Thoreau Country: Location Note

Conway and the Intervale, New Hampshire

From Henry Thoreau's journal about his 1858 trip to the White Mountains

Table of Contents July 4-6, 1858.

First page: July 4 & 5, 1858. Winnepesaukee, Center Harbor, Red Hill, Sandwich Range, Ossipee Mountain, to Tamworth.

Second page: July 6, AM. Mount Chocorua.

Below: July 6, PM. Conway, the Saco River, the Intervale, and towards Mount Washington.

[A separate page briefly covers his ascent of Washington July 8-12 on this trip.]

July 6, 1858 P.M.   In the Intervale

"The scenery in Conway and onward to North Conway is surprisingly grand. You are steadily advancing into an amphitheatre of mountains. I do not know exactly how long we had seen one of the highest peaks before us in the extreme northwest, with snow on its side just below the summit, but a little beyond Conway a boy called it Mt. Washington. I think it was visible just before entering Conway village.

[Caption: This is Thoreau's view from Conway of Mount Washington, looking north across the high school athletic field. Ironically, this image is an virtual view I downloaded from a web cam operated by the local chamber of commerce to reassure people when the weather is fine in the Mount Washington valley. (Nov. 19, 2001.)]

"If Mt. Washington, the snow must have been in Tuckerman's Ravine, which, methinks, is rather too low. Perhaps it was that we afterward saw on Mt. Adams. There was the regular dark pyramid of Kearsarge at first in front, then, as you proceed to North Conway, on our right, with its deserted hotel on the summit, and Mote Mountain accompanies you on the left, and high, bare rocky precipices at last on the same side.

[Caption: "Moat Mountain, Intervale, New Hampshire" c. 1862 (detail), by Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902).
(Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester NH.) Unlike the other views, this looks back down the valley. White Horse and Cathedral Ledges are conspicuous. Intervales, according to Tickner's White Mountains (1884), are "the level green meadows which adorn these valleys." ]

"The road, which is for the most part level, winds along the Saco through groves of maples, etc., on the level intervals, with so little of rugged New Hampshire under your feet, often soft and sandy road.

[Caption: Mt. Washington and the Saco River, by Delbert Coombs (1850-c.1927). (In the Intervale. White Horse and Cathedral Ledges are seen from the south.)]

"The scenery is remarkable for this contrast of level interval with soft and shady groves, with mountain grandeur and ruggedness. Often from the midst of level maple groves, which remind you only of classic lowlands, you look out through a vista to the most rugged scenery of New England. It is quite unlike New Hampshire generally, quite unexpected by me, and suggests a superior culture. We at length crossed the Saco from the left to the right side of the valley, going over or through three channels.

[Caption: "Mount Washington from Intervale, New Hampshire." From Mountains of New England (pub. by Boston and Maine Railroad, c. 1892-1915). View is from traditional intervale overlook.

"After leaving North Conway, the higher White Mountains were less seen, if at all. They had not appeared in pinnacles, as sometimes described, but broad and massive. Only one of the higher peaks or summits (called by the boy Mt. Washington) was conspicuous. The snow near the top was conspicuous here thirty miles off. The summit appeared dark, the rocks just beneath pale-brown (forenoon) (not flesh-colored like Chocorua), and below, green, wooded...." [This is the end of the journal selection, but 3 photos follow.]

[Caption: "Mount Washington and Conway Valley, New Hampshire" (1870),
by Edmund Darch Lewis. Viewpoint was at location of traditional overlook,
as is the modern view below.]

The Intervale is still grand and secret, but North Conway is a visual blight zone ("6,000 Salad Bowls"), and the traffic is often something to be endured. The clutter almost obscures the simplicity of the following:

[Caption: Presidential Range. Mt. Washington from just north of the North Conway Intervale overlook. Snowless Huntington Ravine is in partial shadow at right. Also-snowless Tuckerman's Ravine is partially obscured below the summit. Mt. Adams to right. Mt. Monroe to left. Prob. late Sept., 199-?. Detail from B. Grant.]

Go back to first page: July 4-5. Winnepesaukee, Center Harbor, Red Hill, Ossipee Mountains, and Tamworth.

Go back to second page: July 6 a.m. Mt. Chocorua and Madison NH.

[A separate page briefly covers his ascent of Washington July 8-12 on this trip.]

[Prepared by S. Ells, 2/2002,
<http://homepage.mac.com/sfe/henry/index.html>]