![]() We sat here for a while enjoying our company together. We walked over to the natural summit amphitheater where weddings take place and Sunday morning services are observed. Katie and Scott enjoyed the mountain views and they could point out where we were the previous afternoon–Cannon Mountain! There is also a short pleasant hiking path around the summit tower. The 50 foot tall wooden tower has a roof covering the observation deck and it is surrounded by trees. It was too hazy to see Mount Washington but we could see deep into the Pemigewasset Wilderness. Over Big Coolidge Mountain the mountaintops appeared and we could look right up the spine of the Franconia Range. The mountain hosts a high level mountain running race each July and runners come here to train.Īs we rose higher we could see more. Underneath us we saw several runners on the mountain’s work road. The ride takes about ten minutes each way. The gondola cars carry up to four people and are easy to get in and out of since they slow down to a crawl at the base and summit terminals and when they grab the main cable they fly up the mountain. The lift opens at 10 am and we arrived shortly after and we had our pick of parking places in the nearly empty lot. The next day we went to Lincoln to ride Loon Mountain Resort’s Gondola to the summit of Loon Peak. Old and even ancient skis are on display along with10th Mountain Division history and the current exhibit is Backcountry Skiing. Katie learned that Olympic medals are not the same and that each host country has their own design, size and shape. Without a doubt Bode Miller’s Olympic medals and his World Cup Crystal Globes are a unique treasure to behold. The New England Ski Museum is free and open daily until 5 pm. We found this big moose at the White Mountain Attractions/White Mountain National Forest Visitor Center in Lincoln, NH. Scott and Katie came all the way from Wisconsin to see our White Mountains. He recommended we visit after our ride and we did. The museum is the building with ski-happy nation’s flags flying, right next to the tramway base. He pointed out the small old tramcar that is now part of the entrance of the New England Ski Museum. We had a different tram operator this time and he told us more wonderful things about the area. We skipped the cafeteria and the bar’s “highest taps in NH” and took the next ride down. We spent more than half an hour studying the mountain vista and enjoying the cool breeze. Charlie and I pointed out the nearby peaks of the Franconia Range–Lafayette, Lincoln, Liberty and Flume and more peaks around us. We climbed the flights of stairs to the observation deck where we were rewarded with an unrestricted 360 degree grand view. We strolled up the short path to the observation tower that sits on the summit of Cannon Mountain. The current exhibit features Backcountry Skiing. Bode Miller’s Olympic medals and World Cup Crystal Globes are on loan by Miller to the Museum and are on display. The New England Ski Museum is located right next to the base of the Cannon Mountain Ariel Tramway. From the upper tramway terminal we looked down the cable and past the towers into Franconia Notch and a hazy view far over to Maine. The ride took less than ten minutes and we walked out of the tramcar into much cooler refreshing air. We didn’t see any bears on the ski slopes but had earlier that day. As we rode higher he explained what we were seeing all around us. The operator gave a nice narration about the history of Cannon Mountain and the area. ![]() The tramcar can hold up to 80 people but since it was a weekday afternoon we shared the ride only with about a dozen others. There is even an illustrated explanation of why he fell. The exhibit with its many wonderful photos and Old Man memorabilia filled in the holes of what we were trying to explain while driving through the Notch. I purchased the tickets to ride the Tram while Charlie showed them the Old Man of the Mountain Exhibit. We tried to explain to them our missing New Hampshire State Symbol, The Old Man of the Mountain. We all ‘oohed’ and ‘aahed’ at the sight of the mile long Cannon Cliff that is the west wall of Franconia Notch on our way to the Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway. We took a short walk around the water carved granite pool and we marveled at its swirling cold water that cooled the air and felt wonderful. On our way north we pulled off in Franconia Notch to see The Basin. The weather was warm and clear, perfect for visiting mountaintops. ![]() They were only here for a few days and they wanted to do as much as possible. We couldn’t have been happier to show them off. Katie and Scott, my husband Charlie’s sister and her husband, are from Wisconsin and they came to visit us and they wanted to see our White Mountains.
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