PorcFest XX in review

Franconia Notch timelapse

I zipped thru Franconia Notch last week descending into the Great North Woods. The weather, scenery, and culture largely change in New Hampshire as you pass thru the Notch. Some would say it’s like entering into Shangri-La. More accurately during the second-to-last week of June, it’s like entering Galt’s Gulch.

Last week marked my second PorcFest, so I was no longer a newbie to this festival. Many of the regulars assumed that I had been more times, which is probably a sign that I’m becoming a familiar face amongst the porcupines in New Hampshire.

For those who don’t know, PorcFest is the Porcupine Freedom Festival at Roger’s Campground in Lancaster, NH. It’s basically Burning Man for liberty-minded people in the White Mountains, or as I’ve also heard it described: “Woodstock for rational people”.

What I like the most about PorcFest is that everyone is pursuing their own ideal experience, which maximizes the amount of happy campers.

Last year, I felt more compelled to stick with the few people that I knew, but this year I felt like I could freewheel and choose more of my own adventure. I ended up meeting more people this way and I never felt alone. Of course I did merge back into my core friend group throughout the course of a day and often at the hub that I was camping at. The beauty of freedom and individuality becomes more apparent when its concentrated in a single village like PorcFest.

David Friedman (son of Milton Friedman)

Other than some of the events hosted at the hub that I camped at, which already received enough publicity in the media, some of my favorite events and speakers were: RFK Jr, David Friedman, Comedy night, Matt and Terry Kibbe’s talk on Georgian wine, and Ian Underwood’s lecture on the Croydon affair.

Radical Expression Dance Party

The festival is very freeform and decentralized, so there are many smaller events that are organized at individual “hubs”, which are campsites. This is the single best organizational feature of the festival. The second best feature is that all the events from all the hubs get put on a giant calendar so that you can prioritize your time.

The festival comes alive at night

All walks of life attend the festival from families to dead-heads and from gay men to evangelical Christians. Despite the stark differences, we overwhelmingly get along peacefully in the closest thing to Galt’s Gulch that has ever existed.

Looking south at the Mt Washington and Presidential Range

It almost brought tears to my eyes seeing the mountains tower above the valley in the distance. I can’t believe how lucky I am to have been born in such a scenic and free place. Roger’s Campground faces right at the north side of the Presidential Range, so you’re staring right at the most prominent peaks in the East. Even while taking an outdoor shower at the PorcShowers you could see amazing views of the mountains. I grew up in the very southern part of New Hampshire, so prior to PorcFest, I never had an excuse to spend significant time in the Great North Woods.

True freedom shouldn’t have to exist for only one week out of the year, but its miles further than what is being achieved (or really just failing) in other locales. Will I be back to PorcFest? That’s an unequivocal yes.

Switzerland or New Hampshire?

The Mountain Division

North Conway Depot was designed by Bostonian Architect Nathaniel J Bradlee

The Maine Central Railroad’s Mountain Division thru Crawford Notch, New Hampshire, is the crown jewel of the historic mainline railroads in New England. The road snakes into the White Mountains to Crawfords Station, about 25 miles north from North Conway. An inactive right-of-way continues another 45 miles from Crawfords to St Johnsbury, VT.

Other than the grand scenery, the significance of this line was that it once served as the primary route for freight traveling from Maine to points west of Chicago via Canada. After the consolidation of the Boston & Maine and Maine Central railroads in the 1980s, the preferred route for freight was the St Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad via Gorham and Berlin, NH, which has more gentle grades.

Nowadays, the glory of the Mountain Division can still be experienced aboard the Conway Scenic Railroad‘s Mountaineer train, which my parents and I had the pleasure of doing the week before Thanksgiving this year, during my interim between jobs. This was the Conway Scenic Mountaineer’s final excursion of the 2021 season and the neat thing about the ride late in the year is the ability to see the snow-capped peaks without foliage blocking the views.

Drew’s reflection onboard Conway Scenic’s Mountaineer on the Maine Central’s Mountain Division in Crawford Notch, New Hampshire

Trip highlights

  • North Conway Depot – The mountain backdrop with Cathedral Ledge and the atypical architecture for New England make this a photo destination unto itself. This is was designed by Bostonian architect Nathaniel J Bradlee and is considered a unique blend of Victorian and Imperial Russian architecture. Bradlee was an accomplished architect and designed many of the brownstones in Boston’s South End.

  • Frankenstein Trestle – It’s a long curved trestle. A lot of bystanders take pictures of the traversing trains and I’ve spotted several great drone shots on Instagram of trains on this trestle. Honestly, it’s not the most scenic part of the ride, but it must have been quite the engineering feat when the railroad was built in the mid-1800s.

  • Mt Washington views from Crawford Notch – Nothing short of amazing. I’ve been on many trains thru the Swiss Alps and the views along here are in the same league.

  • Crawfords Station – Another fine example of Bradlee’s work, although slightly more standard Victorian. There are many excellent photos ops of the station with Crawford Notch in the background.

  • AMC Highlands Center – Probably Appalachian Mountain Club’s most modern lodging facility. It has a gift shop, restrooms, a cafe, and many scenic vistas. This is walking distance from Crawfords Station.

One of the big themes of the guided narration during the train ride was mortality. Both the aspect of inhabiting an avalanche-prone valley and operating a railroad in the wilderness a century ago were dangerous prospects. The conductor memorialized many lives lost trying to tame the savage elements of the White Mountains. Along the railroad itself, there were numerous accidents, including a particularly bad train boiler explosion. It’s no wonder that the American Indians demurred from inhabiting much of the rugged terrain and were also reluctant to ascend the high peaks.

Conway Scenic trains reversing direction at Crawfords Station

This was a long ride, sitting at about 5 hours round trip. It’s unfortunate that the tracks in the low country leading up to the notch aren’t in slightly better condition allowing for faster speeds, since the scenery is not quite as interesting as it is along the notch. However, the weather was as good as it possible could have been since Mt Washington’s summit is usually hidden in the clouds the vast majority of the year. Also fortunately, the seats are very comfortable and the large windows offer the audience world-class views. This was a wow.