Camping at the Lakes Region

The Lakes region in New Hampshire is dominated by the chief lake Winnipesaukee.
There is also the lovely Squam lake nearby and its pretty near to Boston; around 2.5 hrs away.
Surprising then that we hadn't visited the place ..
Turned out the place was charming with a lot of variety .. lots of lakes, but some good peaks and scenic drives and charming quaint little towns.
Holderness and Meredith especially were very picturesque.
Camped at the Alton Bay near the lake shore and we even had access to the lake. There was a private island that we could swim\canoe over but we couldn't due to lack of time.

Saturday was mainly covered hopping from place to place .. started off with a pleasant mile long hike up the West Rattlesnake Mountain .. the hike was over a bridle path and relatively easy. It had the reputation to give the best views from the summit for the effort we put in to climb.
It was really breathtaking at the top .. Beautiful views of the Squam lake and we could even see Winnipesaukee at a distance .. the summit has rocky ledges and clear views for miles. It was truly great.


View from the top of West Rattlesnake Mountain

Rest of the day we drove along the winding roads and the lake was never out of sight. As I said earlier, Holderness and Meredith are small town but very aesthetic .. they were very colourful, adorned with summer flowers .. I can imagine how they would be in Fall.
Weirs beach is the main entry to lake W'saukee and it was a bit crowded .. provides good opportunity to try out some water sports ..
Ellacoya Beach was more deserted by the time we reached it. was early evening .. around 5:30 pm I think. I personally liked this beach better then the Weirs .. but that could be because of the lack of a crowd .. we felt like we were the only ones there.
Reached Alton Bay and our campgrounds while there was still sunlight left (unlike last time where we had to use the car lights to set up the tent in near freezing temp's :) ) and we put up the tents in no time .. we were after all pro's with the REI 3 person half dome tents :D
Managed to catch the sunset by rushing to the lake shore next to the campsite ..
Next day was a day of rain and gloom .. luckily we managed to break camp and leave before it started to pour.
Change of plans meant we missed out on Lake Chocorua :( .. and we headed to Castle in the Clouds. It was surprisingly good and we had a good time touring through the castle (small by European stds I guess .. but impressive)
We headed back to Boston way earlier than planned .. and that was good in a way .. hit bad traffic on the way back .. and the rain increased in intensity.

Breathtaking Vistas	The 2 tents at the Campsite
Sunset at Winnipesaukee	Enjoying the warmth of the campfire

Found out the power of good customer service. We had ordered an intermediate car from enterprise .. but due to non availability .. got a Honda Pilot .. SUV .. nice vehicle .. smooth and comfortable .. drove at an even speed on the way back in heavy downpour :D

Honda Pilot SUV

Castle in the Clouds