Probably most everyone who is reading this report has done this loop-hike at least once. It is a timeless hike that folks have been doing since the mid 1800s. Possibly there were some early trekkers who made their way to Bald Mountain and Artist's Bluff even before the Profile House opened in 1853. This long-gone hotel once occupied the space that is now the parking lot for the Cannon Mountain Tramway. Click HERE if you're interested in reading more about the history of the Profile House.
As I was looking through the photos that I took on my short hike, it struck me that if you can ignore the intrusion of I-93, today's view is basically the same as seen by hikers over 150 years ago.
Just for the fun of it, I grabbed some historical images from the Internet to compare to my photos. Shown below are two photo collages. The first collage compares one of my snapshots to an oil painting done in 1887 by Edward Hill. And the second collage compares an old postcard to one of my snapshots. The oil painting and the postcard both show the old Profile House resting at the south end of Echo Lake.
View from Bald Mountain
With a total distance of about 1.4 miles, I think this loop hike is ideal for anyone seeking a short and extremely satisfying White Mountain adventure!
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11 comments:
What a great little hike, and I always find historical photos fascinating, so those were a real treat, too.
This is the first hike I ever took my daughter and son on. They were 6 and 4, respectively. I remember a couple of things, one, that they weren't deterred in the least by all the ledges and scrambled up and down like little monkeys. Two, was the introduction of my son to the ways of the backwoods bio-break. He had to go, and so I directed him down a little side track towards some trees and told him to go down there. He looked down through the trees and looked back at me a bit puzzled and said, "Mom, there's no potties down there!". LOL. I suppose I had a little more explaining to do!
Summerset, thanks for posting your comments, and I did a “LOL” when reading your delightful story about introducing your son to the all important “backwoods bio-break”!
Glad you enjoyed the few snippets of historical photos that were inserted into the Blog. Like you, I’m also fascinated by old photos.
John
Very neat photo comparison. Once I get through my 48, this will be on my list.
Mark B.
Mark . . . best wishes to you regarding your NH48 quest!
Thank you for the nice feedback about the photo comparison.
John
John,
Great idea to compare the painting/postcard with your photos. It seems Eagle Cliff and Lafayette have undergone some serious erosion over the last 124 years!
Steve
I have never done this hike but it looks beautiful!
I love the historic photos next to your own.
I tend not to do short hikes like this if there is a long drive involved. This one looks like it would be worth doing if combined with another short hike in the area.
Elizabeth (and Salty and Gracie)
Steve, thank you for posting a reply.
Hmmm! Regarding the erosion that you mentioned, maybe that's why it's called Artist's Bluff!:) Perhaps in Mr. Hill's 1887 painting there was a bit of "bluff" (a.k.a. "artistic license") being employed in order to emphasize the size of Eagle Cliff & Mt. Lafayette!:)
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[My Life Outddors] Steven . . . yes indeed, this is a beautiful little hike. It provides quite a big payoff for very little time and effort.
John
[Anonymous]Elizabeth, thank you for your positive feedback about the photo comparisons used in this Blog.
And yes, you’re absolutely right about combining the brief Bald Mtn/Artist’s Bluff mini-loop hike with something else. Unless you live in the immediate area as I do (or you’re camping nearby), it’s really too short to consider as a “stand alone” hike. It could be combined with another short hike in the area such as Bridal Veil Falls. Or, I think it would be entirely doable to combine it with a longer hike such as a trek to Mt. Lafayette which is right across the road.
John
I have never heard of this hike but it looks great! These kind of hikes make me wish I lived in New Hampshire!
Grant, this goes back many, many years ago, but I have an Uncle who used to live in the Berkshire Region of MA which is not too far from your location in Hadley. I have pleasant memories of hiking in that area. No doubt about it, the White Mtns of NH is sort of a Mecca for fine hiking, but I think you’d agree that it’s enjoyable to be outdoors and hiking, regardless of where you do it!
Thanks for posting your comment!
John
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