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be found in the ascent of Mount Washington. The bridle path alluded to went up the mountain side in almost a straight line; but the carriage-road, begun in 1855, completed to The Ledge-four miles from the base-in 1856, and opened for travel from base to summit in 1861, winds round the ledge and up the mountain side, making nearly double the distance. In 1866 the construction of a railroad to the summit was begun, and three years afterward completed. Of these routes the carriage-road is doubtless the most popular; but many tourists make the journey of eight miles at least one way by rail. During the four first miles of the carriage-road trip, but little is seen save the forest. At the Ledge, however, the vehicle emerges from the thick woods, and the first glories of the ascent appear. The road winds between Mounts Washington, Clay, and Jefferson, passes eastward at the Great Gulf, and then rises over several plateaus till it reaches the level ground of the summit. By making the ascent by way of the old bridle-path the tourist will pass over the tops of four lower summits of the ridge after leaving the Notch, each one a little higher than the preceding, and from the Glen directly up Mount Washington itself. On the right is an enormous ravine, down which a singular view is afforded of Mounts Jefferson, Adams, and Madison from base to crown. The Glen is eight miles from Gorham, and among the attractions of its vicinity are the Imp, a peak of the Moriah Mountain whose summit resembles a grotesque human face from a distance; Mount Carter, 3,000 feet high and an unbroken mass of forest from base to crown; the great "Gulf of Mexico," across whose waters fall the changing shadows of Mount Clay according as its upper regions are clear or enveloped with clouds; the pyramidal peak of Mount Adams, the grandest of all in shape and impressiveness; and Mount Madison. The remarkable effect which this scenery has upon the imagination will be greatly intensified when it is known or remembered that Mount Washington is 6,285 feet high, Mount Clay 5,400, Mount Jefferson 5,700, Mount Adams 5,800, and Mount Madison 5,361. Beside these peaks there are in the vicinity the Garnet Pools, a series of basins in the Peabody River near the Gorham road, exhibiting many curious. phases of natural rock sculpture; Thompson's Falls on the North Conway road, and two miles below the Glen House, a series of charming cascades and water-slides; Emerald Pool; the Glen Ellis Fall, where the Ellis River shoots twenty feet over the cliff and then falls sixty feet into a dark-green pool; Crystal Cascade, one mile from Glen Ellis Fall and three from the Glen House, where the water, part of which comes from the very dome of Mount

Washington, has a fall of eighty feet, seen to the best advantage from the high bank opposite the foot of the fall; and Tuckerman's Ravine, which carries the water from Mount Washington to the Crystal Cascade, an enormous gulf in the southerly side of the peak with walls 1,000 feet high, and containing a beautiful snow cavern formed by a spring stream flowing through the mass of snow several hundred feet deep that collects there during the winter season.

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From the village of Gorham, N. H., on the eastern side of the mountains, the ascent of Mount Washington can be made in one day by way of the Glen House. The distance from Gorham to the Notch is thirty-two miles, and the Cherry Mountain road abounds in pretty spectacles. The beauties of Mount Moriah, Mount Carter, and the Imp are here seen to better advantage than elsewhere: the Pilot range of mountains rise on the northwest; while at the east and southeast stand the Androscoggin hills, from the highest of which, Mount Hayes, 2,500 feet high, a magnificent view is obtained of Mounts Adams and Jefferson, while Washington itself from this point seems invested with additional grandeur. Fronting Mount Hayes is Mount Surprise, a spur of Moriah, 1,200 feet high, whose crown is easy of access by foot or horse. At its summit there is no obstruction to the view of the "Presidential" mountains, and there is no other eminence where one can get so near those monarchs of rock and forest. This point also commands a grand view of the great cleft between Mount Carter and the White Mountains, through which the Peabody River flows, as the summit of Mount Willard commands the Notch and the Saco River. A capital pedestrian tour for those who can depend upon their legs may be made from the Alpine House at Gorham by riding to the base of Mount Madison, at the foot of Randolph Hill, then footing it up Madison, passing over its summit, continuing around or over the sharp pyramid of Adams, over Jefferson between the humps of Clay, and thence to the summit of Washington. The tramp can be made between sunrise and sunset. Another attraction of Gorham, and by many considered the best, is Berlin Falls, six miles from the Alpine House. The entire scenery is wild and noble. The Androscoggin River here pours down a rocky gateway. The mountains seem to overhang the stream, which, having the appearance of a long, swift rapid, is broken here and there by a direct and powerful fall. In the course of a mile the river descends nearly 200 feet, and as the road winds directly by the river the entire panorama may be viewed without the effort of rock climbing.

The ascent of Mount Washington may also be made from the Crawford House, and at one time this route was very popular bridle path leads A over the summits of Mount Clinton, Mount Pleasant, Mount Franklin, and Mount Monroe, but the railroad and carriage.path. from the Glen House are now usually preferred. The ascent by rail may be made from the Crawford House, the Twin Mountain House, and the Fabyan House. The grade of the road is 3,596 feet in three miles, and in some places is one foot in every three. The rails are three in number, bolted to a heavy trestlework of timber, the centre one resembling a ladder, between whose rounds the cogs of a wheel on the engine find an unfailing purchase. However great the inclination of the

THROUGH THE FRANCONIA NOTCH.

cars may be, the seats maintain a uniformly horizontal position. The ascent is made in an hour and a half.

The Notch, the gate to which is near the Crawford House, is a great gorge in the mountains which rise on either side to a height of 2.000 feet. At the Gateway these mountains, Web. ster on the right and Willey' on the left. are only twenty-two feet apart. Ethan's Pond lies placidly at the top of Willey Mountain, and the great stone

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face of the Old Maid of the Mountain peers out from a spur of Mount Web ster. The Devil's Pulpit is near the gate of the Notch, and close by are the profiles of the Infant and the Young Man of the Mountain. Near the summit of Mount Willard is the Devil's Den, a cavern accessible by means of ropes. Proceeding a short distance down the Notch, the tourist meets the Flume, a narrow, deep gorge through which the waters rush with great rapidity; and the most beautiful of all the falls on this side the mountain, the Silver Cascade, which is seen to admirable advantage on a moonlight evening. Three miles beyond the Willey Memorial House is the Sylvan Glade Cataract, considered by veteran travellers the most beautiful and impressive waterfall in the entire range of mountains. A mile above the cataract are several minor falls, the chief of which is the Sparkling Cascade. The fol

lowing is the name and height of each mountain of the range, in its order, beginning; at the Notch: Mount Webster, 4,000 feet; Mount Jackson, 4,100; Mount Clinton, 4,200; Mount Pleasant, 4,800; Mount Franklin, 4,900; Mount Monroe, 5400 Mount Washington, 6,285; Mount Clay, 5,400; Mount Jefferson,

THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN.

5,700; Mount Adams, 5,800 and Mount Madison, 5,400.

The Franconia Mountains, though totally distinct and peculiar, are usually considered a part of the White Mountain range, and are always visited in connection with it. Two roads lead from Bethlehem to the Notch in this range, and both extend over a high hill, from the summit of which the whole of the range is comprehended in front, with the head of Lafayette rising above them all, and the dark portal of the notch appears on the right. The Profile House is in the immediate vicinity of Echo Lake, a sheet of water of

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great depth and transparency, surrounded by green hills, and navigable by small boats; Cannon Mountain, or, as it is sometimes called, Profile Mountain, receiving its first name from the resemblance to a great gun which a rock upon its summit exhibits, and the second from the great stone face, or Old

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