Southerner’s Investigation of Mud Season

[SawyerTed]

It's 67° in Lincoln, New Hampshire.  I've come to learn about mud season, not really but will be seeing what it's about.  

I've already seen more snow than we saw at home all winter.  Did I say it's 67°?  

The guy at the concierge desk mentioned mud season as he was talking about hiking in the area.  He's from Virginia so apparently it has made an impression on him.  :D

Besides the Moose Crossing signs and patches of snow in the woods, it resembles western NC a bit. 

[Hilltop366]

I would rather mud season than black fly season.

In just over a month you could have gone down to Bar Harbour and hopped on the fast ferry boat and landed 2½ miles from my house.

Safe travels.

[GRANITEstateMP]

Welcome to the Granite State!  Are you staying at Loon, or just in Lincoln?  That is a beautiful part of the state.  If you need food selection help, just yell, I don't ever lie about food...ever!

[woodroe]

Mud season its our 5th season . When the frost oozes out of the ground  
and there is no bottom in places. Sucking sounds everywhere you step, wet.
Ahhh, mud season ! Usually lasts about a month.

[peakbagger]

Hard to beat Woodstock Brewery just down the road. I plan to be up on the Franconia Ridge just up the road later this week. Still plenty of snow up high. 

[SawyerTed]

We are in Lincoln just behind the police station.  Maybe that will cut down on the riff raff. 😂  We are at South Mountain Resort. 

Actually it is a little town reminiscent of Boone or Asheville of years back.  I'm sure during the height of ski season it's s hoping place.  It's kind of quiet this evening which suits us 100%!

We tend to hit off seasons and shoulder seasons with our travels.  We miss a few things but don't have as many lines and crowds.  One thing we will have to come back for is Mount Washington State Park.  Apparently it is closed until mid-May.  

We found Gordi's seafood and steaks.  It was good food accompanied by a couple of local brews. I had Stuffed Haddock and Emily has shrimp scampi.  The Tuckerman's Pale Ale was quite tasty!  

There's a mound of dirty snow at the end of the parking lot kept Company by the ubiquitous plow truck.  There's one of those in every parking lot!  

[SawyerTed]

BTW, it is clearly still winter here...

[GRANITEstateMP]

We had mud season from Dec til March, since nothing froze up for too long!

peakbagger has some GREAT advice!  Woodstock Inn now Inn & Brewery has great food.  We had breakfast there in September after a friends wedding up the road at Indian Head Resort.  They had homemade toast, cinnamon buns, and oh course NH Maple Syrup.  We used to stop there for dinner on our way to snowmobile for the weekend. The meatloaf was my go to. Dang it, hungry again!

[GRANITEstateMP]

SawyerTed, is that the hotel that is in the big ole mill building?  It's been a bit since being there,.but I'm sure you'll find plenty of neat things to check out.  If you have a chance to drive across "The Kank" to Conway area, that is a nice drive with great views too

[SawyerTed]

Learned about "the Notch", Littleton, "the kank" and Conway this afternoon.  Emily wanted to ride the kank this afternoon- I was too beat to want to drive it.  

Oddly enough we have a gift of $50 for the Woodstock Inn.   8)

[Old Greenhorn]

BTW, it is clearly still winter here...

But you said 67°, that's not winter, and I sure don't see much snow if your photo. It looks more like 'poor sledding season'.
 Have a great trip!

[thecfarm]

Been to Conway many times. But never during the summer.

[Southside]

Have ya learned what a frost heave is yet? My wife moved to Maine from Colorado and had never heard of such a thing, saw her first sign and said to herself - "what does that mean?" about 20 seconds later her vehicle was airborne and the announcer from the Dukes of Hazard was suddenly speaking in the background.  Not sure she ever found the hubcap.   :D

[peakbagger]

Well you can take the Cog, half way up 

Mount Washington Cog Railway (showare.com) Its pricey 

For free, take RT 112 west and then Rt 118 to the height of land, there is pull out scenic view near the top with a incredible view East and North of the Whites. One warning, RT 118 is front heave city. It gets repaved every few years but that frost raises havoc. Plan on 25 MPH. The view is probably the best place for a sunrise you can drive to in the area. 

The loop around Mt Washington is a worthy run, Take the I93 north through the Franconia Parkway to RT 3, to Twin Mountain. For a detour Pollys Pancake Parlor in Franconia is in full maple syrup season. On RT 3 check out the post card view of the west side of the Presidential Range as you come into town. Then if you are in a "rush" take Rt 302 East through past the Bretton Woods hotel and the Cog Railroad through Crawfords Notch (literally a notch between two mountains to Bartlett. Then take RT 16 south of the Conway's. If you are a train buff, Conway Scenic Railroad has a collection of equipment and train rides. Then south of Conway take the Kancamagus Highway back to Lincoln, plenty of scenic pull outs. Sabathday Falls is worth a stop and a quick walk (Be careful, Champney Falls a few miles beofre Sabaday is a mile in and you would need microspikes to get there). Keep an eye for moose. 

The longer option is in Twin Mountain take RT 3 North to RT 115. Go north to RT 2 and go East on RT 2 past my territory. Great views of the Northern Presidential's. Then In Gorham take Rt 16 south over Pinkham's Notch to Conway. Nice brew Pub in Gorham just south of RT 2 on RT 16.  

The bummer is the normal summer spots are not open like the Flume, the Tram up Cannon and the Autoroad. 

[SawyerTed]

That's good info peakbsgger!  We do want to veg over to Mount Washington, that will help.  

Regarding "it's still winter here", there's not a tree budding, a flower blooming and the grass isn't growing yet.  At home the dogwoods have been in full bloom for about two weeks.  I've mowed grass four times already.  :D

Temperature-wise it's been pleasant so clearly it's springtime weather.  But the wind is brutal this morning. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Ted, up here we (I anyway) have a different more finely tuned perspective on spring. For the past week for instance, when I walk out the door in the morning even though the temp may be 35° there is a very distinctive taste in the air of spring and the temp is a warm 35, not a cold 35. It's a frame of mind as much as weather data. You hear more song birds and the air is a tad drier and doesn't have the bite it had a few weeks earlier. Snow piles will hang in for quite a while (I can find some when hiking in June here and there at altitude).
 Certainly, down south, well those folks do spring up right and quick and with panache, whereas up here, it's just more subtle. :D

 Regarding MW, @aigheadish was up there for a bit this summer when he stopped here with the family for a couple of days. That was a different thing of course and the road was open, but you can find his travel thread and read a bit on it. There are also live webcams up there you can check. I just looked at it and it looks really clear this morning, the ceiling is pretty high. Some of the worst weather on the planet right there.
 Have a great trip!

[SawyerTed]

OGH, it's the contrast in traveling 700 miles north that's notable.  

Even in NC, traveling east or west from home 100 miles the delay in seasons is very obvious. 

Not a good or bad thing, just different.

You will see on Thursday in Georgia.  ;D

[SawyerTed]

@peakbagger , I showed my wife the long loop.  She's all in.  After we pack lunch we are headed out on that route.  

Thank you for your kindness!

[peakbagger]

Glad I can help. The weather is a bit warm this week The ski areas have a few more weeks before they close down but spring sking at Tuckermans Ravine on the Pinkham Notch side of Mt Washington will go until May, June some years. On the RT 2 side King Ravine has a snow formation that lasts until June most years. 

If you look real careful, the maples and birches are budding out. Maple sugar season is just about over with the nights over 32F, on RT2 near the Jefferson/Randolph line is fairly large modern operation. Its pretty non-descript, a metal building with 3 bit stainless steel vents in the roof, with miles of blue plastic tubing. I think they are up in the 20,000 tap range but the taps are up in the woods.  

The Mt Washington Autoroad was on the news this morning, they are started to dig out the snow on the road so they can open the road to the summit. It usually takes them a couple of weeks. The goal is open to the top by Memorial Day. 

[Jeff]

Two days at da cabin


 
 

 

[SawyerTed]

I did see the slight red of a few maple buds just starting.  

We decided to enjoy the Cog Train at Mt Washington  

[peakbagger]

Must have been windy. I think yesterday or today was "Big Wind Day", the anniversary of the 231 mph  wind speed recorded on the summit. 

[Old Greenhorn]

It's today.

[peakbagger]

The forged chains holding the Tip Top house to the ground on the summit are definitely impressive. The observatory had a door blow in this winter. They had all sorts of temporary braces trying to keep it closed. 

[47sawdust]

Ted ,A very warm welcome to New England.You and your wife seem to enjoy being on the road.
Maybe you remember a TV program by Charles Kuralt.He said that spring traveled north at approximately 300 miles per week.Thanks for doing your part, we are ready.