This is one of the most beautiful notches within the White mountain Region, known as Franconia Notch with some of the best hikes for the adventurous types. Lafayette, Liberty, little Haystack, the Flume, just some of the peaks within this Notch and when high above the tree’s and along the ridge of these mountains, the view will take your breathe away. Looking across to the other mountain which would be to my right as I took this picture, is Cannon mountain, lively with skiing in the winter and mostly known for the old Man of the mountain throughout my lifetime, til a few short years ago and erosion has brought him to his demise, one of the most viewed landmarks throughout all of New England, he brought many lookers to this beautiful Notch. Now unless you are a Hiker and are hiking this beautiful Notch, the traffic just drives by without really looking deeply into what they see.
Just to the right of center in this picture within this large rock face you see, just below the top, there is a huge rock, visible to those who walk along the ridge above the tree’s, this rock is hanging almost like by a thread and it has been like this as long as I can remember, well……. if this rock someday falls as the face of the Old man of the mountain did, it would go down it’s peak, across the road below and up Cannon mountain and whatever is in its way, it will simply run it over as it is that big. Hiking through this Notch and accomplishing each Summit, there is no better feeling in the World, especially hiking up mount Lafayette, i can remember about five false summits, every time I thought the summit was in sight and when I got to that location, there was another to reach, but even through all that the view from the summit was better than the word of ” awesome”, if you reached the summit and it was a beautiful sunny day with blue clear skies, you can see as far as your eyes will let you. There is another one of those AMC huts for the weary Hiker to rest and get a good meal, this is the Green leaf hut and when you get there, get settled in and go outside to sit on a rock, look at the scene before you, there is no better way to unwind from a days hike, let alone to clear your mind from being weary, to totally relaxed before you know it, again this hut is above the line of tree’s and you can see clearly in all directions, or whatever window you may look out from inside the hut.
Hiking is a good way to clear your mind, from the everyday crap that fills it, from wherever you may live. It is also good exercise that will keep you fit if you do a lot more than one hike a year? Hiking and meditation go hand in hand, as the hike to the summit may be strenuous and weary, but when you reach the summit, now it is time to relax and clear the mind, as meditation will do. When you sit on top of any summit, you gaze deeply into the horizon, while you breathe in and breathe out properly, which then relaxes all your muscles within your body, then you feel a sense of calm over whelm your body, this calmness helps fix yourself from whatever that is troubling you, it makes these troubles seem like they are melting away, then as we start the journey back down the mountain and back to the real World below, it is our memory of this sense of calmness, that helps us keep fixing ourselves from all our troubles, as we then get back to walking our paths of this journey through life, with the rest of Mankind around us.
” Franconis Notch to some may be a road surrounded by mountains, but to others it is a sanctuary away from reality to unwind and relax, while we get mesmerized by its beauty”
” Old Man of the Mountain was a popular man for a long time, but like anything else change comes even when you least expect it”
” Once you go to the White mountains for the first time, you keep going back to truly look deeply into what you see”
” When you look deeply into what you see, you then see truly of all the beauty that is around you”