Whizz,Whoosh….Crash !

After a leisurely start to the day, we went out to a nearby Snowmobile rental office in Bartlett http://www.ablsnowmobilerentals.com/directions.htm, and eventually settled on a 2 hour guided  tour, me on a single snowmobile, and Joe and Nicola on a double taking turns to drive and be passenger. We were led by a tour guide who was pretty keen to let us do whatever we wanted (within reason)..

After some initial instruction in the office, and a car park at the foot of Bear Notch Road…we were off, fairly gingerly at first - guide, Nicola,me…and within a short space of time we were whizzing along Bear Notch Road, quickly passing the point we had walked to a couple of days before.

Once the guide was satisfied we turned onto Forest trails,twisting and turning ,flying through the trees, getting up to around 35 mph ! After about 45 minutes it was time to change around, and Joseph and Nicola swopped, leaving me with a sore thumb (the control point) and to carry on alone…. Well, as you may guess, Joseph wasn’t slow learning how to use the machine, and we were quickly up to 50 mph, along the road, and then whizzing into the forest again, regularly getting up to 40mph + ! Hair raising… we continued until time for the next change, Nicola deciding she was having more fun on the back, so the guide said we would ’speed up’ ! he wasn’t joking…we were soon at 65mph along Bear Notch Road..flying through the hard rutted snow, but, they couldn’t lose me! Soon we were back onto the Forest roads again, twisting ,turning and accelerating…as I clung on for dear life !

Eventually we were back at where we started, and the end of a great 2hour tour - the guide said we were ’better than excellent’ and had done a trip which most people wouldn’t have done in 3 hours !…and we could go alone next time !! Snowmobile licences passed all round !!

Then it was back to the outdoor shops, for more stuff, Joe getting a new fleece, and Nicola a new pair of crampons…I also joined in getting… a kitchen sink (for Wally!),and some new Walking Poles, and hiring an axe for Joe…

We were to spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing, however as we returned to our cabin, and were turning left onto Rolling Bridge Road, we were smashed into by another driver…Whooops! She immediately got out, checked we were OK, and apologised, explaining that she had ‘momentarily looked down’ and when she looked up -there we were, and she couldn’t stop ! At least she was honest, and no one appeared injured, although we were all shaken. Her car was extensively damaged at the front, whereas our Jeep only had some dents in the rear boot lid and bumper… after exchanging details we drove back to the cabin, only to find that the accident ‘should’ have been reported to the Police, and so Joseph spent some time doing that, at risk of arrest and charge for leaving the scene of an accident ! But the officer who attended was very pleasant, took details and left us to enjoy a night out at the White Mountain  Cider House, In Bartlett http://whitemountaincider.com/… a really good, although apparently expensive meal, and having eaten early we were back to the cabin for an early night, before the epic to come…Mt Washington !