Crawford Notch - Arethusa Falls

After a couple days in Boston, it was time to hit the road and travel up to New Hampshire to do some hiking. We rented a cabin on a campsite in the White Mountains for 3 days, and were all set to tackle the local mountains. Before we could head off though, we had some serious cupcake baking to do in preparation for Darby's birthday.

Arriving mid-afternoon, our first target is the Arethusa Falls, along the Frankenstein Cliff Trail (no clue what the monster connection is). Despite the overgrown greenery, and the fairly steep incline we made reasonable progress to the first lookout point, where we had a fantastic view out into the valley.

Continuing on towards the falls we met a family with two young children (particularly impressed by the fact that the parent were hiking this trail with their children on their backs!) who warned us that they had heard a mountain lion roaring further along the trail. Despite their cautions, we were determined to carry on, but in the interests of keeping any cougars at bay we managed to sing continually for the remaining two hours of the trip. With a repertoire ranging from nursery rhymes to church music and musicals, we succeeded in scaring off any passing wildlife, and made it through to the falls unscathed.


Trail length: 5mi (8km)
Elevation Gain: 1395ft (425m)

Google Earth file for our White Mountain Hikes.