Long week­ends with per­fect weather are beyond com­par­i­son. This one was packed with activ­i­ties: going out to din­ner with friends (3 times), drink­ing at bars (twice), fix­ing up boats (once), work­ing in the dark­room, cycling around Boston, and hiking/camping in the White Mountains.

Hav­ing tired of the scenic but repet­i­tive Fran­co­nia Notch region, I decided to embark on a pro­gram of sys­tem­at­i­cally vis­it­ing the largest water­falls in New Hamp­shire. And by “sys­tem­at­i­cally,” I mean in no par­tic­u­lar order. I inau­gu­rated the plan with a visit to the 360 foot Nancy Cas­cades, just south of Craw­ford Notch. The Inter­nets sug­gested that “a rather rig­or­ous hike is required to view these falls, but the trek is worth it.” The falls are breath­tak­ing. The pool at the bot­tom is quite swim­ma­ble (albeit cold). And I was able to secure a sweet lake­side camp site at the top of the climb. The ver­dict is in, and it is spelled a-w-e-s-o-m-e.