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Winter is the time where we stay indoors most of the time owing to extreme weather conditions. Most of the weekends are spent watching movies on TV or visiting friends nearby. The weather was pretty good in the second weekend of January and I took the opportunity to drive to some scenic areas of White Mountains in New Hampshire. It took some time for me to convince my wife to join as she is not fond of Winter drives. While New Hampshire is the preferred destination for viewing fall foliage, it provides some wonderful views on Winters too.

I checked the weather app and ensured that there is no snow forecast for any of the destinations I had planned (also all along the route). I didn't want to end up getting stuck with a foot of snow. We packed all the emergency essentials for winter driving such as food packets, water bottles, blankets, flashlight, matchsticks, ice scraper, shovel, additional pair of clothes. It's always recommended to carry these stuff before venturing into remote areas of White Mountains in Winter as the weather is highly unpredictable there. We started early in the morning from Boston and reached White Mountains at 8:30 AM. The only traffic on the highway was the cars heading to ski resorts. The first place I had planned for the day was a small town called Fabyan in New Hampshire. We can get very good views of Mt Washington from this place.

The deserted US-302:





The Mt Washington was completely covered with clouds:














We waited for sometime for the clouds to clear but it never showed any signs of it. We could not spend more time there due to cold weather and hence we left for the next destination.

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Our next stop was at Crawford Notch State Park.

Mt Willy as seen from Crawford Notch:








Mt Field in the background:














Saco River:

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We then drove to Echo Lake at Franconia. By this time the clouds gave way to some sunshine.

Frozen Echo Lake:








Cannon Mountain Ski Area as seen from Echo Lake:











We then walked around a partially frozen stream:

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Since clouds had cleared, we decided to go back to Fabyan to see Mt Washington. The weather did not disappoint us. We could now get a clear view of Mt Washington.















The Presidential Range as seen from US-302 at Conway:

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After enjoying the views of Mt Washington, we decided to visit Moore State Park at Paxton, Massachusetts on our way back home. This park is just 15 miles from my home.

Usually New Hampshire will have low temperatures compared to Massachusetts but it was the other way around that particular day. The temperature was around -15 C. The parking lot was just like a ice skating ring. It was very difficult to walk there.




















A frozen lake at the park:





We couldn't stay there for longer duration due to the freezing temperature. We just took a stroll around the lake and returned home. It was a satisfying drive of around 400 miles for the day.

[Gannu_1]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

Way to go Vinay. In the short span that you've spent in the States so far, you've roamed around quite a lot!

[Viper21]

Ah.. Memories . Memories and more memories. I used to stay in Merrimack and White Mountains and Kancamangus highway was my entertainment. Thanks for bringing back those memories.

[DJR]

Nice Photos. Though I have been to NH couple of times, but It seems that I need to visit once more in Winter.