going over the Pemigewasset river. On the right is what is known as Flume Gorge. In the summer, it is a small gorge with waterfalls on both sides, as you can see above, in the winter it is coverd with snow and the waterfalls turn to solid ice. |
| If you want to visit the United States to do any climbing, then you're much better of going to the west coast or central regions of the country. New England has America's only respectable climbing on the east coast, especially in both New York and New Hampshire. Above are two photos of Flume Gorge in the norther part of the state. When I got to the gorge I expected it to be empty, but there were about a dozen people there climbing the frozen waterfalls. |
| New Hampshire is also famous for its White Mountains. They are a relatively low altitude range but because they are located on the northern part of the country, there are plenty of places to ski, snowboard, and go snowmobiling. |
| Unfortunately because the weather was so bad I could not get a good photo of the famous Mt. Washington Resort. This is a huge hotel located at the bottom of Mt. Washington. It is actually pretty remote with all cities a significant drive away. Forntunately everything you need is in the hotel. The top left is the snow storm that was coming in while I visited the hotel. On the right is a picture of the shops located in the bottom floor. The resort even has a night club. |
| What was most famous to me about New Hampshire is Mt. Washington located in the white mountains. The mountain is actually very short but is known for having the 'worst weather in the world'. Mt. Washington is what motivated me to go on this trip, and these two pictures above are from the beginning of my climb. |
| That is me on the left as I start on the Lion's Head trail. The trail has a pretty easy incline but at one point it does get very steep. When you encounter the steep portion of the trail, you'll still be in the tree line, so you can grab onto nearby trees as support and using ropes isn't necessary. Once you get above the tree line which usually takes about two hours, you can encounter waist deep snow if you take a step too far to the left or right of the trail. |
| Mt. Washington is known for having the worst weather in the world, because 1 out of 3 days of the year it has hurricane force winds. The highest wind speed on the surface of the earth was recorded here at 231mph! On top of the mountain is an observatory that was built to withstand winds of 300mph. After we reached the top of the mountain, we took refuge behind a wall of the observatory. The winds were probably gusting to about 45mph that day with temperatures in the low teens. After taking only a photo or two the whole lens of my camera was almost immediately covered in ice. Those working in the observatory have to go outside every couple of hours to chisel the ice off their antennas and radar equipment. The top left photo is the only clear shot I could get while we waited in a small bay of the observatory. On the right is myself at the summit. |
| N. Hampshire Links |
| Post a question or comment about traveling in New Hampshire. |
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Lynne from Australia: This is a great site with some great photos. Keep up the good work.
Peyton from California: Great shots. Northern NH is a well kept, beautiful secret.
| I was able to visit Portsmouth again a few years later in the early spring, it was amazing how different it was compared to winter. During the May when I visited, they had some festival going on so the streets were packed with people and the weather was about perfect. It was hard to believe this was the same city. |
| Above are some of the shops that were open during the festival. Unlike the winter, there were lots of places to visit and lots of entertainment. |
| Most cities in American have an equal mix of international foods, but Portsmouth had mostly European restaurants. Irish bars are popular all over America, but this was my first time ever seeing a British Pub. |
Two last photos of Portsmouth showing it's harbor, the weather wasn't so good that day but you can get an idea of
the size of the city. The large buildings on the upper right are actually residential apartments right on the waterfront.
the size of the city. The large buildings on the upper right are actually residential apartments right on the waterfront.
| Just east of Portsmouth is a very small historic town called New Castle on a little island. It's close enough to be considered part of Portsmouth in my opinion, but officially this is a separate town. The island is mostly made up of upper class neighborhoods filled with several parks and some beautiful scenery. There were a lot of people jogging down the streets and people kayaking out in the water enjoying the spring weather. On the left is a photo of some of the islands that I passed by as I entered New Castle. Above are two photos from Fort Constitution which was founded by the British in 1632 but was taken with force by a mob of villagers in 1774 before the revolutionary war started. The British sent a frigate to try to retake the fort, but eventually abandoned it to the colonists who used the weapons and supplies for the siege of Boston that came two years later. Today, it's mostly famous for the remains of the fort which had been upgraded over the years and the lighthouse. |