Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway Summit

Author's Comments

There is a particular kind of view that asks for nothing more than a wide lens and a willingness to stand still. Cannon Mountain delivers it. The tram lifts you to four thousand feet in less than ten minutes, and the short walk from the upper station to the observation tower is almost an afterthought, but then the platform opens and the geography of northern New Hampshire arranges itself around you. Franconia Ridge runs sharp and blue to the east. The Kinsmans hold the southern view. On a clear day Vermont sits low and soft on the western horizon, layer behind layer behind layer. The frustration of this summit is also its honesty. The last tram down leaves before the sun does, which means the deepest golden hour belongs to people willing to descend on foot or to settle for the hour just before. I have learned to take what is given. Late September, mid afternoon, the air already cold enough to need a jacket, and the light just beginning to angle across the ridges so the folds of the mountains start to read in three dimensions rather than two. That is the window. Bring something wide. The temptation here is to try to compress the distance with a longer lens, and it can work, but the real argument this place makes is about scale and air. The horizon is enormous. Let it be enormous.

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