An international travel and tour company based out of California reached out hoping we could help them out. The mission was to help twenty older people from the United Kingdom discover some of the treasures located in the White Mountain National Forest. The plan was modified a bit as there were complications due to traffic and parking at some of the hot-spots along the Kancamagus Highway (NH Rte 112) but the final plan ended up working out great. After leaving our meeting place in the heart of North Conway the tour drove to the “Kanc” and visited several spots along this scenic highway. These spots included Rocky Gorge, Falls Pond, the Russell-Colbath House, the Sugar Hill Vista, Lily Pond, and the Pemigewasset Overlook. Due to time constraints they had to limit it to that and some spots were just too overblown to work (i.e. Sabbaday Falls). The problem is we were making this tour with a giant bus instead of our usual, more pedestrian Tourist Tours.
Leading was Redline Guide Mike Cherim and he was positioned at the front of the bus, microphone in hand, tour notes in the other hand, explaining the sights as the tour bus traveled the road. Forestry, history, geology, and zoology, these were all covered along the way. After returning to North Conway for lunch Mike helped the lead operator and bus driver plan the afternoon to include a drive through Crawford Notch, plus stops at the Willey House and the overlook across from the Omni-Mount Washington Hotel. After which they continued to NH Rte 3, I-93 through Franconia Notch, then back to the Lakes Region from where they began.
As it turned out, the group had an excellent time full of happy laughter along with the education. Mike saying things like “we’re walking” as he led the way at these various locations. All in all it was a fun, rewarding, and for Redline Guiding, an atypical event. One we’d be happy to repeat, however. What follows are a few of random photos of the day.
