VOLUME 35, NUMBER 7 JULY 15, 2010 FREE THE WEEKLY NEWS & LIFESTYLE JOURNAL OF MT. WASHINGTON VALLEY Staying Cool, Naturally: CE-Yo at Tin Mountain: In an effort to cool off, Sara Young-Knox Gary Hirshberg, CE-Yo of explores some Stonyfield Farms, will dis- of the finest cuss maintaining a prof- river swim- itable green business at ming holes Tin Mountain in the Conservation Valley ... A 2 Center ... A13 A SALMON PRESS PUBLICATION • (603) 447-6336 • PUBLISHED IN CONWAY, NH Page Two Last one in is a rotten egg!! Matthew Kelly of Powder Springs, Ga., finds climbing is the best use of a boulder upended in the Swift River in a pool east of the Big Eddy. Bare feet work better on the rocks and ledges of the Swift, as naked toes are better at clutching onto the sides of the river-smoothed granite outcroppings. (Sara Young-Knox Photo) River swimming in Mount Washington Valley By Sara Young-Knox where the surrounding land is al sediments. Even the sand adventurous jumpers. River recently by the U.S. Forest Contributing Writer flat enough to have once been caught along the river bows is depth can vary widely on the Service, but there’s an easier farmers’ hay fields, you have too coarse to ride for long sus- Swift, its relative narrowness way to see from the road how he river bottom to get your feet wet and step pended in the water once the of its channel making it very high the river is. On the north is pebbly where into the shallow river and feel spring snowmelt is over. sensitive to differences in side of the Big Eddy, just the Swift River the force of the water, unex- The water’s natural inclina- rainfall, so those who want to above the pool, there are runs through the pectedly strong, against your tion is to be clear, and it is this jump off rock or ledge any- painted slashes on a steep Albany Inter- calve muscles. clearness that makes it a pleas- where along the river should ledge, marking the number of vale.T The 26-mile river runs The recent heat wave has ure to swim anywhere on check the river bottom first. feet. In the spring, the river parallel to the Kancamagus driven Mount Washington either the Swift or Saco where Obstructions in the deeper offers some of the best white- Highway and down by the Valley’s residents and visitors they run in the National pools can change from year to water kayaking in the East, Lower Falls Picnic Area, the to seek relief in the coolness of Forest. Most people prefer the year, too. In high water the and the painted numbers are rocks and pools are heavily the Saco and Swift Rivers. For spots on the rivers with pools force of the water is unbeliev- for the kayakers’ benefit. populated with swimmers and many, the heat is a welcome deep enough to kick hard able, and in early spring, when In the hot weather there’s a sunbathers, but here, just off visitor, particularly after the without hitting rocks, and heavy rains add volume to tendency for sunbathers and the Sawyer Pond Trail parking summer that wasn’t last year. there are several areas along snow-swollen waters, whole swimmers to cluster at the lot, there is nobody. Both rivers offer a delightful each river that offer such boulders can be lifted up and well-known areas — perhaps The water is smoother than variety of water recreation and pools. The Lower Falls on the bounced down river. The river thinking, if they are new visi- at the Lower Falls, mostly a both have their headwaters Kancamagus drops into a pool bed is cluttered with large tors to the area, that there is glassy surface that seems to and tributaries protected by which even has a well-placed rocks, tons of evidence of the safety in numbers — but the move downstream like sheets the White Mountain National boulder in it as a destination area’s geological history, past river offers much more. Pull of liquid mica. It’s hard to get Forest, greatly minimizing for stronger swimmers. and present. your car off the road anywhere a visual sense of the water’s any unnatural runoff. The The Big Eddy’s location off along the north side of the velocity because it’s not rush- northern New Hampshire he Big Eddy, east of the Kanc is now marked by a Kanc in Albany, Livermore ing and tumbling through gardener’s curse, the yearly Lower Falls, is blessed small array of solar panels, and Waterville Valley below narrow channels carved out of crop of rocks, is a blessing for Twith enough water easily seen from the highway. granite, like at the Rocky the rivers. The rocky soil below a nearly vertical rock This is an unmanned stream- SWIM Gorge Scenic Area. Here, holds few fine-grained miner- outcrop to challenge the more flow gauging station, put in continues on facing page On the Cover Inside Index Four-Time Newton’s Revenge Winner Waldorf School celebrates 25 Years Arts . .Pages A10, 16-17 & 20-23 On Sunday, July 11, Marti Shea, of Marblehead, The White Mountain Waldorf School recently cele- Business News . .Pages A12-13 Mass., celebrated her fourth Newton’s Revenge title brated its 25th anniversary with its first Eldest Class Calendar . .Pages A24-25 atop Mount Washington, giving her the victory in graduation and a proven history of offering a unique every Newton’s Revenge contested. She crossed the alternative choice for education in the Valley. Page On The Links . .Page A28 A14. line in 1:09:36, easily outpacing second place finish- Passages . .Page A11 er, Dominique Coderre of Montreal. See story on Page A31. (Photo by Dennis Coughlin) Ameranouche in Concert Real Estate . .Pages A5 & 12-13 The gypsy jazz trio Ameranouche will perform at the Sports . .Pages A30-31 Believe in Books Literacy Foundation’s Theater in the Wood on July 16. Page A21. Thoughts While Weeding . .Page A29 Page A2 - The Mountain Ear, Thursday, July 15, 2010 Until it reaches the bound- Swim aries of Crawford Notch State Park, much of the Saco’s river- Continued from facing page banks border private land, too, the Kancamagus Pass, get out so if you leave trash it’s the and cut through the woods landowners who will get up- and you’ll find the Swift. The set when they have to clean up higher up you go, the more after you, not Forest Ser- privacy you’ll have, with pools vice workers. In either case, still deep enough to lay back follow the Leave No Trace in and soak your overheated principles. bones while the bubbling from small falls tickles your skin. here are still quiet, accessible spots on the his holds true for the Tupper Saco. On a Saco River, too. The recent Sunday afternoon, TSwift ends at the Saco when the parking lots to other in Conway, where it joins its swimming holes were over- larger sister and loses its iden- flowing, there were only six tity. The Saco meanders on cars in the Fourth Iron until it reaches the Atlantic in Tentsite parking lot. Only a Maine, 134 miles from its start The Swift River in the Albany Intervale runs quiet and smooth past the legs of Steve Knox of Albany. handful of people had taken at the top of Crawford Notch. (Sara Young-Knox Photo) the short walk through the The first few miles of the Saco woods, with several of them are similar to the Swift, as it with respect and get to know Side Road. All you have to do ago, and the Kanc only relaxing on the rocky shore tumbles over rocks and ledges its quirks before doing any- is pull your car up off the road opened 51 years ago. The under a beach umbrella. and gathers strength from the thing too adventurous. And near the dozens of cars already Kanc had the advantage of There were only two swim- smaller streams of the Saco definitely do not jump off the there, and head to the river. modern heavy road construc- mers in the water, two young watershed. First Bridge on River Road Unlike the Kancamagus tion equipment, complete men who had climbed up the As it empties out of just outside North Conway Highway, Route 302 through with the blasting power to cut almost smooth-faced cliff on Crawford Notch there are Village. It’s against the law. Crawford Notch, though out ledges so that the road was the opposite shore, then cast subtle changes, and by the North of Conway the river offering outstanding views of high enough not to get themselves off the ledge, time it reaches Conway it’s a is rockier, and has swimming the cliffy weathering of the washed out by spring flood- jumping into the river below. wide river with sandy beaches, spots not unlike those found White Mountains, was not ing. Those who built the early For more information on a Mecca for canoeists and on the Swift. On hot days it’s built as both a scenic highway road through Crawford Notch the Swift River and the Saco recreational swimmers alike. easy to find the deeper pools, and a transportation route, so had to build it far enough River in New Hampshire, go Here, the water can appear from Breeder Pool off Route it mostly doesn’t hug the Saco away from the river that they to http://des.nh.gov/ organiza- quite harmless, but it is always 302 to Humphrey’s Ledge on the way the Kanc does.