The Kancamagus Highway, New Hampshire.

From Conway we headed east on the Kancamagus Highway;  34.5 miles of  the beauty of Fall in New England. Each corner of the road we turned brought forth more 'oohs and aahs' from us all. Each new view surpassed the last.
The highway climbed to nearly 3000 feet as it traversed Mt. Kancamagus offering us views of distant mountains as well. We stopped so many times to take photos and gaze on the scenes in front of us. It took about 4 hours to drive the length of The Kanc (as it is called).

There is a lot of history attached to the area. The mountains and lands are named for New Hampshire's legendary Indians. In the 17th century,  Passaconaway a peace loving chief united more than 17 Indian tribes of central New England into the Penacook Confederacy. The highway is named after his grandson Kancamagus, 'The Fearless One', the third and final Sagamore of the Penacook Confederacy of Native American tribes.

The town of Passaconaway was first settled by Europeans around 1790. The Russell Colbath Homestead, an historic site on The Kanc, was built in the 1830's by Thomas Russell. It was inherited by Thomas Russell's granddaughter Ruth Priscilla and her husband Thomas Colbath in 1887. In 1891 Thomas left the house one day, telling Ruth he would return 'in a little while'. She hung a lantern in the window every evening for 39 years - she never saw him again. Three years after her death Thomas returned. His claims to the house were denied!! What a feast for a family lawyer!!