[Illustration:  White mountain range, from Jefferson.]

Following up the valley by the river-road through the towns of Campton, Thornton, and Woodstock, one sees himself surrounded on either hand by towering mountains and the most exquisite rural scenery.  Another road following the Indian trail from Canada to the coast, over which the weary feet of many a captive passed in the old time, driven ruthlessly from their homes to the wilderness by their savage captors, passes through Rumney and Wentworth to Warren summit, the lowest land in the “divide” between the Connecticut and Merrimack valleys, yet a thousand feet above the ocean.  Moosilauke, the ancient Moosehillock, here stands sentry, almost five thousand feet above the sea level.  It is the western outpost of the mountain region and deserves a visit.  A good carriage road leads from the station to Breezy Point House, at its base, where buck-boards are chartered for the ascent.  At first the road leads through rocky pastures, thence into primeval woods in which the way becomes more and more precipitous; and as we go up the trees become dwarfed to bushes, until as one emerges to the open space on the shoulder of the mountain a most impressive scene breaks upon him.  An immense gulf lies beneath him, while before him towers the lofty summit.

[Illustration:  Adams and Madison, from Glen path.]

The morning or evening view from Moosilauke is grand in the extreme.  The valley of the Connecticut for many miles is in view, through which winds the “long river” like a blue ribbon.  Over in Vermont are the Green Mountains, commanded by Mount Mansfield, while across the State and over Lake Champlain one catches a glimpse of the distant Adirondacks.  In the south can be seen Ascutney and the mountains and lakes of central New Hampshire, while a distant peak beyond Monadnock may be Mount Wachuset in Massachusetts.  To the eastward is massed an ocean of mountains, of which Mounts Washington and Lafayette are monarchs.  To the north lies the Gardner range, and in the valley near at hand the sheltered community incorporated by the name of Benton and overlooked by Mount Kinsman.

As the sun sinks below the western mountains, one stands in brilliant daylight, while the valleys below him are shrouded in the gloom of night; when the sun has disappeared, darkness has come.  One can well spend a night on the summit if only to behold the glorious sunrise in the morning.  Before the dawn comes, one is on an island in an ocean of foam.  The sun springs gladly from behind the hills on the eastern horizon, and scatters the early mists as by an enchanter’s wand.  As a matter of course there is a Tip Top House on Moosilauke, and a genial landlord.

[Illustration:  CASTELLATER ridge of Mount Jefferson.]

Owl’s Head the traveller passes on the right as he leaves Warren summit.  Between Owl’s Head and Moosilauke there is a deep valley through which winds a road leading from Warren to Benton and Dansville, affording a lonely but pleasant route through the mountains.