Pacing the Pemi

Summer's official arrival allows us to pursue some of

our "check list" experiences as we already feel

how precious our remaining days are here in New Hampshire.

This week we took a day trip north to Franconia Gorge 

State Park, considered a prime waterfalls stop.

Lots of pictures to view here and a couple of video clips 

to capture the audio and movement of the Flume Brook.

But before getting to the heart of this post . . . 

. . . I share this week's flora image, one of about

a million different lush ground-covering woodland plants

that festooned the hills as we paced along the Gorge trail.

This one is "Bunchberry" dogwood, and as vibrant as its

quatrefoil leaf whorls are with the delicate miniature dogwood

blossom, this plant will knock it out of the park in autumn

when it shows instead a cluster of reddish berries.

We can count on surprising ways that the young Elder

and Sister missionaries will reach us and lift our spirits

(we sometimes call this "filling our lamps"). 

The three sisters in the beautiful trio, below, are the Bedford 2

companionship (Sisters Semadeni, Young and Evans).

Regular visitors when it's NOT COVID-restricted, these three have

seen Elder Warner's jam-packed office cubicle which includes

a large behind-glass exotic beetle specimen along with

many other insect sketches or ephemera. Late Friday evening

they sent a glee-ful voice message and video on Vince's phone

exhorting him to "look at this BUG!" and a declaration that

"we are gonna catch it for you!"

Here's a slightly-silly way our comedic lamps were filled

during our Franconia Notch out-into-the-field trip:

the odometer of my little blue Subaru Forester turned

to this five-times-over lucky number:

Got another 'clue' about the expected arrival of other

office couples this week - listed as "postponed indefinitely".

So I guess isolation and protection will continue.

Here we are in our masks, mine created and sent by

Lehi TVillage neighbor Mary Carter, and Vince's created

by me from her pattern with elastic Mary shipped out to me.

Finally got him to wear it consistently, but only 
because he thinks he is conveying his allegiance.

One twist on the isolation fallout: with my cleft-lip scar

becoming more noticeable as I age (my perception), I get

an uplift from this acceptable way to conceal my smile.

Final part of the preamble involves a REAL lamp-filling

episode and our son Cory (look closely to discover him as

'window ghost' reflection, below, as he captures Pogo watching).

Cory took Vince's Verago cycle out for a spin as part of 

his maintenance, repair and upkeep efforts. 

Gravel at the neighborhood entrance caused a moderate 

slide-out during which he re-injured his surgically-repaired 

left knee, and LOST his favorite lanyard ring holding his only

community mailbox key. Few options for replacement offered.

We prayed that the original could be found, and I was a bit

surprised that good news didn't arrive immediately.

Next day (wish I had been 'tuned-in' earlier) I had a thought

enter my mind about keys that I had packaged and put away

back last summer, once we arrived here in New Hampshire.

After a few moments of quiet mind search, I was led to where I

had safely stored them, and when extracted, the tarnished key,

above, gave me hope, though it was only vaguely identifiable.

Letting my mind explore (something I have found can prompt

inspiration), I soon realized who could help me verify.

I texted a request to friend Robin from Thanksgiving Village 

(from previous sister-minister relationships), and she texted 

back what I needed within moments. 'Does it say "National

something-or-other" on the backside?' I asked. Reply: YES.

I reported to Cory, he cancelled the box-replacement (expensive)

alternative, and within hours the FedEx overnight label 

was printed to ship the found key quickly back to Utah.

THIS JUST IN: treasured key ring found!

Word (by text) just arrived with a confirming picture.

Not sure who actually did the finding, but neighbor

and friend Carolyn Morris delivered the good news!

* * * * *

Now, onto this beautiful experience with rocks and water!

A one and one-half hours ride north on I-93 took us to the Franconia

Notch area of New Hampshire. (In the West, we might more often

use the term 'pass' or 'divide' in place of 'notch'.)

We were questing waterfalls like those we had first seen thirty

years ago when we explored in New England with toddler Kenzie. 

The "Flume Gorge" should rank near the top on any list!

We took a chance and were allowed in through "pre-registering"

with help from the on-site NH State Parks ranger, purchased

passes on my phone (this Ol' Dog's new trick), and entered

as two of the allowed 129 during the 11 am - 12 noon slot.

(Virus concerns restrict the numbers permitted in each hour.)

Walking uphill for the first leg of the trail, we could look down

on this initial attraction, a circa. 1886 covered bridge over

the Pemigewasset River (sometimes shortened to be

the Pemi - which is what the blog post name is hinting at). 

A closer-up image of this classic structure will be shared

in a future post that explores covered bridges.

Pemigewasset (pronounced acceptably two ways,

the soft 'g' as in 'George' seems to be most common:

pem-a-ja-wah-sut) is an Abenaki Indian language word

meaning "swift or rapid current".

The Flume Brook is a tributary to the Pemi.

Like hundreds of thousands of others over time, we 'paced'

the trail upward that turned from dirt and gravel into 'suspended'

wooden board walk. The gorge was formed during ancient earth

changes that transformed deeply buried molten rock

into Conway granite. As it cooled, the granite fractured . . .

. . . in a parallel fashion. Later, basalt 'dikes', also molten

and fluid, forced upward through the fissures, spreading the

cracks apart and cooling 'quickly' into fine-grained rock.

Erosion lowered Earth's surface, exposing the basalt.

As pressure was relieved, more cracks developed and

water moved into rock layers, eroding the basalt faster

than the Conway granite, deepening the gorge.  

Gorge walls rise vertically to a height of 70-90 feet,

and the channel varies in width from 12 to 20 feet across.

To get a sense of the water music accompanying

the picturesque stone, watch (and listen to) this clip:

(thanks to Cory for helping get this included here)

Quoting from the Park Service brochure: The Flume was

discovered in 1808 by 93-year-old "Aunt" Jess Guernsey when

she accidentally came upon it while fishing.

At the top of the 800 foot-long gorge is Avalanche Falls,

a 45 ft. waterfall. 

Here is another view of Avalanche Falls, from

the very top of the trail.

From there, the pathway turns northwest and away from

Flume Brook, toward Liberty Gorge formed

by nearby Cascade Brook, and then across 

a covered foot bridge called "Sentinel Pine".

This is a view from the bridge toward the emerald

Pool, and . . .

. . . from the down-steam trail, you can see the incredible
depth of green in the deep-basin pool, as well as
the footbridge above in the distance. From the brochure:
On the high cliff above the Pool,
the Sentinel Pine stood for centuries, with 
a circumference of 16 feet. Nearly 175 feet high,
the tree was one of the largest in the state.
The hurricane of 1938 uprooted the giant pine whose
trunk bridges the Pemigewasset and forms
the base for the covered bridge.

Couldn't resist another view of the Pool.

The entire walking loop through the Flume and back 

to the Visitor Center by way of the Pool is two miles,

and takes approx. 1.25 hours to complete.

The descent (with some uphill, too) follows

Wildwood path where there are some glacial

erratics to investigate, but we found ourselves

entranced by the tenacious trees. Here are a few

examples, including this hemlock with reaching roots

that grasp the boulder on which it germinated, even

to the point of reaching up and over the top 

on its quest to find anchorage and nourishment.

And another, planting itself on a nearly vertical

face of the granite outcropping, and growing there

more or less successfully.

In the afternoon, beginning the drive south toward home,

we stopped at "Baby Gorge" at the Basin, 

a trail without an entrance fee. We found it beautiful 

in its own right, with the musical Cascade Brook

gliding through chutes and channels much closer at hand. 

View this brief video clip to be entranced with the lyric

action and sound, just as we were!

At one point, the brook tumbles into a natural 'pot hole',
then topples into more cascades and miniature gorges.
The interesting rock formation seen at middle ground here . . .

. . . can be seen much better from the opposite trail side,
from which vantage the "Old Man's Foot" nickname makes
much more sense. FYI, Franconia Notch State Park
is the location of the mountain side from which
the rock silhouette called "Old Man of the Mountain"
formerly could be seen - it has fallen off.

"

At the bottom of the Basin trail, Vince decided his achy

feet needed a refreshing soak, so he sat and took off

shoes and socks, and invited me to follow.

I deferred . . . but then near the parking lot, as we began 

to trail away from the brook, the table rock formation 

beckoned, and even I took off my shoes and enjoyed 

a bare-toes dip in the shockingly-cold water. 

I'm reporting here that it definitely DID soothe!

In the days ahead, we hope you can likewise find
something to comfort and revitalize your spirits.
It's a historic time. Take care!