New England – Fall 2010 – Day 6: Franconia to Bennington

The schedule now showed a series of three one night stops basically to get us to Niagara Falls which we had tacked onto the original “New England in the Fall” itinerary on the basis Niagara is too special to miss. We had an estimated three hours of driving from Franconia to Bennington but it looked like freeway all the way as it was 180 miles.
Bennington had its own attractions but we decided to take in the Flume Gorge and Visitor Center at Franconia Notch State Park, in the heart of the popular White Mountain National Forest. Discovered in 1808, the Flume is a natural gorge extending 800 feet at the base of Mount Liberty. The walls of Conway granite rise to a height of 70 to 90 feet and are 12 to 20 feet apart. The recent heavy rain had guaranteed that the water-flow would be spectacular and we were prepared for the walk which includes uphill walking and lots of stairs.
The Flume path consists of a wooden walkway suspended along the side of the cliff which takes visitors alongside the rushing stream, past whirlpools and waterfalls and over two covered bridges before ending in a pleasant forest trail loop.
If you’ve ever ridden a flume ride at the amusement park, you’ll get the basic idea. A “flume” is a geological feature formed when a plug of basalt is worn away from between two walls of harder granite—the result is a torrent of water in a steep gorge.
So after breakfast we set off – its worth mentioning at this point all our arrangements by American Driving Vacations had proved smooth and we had been expected at all our hotels, the payment voucher sometimes created more interest but was then accepted. It occurred to us at the time that we could produce similar vouchers ourselves and free-load our way across the USA – some people could get away with it but I know the tension at every check-in would destroy us.
The Flume was quite close to the hotel so we arrived mid-morning and were happy to take our time and enjoy the attraction fully. From the visitor centre onwards the Flume captivated us – looking back it was then that the whole New England experience took flight.
On a paved pathway towards the sound of running water we realised that the trees were turning through yellows towards red. Julia, the Geologist, marveled at a huge glacial boulder dropped next to the path many centuries ago then we met the water for the first time. It was flowing swiftly under a covered bridge. It truly was New England!
Since retirement we have enjoyed the digital camera but struggled to get the best from our newest camcorder, sites like the flume should change all that. Julia used the camcorder and, for once I, was envious of its potential – we must get into downloading video and assembling it into a watchable film of our exploits.
It’s fair to say that the flume teases its visitors, the lower reaches are impressive but each stage we progressed upward became more strikingly beautiful. We swapped sides of the stream by a the winding of the path and a series of bridges, each one temptingly placed to produce notable photos both up and down stream.
The level of water noise warned us of more to come but nevertheless we were shocked to see the path climbing under the sheer sides of the canyon. The falls were stunning and we were sprayed nearly all the time. On reaching the top past the most impressive falls which landed into deep pools before flowing on, we were again impressed by the thought behind the attraction’s design. Instead of simply retracing our steps, and experiencing that slight anti-climax of deciding if you need to take the same photo again this time coming down, we walked a forest path back to the visitor centre. Here we were above another mountain stream and able to watch kayakers tackling the currents and rapids. It was also amazing to see the substantial trees that appeared to be rooted through and round boulders into the soil below them.
Close to the end of our trek there was the Wolf’s Hole – a shortcut for those small enough or brave enough to crawl through – neither of us qualified but a young boy from California if his sweatshirt was to be trusted disappeared into it and later rushed back down the trail to his mother to claim victory over the cave!
We were back on the road again by noon and the journey passed pleasantly. We arrived in Bennington and checked into the Best Western New Englander Motel, we were placed in a smoking room on the extreme edge of the motel buildings but it turned out the place was fully booked so no transfer to non-smoking was possible.
We checked out our in-room information and we decided on seeing the Bennington Battle Memorial before dark and leaving Bennington’s other claim to fame, the Covered Bridges, until the following day.
We set off on foot but soon realised the distances were further than we had thought and returned for the car. We quickly found the memorial, hard to miss a 300 foot obelisk on top of a hill, and paid the requisite $2 to ride the elevator to the viewing deck. The view from the monument is excellent and there are openings through which it is possible to photograph without reflection or distortion caused by the glass of windows. On our way down the lift operator recognised us as English but pointed out that the troops fighting the Colonists at the battle of Bennington were mainly German mercenaries paid by the British. Knowing very little of the War of Independence I have since tried to research the incidents which we touched on our trip. This appears to be the story of the battle
Aware of the advancing British troops moving east toward Bennington, Stark, the American commander, decided to head them off rather than defend the supply depot at the Bennington site. Therefore, it was approximately five miles northwest of Bennington, near Walloomsac Heights in New York State, that the actual battle took place. Hampered by heavy rains, the British had halted their advance and were encamped on the south slope parallel to the Walloomsac River. General Stark, assessing the British position, sent detachments under Colonel Moses Nichols to circle Baum’s left, under Colonel Samuel Herrick to circle the right, and under Colonels David Hobart and Thomas Stickney to the south. Stark, with his remaining men, made the principal frontal attack. The fighting began at three o’clock on the afternoon of August 16th. The first shot was fired by Nichols’ battalion; and by five o’clock that evening, the British troops were retreating in disorder. Baum received a mortal wound at this stage of the battle and his demoralized troops surrendered. General Stark later described this engagement as “one continuous clap of thunder.” As General Stark was taking the captured and wounded enemy soldiers back to Bennington, Colonel Breymann appeared with a second unit of Burgoyne’s army, surprising Stark and his men. The Americans fought back; but exhausted and hungry, they slowly gave ground. Then suddenly, arriving overland from Manchester, Colonel Seth Warner and his Green Mountain Boys from Vermont came to their aid. With this additional help and reinforcement, the scales were tipped in the Americans’ favor and Breymann’s ranks gave way. By dusk they were fleeing, with the Americans in hot pursuit.
In a perverse parallel, as we were leaving the area we noted that the flags, state and national, which were being lowered had been flying at half-mast, I asked and was told that news had arrived from Afghanistan that an American soldier from Vermont had been killed that day and due to the battle’s links with Vermont, despite it being in New Hampshire, the flag was lowered as a mark of respect.
We returned to the hotel and found there were all the basic American restaurants available, Pizza Hut was in walking distance and it served our purpose well. We were disappointed not to be able to chill out with a beer and it seemed that the restaurant had been in the process of closing for the night since we walked in at 7.30pm. Another early night!