We left Maine today and headed to New Hampshire. Lots of scenery along the way, but it was rainy and overcast for much of our drive.

Once we arrived in New Hampshire we spent time in the White Mountains National Forest. This is the most eastern national forest in the US. We drove part of the Kancamagus Highway, which is known for its fall foliage. This highway is named for Kancamagus, the final leader of the Pennakook, a local group of Angonquian-speaking tribes in southern New Hampshire in the 17th century. These tribes allied as the English colonists attacked them directly and via the Mohawk and other enemy tribes. Kancamagus eventually moved his people away to what is today upper New Hampshire and Quebec.

We stopped to see the Albany Covered Bridge. This was built in 1858 and has been kept in good enough condition that you can drive across it, although steel supports had to be added to accommodate heavier cars. The bridge is over the Swift River, which this time of year is very low.

Farther down the river we went to Rocky Gorge. This is aptly named as you can see by all of the rock.

On the left is a very narrow area for the river water to flow. This leads to a waterfall.

The story behind this spot is that in 1942 some young women went swimming here and one of them got sucked into the currents under the falls. She was missing for hours, leading to a search for her body. They dammed the river to assist in the search. They ended up finding her alive under the falls as she had ended up in an air pocket or small cave under the falls but was unable to get out on her own due to the currents. Swimming has been banned here ever since.

We also stopped at the Sabbaday Falls. These are on the Sabbaday Brook, which was apparently named when workers constructing a nearby road quit work on Sunday (sabbath day) and were in the vicinity of the brook. The falls were originally named Churches Falls after the painter Frederich Church, but the name didn’t stick.

These falls are really quite impressive for their size and the pictures don’t do them justice.