The Highland Center sits at 2000' on an open plot of land, the highest ground on Rt. 302 through Crawford Notch. The Southern end of the Presidential Range rises across the road to the East and three 4000' peaks (Willey, Tom and Field) rise up just out the door to the west.
We had prepped the grounds for Irene, storing all the patio furniture, turning over benches and stashing flower boxes. Our only action during the storm was checking windows for leaks (there were many) and periodically checking the historic train depot, a short drive away in the JCB loader.
Three times during the storm Stacey and I ventured down Rt 302 into the Notch in my truck. The motivation of the trips was partly to look for any standard hikers, but also curiosity, wanting to see what we've never seen, and probably will never see, again.
On the first trip we made it three miles South, passed the Willey House historic site to where the Appalachian Trail crosses the road before heading up into the Presidentials.
On our second trip down into the Notch we barely made it around Saco Lake, which was now across the road, taking a small hiking bridge with it. The Silver and Flume cascades, normally narrow bands of water that gently trace their way down a swath of cliffs, were ragging torrents of water ready to overtake the road at any moment.
That's Silver Cascade at 1:30 p.m. during Irene. This is Silver Cascade on a normal day.
Flume Cascade during Irene. And now, Flume on a normal day.
On this trip into the Notch we were turned around short of the Willey House. A new stream (there had never been one here before) had punched its way out of the side of the mountain and across the road, along with a pile of debris.
On our third trip, we didn't make it passed the two cascades. The water had actually begun to recede, but at some point in the two hours since our last trip into the Notch, the cascades jumped the road we had been driving, leaving a delta of mud and rocks, some the size of basketballs.
The road on the uphill side had been undermined by the rushing water, dropping the pavement down five feet in places and washing sections of granite curbing downhill.
The storm pulled away in the early evening. The Highland Center was almost completely unharmed, with only a few newly planted trees bent to the ground. Stacey and I toured North along 302, where we saw a young-male mouse grazing peacefully along the road, isolated by flood waters.
Later we'd learn that there has been a slide at the Willey House historic site (which we had driven by earlier in the day) that trapped two cars, which N.H. Fish and Game pulled free later that night. No one was injured.
Amazingly, the Willey House site is historic for a reason not unlike this story. In the early 1800's the Willey House had a house and barn on the site. A drought, followed by torrential rains, unleashed a landslide that killed all seven members of the family and two hired men. The family had fled their house for a "safe" cave during the night, leaving beds unmade and a bible open, but didn't make it to the cave before the slide swept them away. The house, built in 1793 and the first in the Notch, was left untouched by the slide.
The tragedy occurred on August 28, 1826.
185 years before Irene, to the day.
Stacey and I did some work around the Highland Center Monday, repairing stone dust that had washed out of the patio built earlier in the summer and putting patio furniture back in place. Finally, that afternoon, we (the dogs included) made it home for the first time in three days. The drive took an hour and a half, and hour longer than usual. With Rt. 302 so badly damaged, we had to go North and East to Rt. 16 and through Pinkham Notch, where the roads were badly damaged, but passable. The long commute may be the norm for awhile.
Our new house was unharmed, thankfully. One road down, closer to the East Branch River, was a different story, with the road completely washed away in places and homes damaged. Many other parts of our town didn't fare well either.
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