Our visit to the United States of America-3
(1) Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire
Last weekend, we went on a day-long trip to Cannon
Mountain, a 4080-ft peak in the White Mountain ranges of New Hampshire, located
north of Boston, Massachusetts. It is 145
miles, about 2½ h drive from home.
Our daughter-in-law had packed enough food, water
and beverages, as we hit the road by 7:30 am.
The 6-lane freeway from Boston to New Hampshire is remarkable and
vehicles run at an average speed of 60-65 miles per hour. It is admirable to
see disciplined road traffic culture in this country. No doubt, roads are excellent with clearly visible,
adequate signboards, well-laid service roads and no potholes all
along the route. Everyone strictly follows traffic rules and drives
with utmost care.
Autumn is readying to set in New Hampshire and it was
evident by the steady changing colours of tree-foliage from green to yellow to orange-red
along the roadsides, as we drove from Boston towards Cannon Mountain.
Autumn or fall marks the transition from summer to winter season in this temperate
part of the world. The scenic beauty all
along the roadside is simply breathtaking...
We reached the base of Cannon Mountain, our first destination,
at 10:00 am and quickly ate the sandwiches and fruits brought by our
daughter-in-law. Base station contained an illustrative information desk,
ticket counter, cafeteria and clean restrooms. We bought entry tickets and got
into a 70 plus passenger capacity cable-car which slowly and smoothly ferried
us from the base to the summit of the mountain, about 1 km vertical climb, in
10 minutes. This is said to be the first aerial tramway set up in the USA. It
was a bright, sunny day and as we were going up in the cable-car, the stunning
mountainous terrains and extensive pine forests around us were clearly visible.
The scenic view from the summit is remarkable. Glancing
around 360°,
the whole White Mountain range opened up before us. It was a breathtaking view all around. We
walked in a few of those short, trekking trails. There were beautiful stone benches at intervals. The extensive carpet of pine plants all around, which
withstood harsh wind, bright sun and thick snow in different times of the year,
is a beauty on its own. Being week-end, visitors were plenty. Yet, the place
was noiseless, orderly and none littered the place. It was absolutely clean all
around. I was deeply delighted to see this nature’s divine creativity called
Cannon Mountain. We spent an hour at the
summit and then descended to the base by a return tramway.
Our next place of visit for the day was Portland
Headlight, a historic lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth, in the province of Maine. It
is 110 miles south-east of Cannon Mountain and about 2½ h drive. The mountainous road
took us across the country side of Maine province and was undoubtedly beautiful
all along in view of autumn season and trees laden with changing coloured leaf
canopy. We took lunch on the way in a Mexican restaurant.
The Lighthouse is situated at the entrance of
Portland harbour in the gulf of Maine. It is said to be the oldest lighthouse
in the province of Maine. It was a bright, sunny afternoon and, being weekend, numerous
visitors thronged around the lighthouse. Again, the place was stunningly
beautiful and absolutely clean. In my earlier overseas sojourns, although mostly
academic, I used to spend little time on sightseeing. What appealed me the most
are that the places are stunningly clean, orderly and visitor-friendly.
Tourists love such places. We spent a couple of hours enjoying the breezy evening
of Portland city. As the shades fell in, we returned to home, another 2 h return
drive.
D. Jayarama Bhat
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