Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 10.djvu/75

 Asquain Lake and i/s £)ivirons.

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��apd drviug quickly after rains. The excursions from this place to many interesting points are easy and de- lightful. The top of Mount Wash- ington can be visited in a day, with an early return at supper time. All the attractions of the Notch are with- in convenient reach. Livermore falls, Mount Prospect, and the valley of Baker's river offer tempting prospects for a day's ride. One of the finest trips is to Peaked hill, in Bridge- water, an eminence about 2,200 feet above the sea level. The five-mile route is distinguished by what Starr King would designate as a general hilliness, but it is very picturesque, and some fine views are seen looking back upon Lake Squam and the moun- tains which loom against the northern, western, and eastern horizon. We pass through the town of Bridgewater, past the present town-house, which stands solitary and alone like one of G. P. R. James's horsemen, but where once was a church, a store, several dwelling-houses, and the centre of business generally. As we ascend the height of land, the valley of New- found lake is at our right, the water gleaming like a silver shield in the westering sunlio-ht. The scene re- calls Whittier's lines, —

" Under the blue New England skies, Flooded with guusliine a valley lies."

But on we drive still a mile further, in the end diverging from the main road and halting at a farm-house on the rugged hillside, where we leave the horses and make the rest of the ascent on foot. Tramping over rocks and ledges, thi'ongh runs and pas- tures where sheep and cattle are feed- ing, we stand at last on the "tip- top," where a view greets us that in

��some respects rivals any other in New Hampshire. Instead of being out of the world, we appear to be just in the very centre of things, with the great head of Mount Washington forming the dome of the earth structure. Tlie Summit House and signal station are clearly made out in favorable states of the atmosphere. An amphitheatre of mountains shuts in the horizon. Mount Jefferson to the left of Wash- ington lifts up its hoary peak, while Mounts Lafayette and Garfield of the Franconia range tower aloft with a superb pose. Moosilauke, in Benton, is so distinct that we can distinguish the house on the summit by the naked eye. Mount Cardigan is at the west, and Kearsarge and the Grand Monad- nock are outlined against the southern horizon. To the north-east and east Chocorua, Sandwich, and Belknap mountains are the most prominent objects.

In nearer adjacency are hills, some precipitous and rock-ribbed, others clad with verdure to their crowns — Plymouth mountain. Beach hill and Squam mountains, which mirror their faces in the waves of Lake Squam. Three large lakes and numerous ponds of water are visible from this point — Winnipesaukee on the east, veiled with soft mist ; farther towai'd the north, Great Squam, gemmed with isles ; and at the west, lying at our very feet, Newfound lake, in Hebron and Alexandria. No fairer view greeted the sight-seers on the tem- ple's pinnacle when the kingdoms of the world passed panorama-like be- fore the vision. We look over four counties — Grafton, Belknap, Carroll, and Merrimack — and can observe points of land in every county in

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