A very nice Sunday November 13, 2011 found Mariette and I traveling to Bretton Woods. We had reservations at noontime to take-in the Bretton Woods Canopy Tour of tree-top zip lines. Now the decision to do the Tour did not come easy. Both Mari and I have our issues with heights and motion sickness. But this Tour was to celebrate my 65th. So “issues” went out the window.
Our tour included five “young” riders all from Portland, Me. In total our group numbered seven. After signing the requisite paperwork, our guides Carl and Zake set us into harnesses, moved us to a van, and we arrived near the mountaintop for a few minutes of instruction and a practice zip.The keys to Zip Lining are the body curling and the hand braking. If you are bad at either or both your run may come up short or long, A slow run may cause you not to reach the arriving platform. If you fail to brake you may come up too long (read over shooting the arriving platform). Not good! 
I came up short of the approaching platform on 6 of 9 zips. However, I mastered the last 3 zips. A short zip means you have to manually pull yourself along the cable up to the arriving platform, or the guide has to extend himself out from the platform to pull you in. An overshoot of the platform means the guide has the challenge of catching and stopping you from hitting the tree that is holding up the arriving platform. It is somewhat embarrassing when you don’t meet the “platform” goal.
This is a wonderful way to spend 3-4 hours. The crew is experienced and safety is the name of the game. Being outdoors with the Presidential Range as your neighbor is just the best. Bretton Woods Canopy Tour consists of 9-10 Zip Lines (depending on the season), 2 Sky Bridges, and 3 Rappels down trees. Zip lines range from 120 to 830 feet with the maximum height from the ground of 150 feet. The views were wonderful and much appreciated especially since as “youngsters” we have hiked much of the Presidential Range. Mt Washington was crusted in snow. The Mount Washington Cog Railway stands out and on our day at Bretton Woods there were two train runs to the top of the Mount. A glass of wine at the Mt. Washington Hotel followed by dinner at the Common Man Italian Farmhouse in Plymouth finished a wonderful day.
