White Mountains
CLIMBING THE WHITE MOUNTAINS
SEPTEMBER 1910
EUGENE S. NEWHALL
AN ANNE MINIVER BUTTERFLY TECHNOLOGIUM
PUBLICATION, 2011
READER’S NOTE
Eugene S. Newhall was born in Lynn, Massachusetts January 29, 1884 to Clara (Barnes) and Bertram Breed Newhall, a printer. Educated in the Lynn Public School, he moved to Hopedale, Massachusetts in 1903 to work for the Draper Corporation. He was employed by them for forty-six years, rising from the position of private secretary to Eben D. Bancroft to that of the Corporation’s Traffic Manager. He next worked for the Grafton & Upton Railroad Company, also in Hopedale, as Treasurer and General Manager, and then as its President. He retired in 1954. He served as the town’s Tax Collector from 1913 to 1947 and was an Incorporator and Trustee of Hopedale Community House, Inc. from 1939-1957. In addition he held several positions in the Hopedale Unitarian Parish including being its Auditor (1922-1939) and its Treasurer (1940-1960). In 1911, right after his White Mountain trip, he married Helen Irene Sadler; they hadone child, Mary Jean. He died in his beloved Hopedale on January 1, 1973.
Hopedale, Mass.
October 1,1910
Dear Arthur: [A.W.F.]
I want to burden you with an account of my vacation just passed at Jackson, New Hampshire. I do this, as perhaps you may like to pursue a similar course some time, and to make a record for my own use. In some ways this was the best vacation I have ever taken, as I saw a great deal of interest, covered a lot of ground, and yet returned in excellent condition to take up my work again.George Cromb and Frank Pierce were with me, and better companions for a vacation one could not wish.
We started from Boston on Saturday September 10th, going to Portland by boat. Had a nice trip. The sea being as smooth as glass. Arrived in Portland Sunday morning and after locating our rooms the fellows started out sight seeing, I remaining to meet Reynolds, who came down from Rochester, N. H., to spend the day with us.
Reynolds arrived as planned, and we all went to the Western Promenade. This is a fine walk laid down by the City of Portland on a very high land in the Western part of the City, and from it can be seen one side of the harbor, the Fore River, and part of the City. It was a pleasure to walk along the promenade, or sit and enjoy the scenery, which is mighty fine. A fine statue of Hon. Thomas B. Reed is located here.
At noon we met Mr. Arey, formerly of the Draper Company Pay Roll force, who lives in Portland, and the five of us took dinner at Cape Cottage Casino at Cape Elizabeth. The dinner was a good one, being of the “shore” variety. The view from the Cape is excellent, the whole harbor being right before you on one side, and the open sea on the other. Fort William is close at hand, and we went all over the grounds; including inspection of the disappearing guns, for which we got a good call down from one of the officers. However, we saw all there was to see before getting caught. A large number of troops are stationed here. The Longfellow House in Portland is said to be a very, interesting place, but we were unable to visit it, as it is not open on Sundays. I understand this is the house in which he was born.
Monday morning we left Portland for Jackson, arriving at the Jackson Falls House at just twelve o’clock. The afternoon was spent on the tennis court, which by the way was a good one.
Tuesday morning we climbed Mt. Thorn. This is a small mountain near the hotel, and an easy climb. From the top a good view of Mt. Washington was obtained. In the afternoon it rained, and we put in our time playing pool and bowling. As the hotel afforded these pleasures at no cost, we took full advantage of our rainy day.
Wednesday we made a trip to Mt. Willard. We walked three miles from the hotel to the depot, stopping at Goodrich Falls on the way. Our train left Jackson at 11:20, and at 12:30 we arrived at Crawfords after a fine trip through the Crawford Notch. The view from the train is excellent, one of the best I am sure in the East, and any one being near this place will find it a trip well worth taking. At Bartlett on the way up an extra engine is put on to the train, and an observation car attached.
We started at the depot at Crawfords and climbed Mt. Willard, taking our lunch with us. The top of Willard is about nine hundred feet above Crawfords, and is a good climb of about one and a quarter miles. There is a carriage road up this mountain, so there is no trouble in finding the way up. The view from Willard is one of grandeur I assure you. Looking back down on the Crawford Notch, through which you have just come in the train, you are now greatly surprised at the added beauty. The Notch, the mountains on both sides, and the railroad running along the side of the mountain are very clear and very near. That is one of the fine things about Willard, everything you can see is near and clearly defined. I have yet to see anything in the White Mountains that will surpass this view for grandeur and beauty, and especially when you recall it is only a nine hundred feet climb from Crawfords over a fair road.
We spent about two hours on the mountain, eating our lunch there in the bright sunshine. We then returned to Crawfords, and went by train to Bretton Woods. It is very pretty here, and I should think would be a fine place to stop. We then went by train back to Jackson, again getting a splendid view of the Crawford Notch as we passed through on the train. Jackson was reached in time for 6:30 dinner.
Thursday brought one of the finest of mornings in the mountains, and we started at 7:15 for Crystal Cascade, from which we were to start on our trip up Mt. Washing on foot going over the Raymond Trail through Tuckerman’s Ravine. We planned to make the return trip on foot, coming down by way of the carriage road, eight miles. We made the trip as planned, and I give particulars below. Before starting up the mountain we stopped about a mile away at Glen Ellis Falls, one of the very prettiest falls I have seen in the mountains with a fine drop of approximately eighty feet.
We started up the Crystal Cascade trail at 9:30, there being seven in the party, we three from Hopedale, a Boston American reporter, and three gentlemen stopping at a hotel near the Jackson Falls House, who on learning we were to make the trip asked to be included in the party. The Crystal Cascades are very pretty, but I should judge would appear to better advantage with more water than was coming down at this season of the year. In the spring with lots of water the cascades must be very fine. The trail from Crystal Cascades to the summit of Mt. Washington is 3.6 miles long. The elevation at the cascades is about 2,500 feet, not over that, above sea level, and that at Mt. Washington summit is about 6,200 feet, so you see we had 3,700 feet to go up in 3.6 miles, or about 1,000 feet to go up in each mile, and figured still lower we went up 1 foot to every five miles forward. That was some climbing sure.
The trail for a mile or so is through the woods, and it is comparatively easy to follow, being an ordinary woods path. After traveling about a mile we struck the Ravine trail, and from there on the trees began to disappear, only scrub spruce being found. Another mile brought us well up the Ravine, and the small trees and shrubs had now disappeared almost entirely. The snow was all gone from the Ravine. A native told me it went out about August 20th this year.
The trail after leaving the timber land was marked by piles of stones situated about 15 to 30 feet apart, and is well defined. About two miles from the start you leave the Ravine and strike out up the mountain side. Nothing but rocks varying in size from as large as your head to as large as a house, are to be seen, with occasionally a clump of very coarse grass near a spring. The tail over the rocks is marked by slabs of white paint, and with good weather is easy to follow, although at one place it turns a sharp angle and you must watch closely. It is an awfully hard climb, and the mile and a half of this up, up over the rocks told on us a great deal, but we stuck it out, and at 12:55 were at the summit, having made the trip in three hours and twenty-five minutes from the time we left the carriage road at Crystal Cascades.
Pierce, Cromb and I finished together, two of the party were ahead of us about twenty-five minutes, and two about thirty minutes behind. The trail through Tuckerman Ravine is the shortest way up to the summit by foot, but it is the hardest of all. The scenery is very fine indeed all the way up, and it is a grand experience to go through. I wore ordinary clothing, consisting of heavy shoes, light underwear, khaki trousers, gray flannel shirt, and medium weight jacket. I had my sweater
SUMMIT HOUSE – MT. WASHINGTON
tied around my waist by the sleeves, and as we sat down to lunch on the summit I was right glad that I had it, for it was very cold, probably about 40 degrees above.
Needless to say we were all very tired and very hungry, having waited to have lunch until the top was reached. Just to give you an idea of the appetites we developed I would say I ate four ham sandwiches, two hard boiled eggs, two doughnuts with cheese, a piece of cake about four inches square, some olives and two apples. I ate the least of all. After eating this lunch and purchasing two cups of coffee at the Tip Top House I felt rather better than twenty minutes before.
The view from the summit of Mt. Washington is fine in all directions, and in many cases the mountains are so far away they are not much more than a sky line under the best atmospheric conditions. Sebago Lake and Lake Winnipesauke are clearly visible, and mountains in Vermont and Maine may be seen. You look down on all of the White Mountains. We spent a little over an hour and a half on the summit, and at 2:40 started down the mountain, going by way of the carriage road. This is eight miles long, and all down hill. It is a very interesting tramp, starting above all the other mountains, and gradually getting down so that the nearest peaks are all above you. The sunshine on the mountains and the cloud affects are grand.
We made the down trip in two hours and sixteen minutes, having stopped about ten minutes at the “Half Way House” to refresh ourselves, and pay a sixteen cent toll which the owners of the road demand. On reaching the main road at the Glen House we met our team, and drove back to the hotel, arriving in time for six thirty dinner as we did the day before.This surely was a grand trip, made under the most favorable conditions, and I shall never forget or regret it.
We registered in the book kept at the Tip Top House for those who make the ascent on foot, and while there I met two members of the Appalachian Mountain Club, and the gentlemen had many interesting incidents to relate. They have climbed a great many if not all of the mountains near Washington, going over many different trails, and their experiences were very interesting. They referred to the placed marked to distinguish the point where two New York Athletic Club men lost their lives a few years ago in trying to make the climb to the top of Mt. Washington.
It seems these gentlemen started out on a cloudy day, in spite of much urging that they should not go under the prevailing weather conditions. It began to rain when they were on Mt. Pleasant on the way up, as they made a record which was found on them reading, “Mt. Pleasant, - Raining and growing colder.” The rain froze to the rocks, making progress impossible, and obliterating the trail marks. They evidently kept going as best they could, became exhausted and froze to death. This occurred on the 25th of July, and their bodies were found just 100 yards from the summit, where everything they needed to sustain life awaited them. It was a very sad experience. The Appalachian Club gentlemen used this as an illustration of the utter folly of starting on such a trip under any except the very best weather conditions.
On our way down the carriage road we passed a hollow square made of rocks. This marks the place where the body of a young lady was found. She started to make the ascent on a cloudy day, got into a storm, and lost her life. The circumstances were similar to the case just mentioned and she froze to death. This occurred a number of years ago, and in the middle of summer. A cloudy or stormy day surely is no day to be rambling around in the mountains, especially up where it is liable to be cold. Passing these spots, and knowing the story connected with the hollow square, made us feel thankful we had such excellent conditions under which to make our trip. It made quite an impression on a fellow I can tell you.
The remainder of our vacation was spent in taking things easy, playing tennis each day and taking easy walks in order to keep from stiffening up, as we all felt that a few days rest after our strenuous exercise of the previous three days would put us in excellent shape to return to work.
The evenings at Jackson were passed quietly for the most part, although we did go to one dance, which kept us up until rather late. We played pool and cards each evening, but I retired early every night but one and by early I mean 9:30 or so.
We left Jackson on Monday the 21st, and I spent four days in Lynn visiting my parents. Here I took things easy, putting in one afternoon at the ball game in Boston, and another at the Opera House where I witnessed “The Bohemian Girl”, which was excellent. At home I retired early every night, and returned to Hopedale in fine condition after two weeks away. I weighed exactly what I did when I left, 126 pounds. However, my waist measure had decreased about 1 ½ inches as testified to by the holes in my belt. This shows the hard work of climbing had the effect of reducing superfluous flesh, and at the same time added flesh to other parts of the body, no doubt some of it to the lower limbs.
It certainly was a very enjoyable vacation, one which did me much good physically, and I shall have a lot of nice experiences to think about and talk over with those who have been through the same.
Hope some day you may make a similar trip through the mountains. You will surely enjoy it, as you are I know very fond of tramping. If you have waded through this and found it of interest I shall be glad.
Sincerely yours,