They Are
Streaked With The Paths Of Landslides, Occurring At Different Periods,
Which Have Left The Rocky Ribs Of The Mountains Bare From Their Bald Tops
To The Forests At Their Feet, And Have Filled The Sides Of The Valley With
Heaps Of Earth, Gravel, Stones, And Trunks Of Trees.
From the Willey house you ascend, for about two miles, a declivity, by no
means steep, with these dark
Ridges frowning over you, your path here and
there crossed by streams which have made for themselves passages in the
granite sides of the mountains like narrow staircases, down which they
come tumbling from one vast block to another. I afterward made
acquaintance with two of these, and followed them upward from one clear
pool and one white cascade to another till I was tired. The road at length
passes through what may be compared to a natural gateway, a narrow chasm
between tall cliffs, and through which the Saco, now a mere brook, finds
its way. You find yourself in a green opening, looking like the bottom of
a drained lake with mountain summits around you. Here is one of the houses
of accommodation from which you ascend Mount Washington.
If you should ever think of ascending Mount Washington, do not allow any
of the hotel-keepers to cheat you in regard to the distance. It is about
ten miles from either the hotels to the summit, and very little less from
any of them. They keep a set of worn-out horses, which they hire for the
season, and which are trained to climb the mountain, in a walk, by the
worst bridle-paths in the world.
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