Hard to believe the wonderful weather we enjoyed barely two weeks ago in New Hampshire. Granted, when we returned from our week away in the Waterville Valley where we indulged in daily mountain trail excursions and took our delighted fill of viewing wonderfully broad landscapes whose presence was so enhanced by the colours of autumn, we returned to our forested ravine to discover that it equalled in grandeur of colour, if not scale, the landscape we had immersed ourselves in the White Mountains National forest in the U.S.

We're not all that far geographically distant that our flora and atmosphere isn't in large part shared. Although Canada is far more penetratingly cold in the winter. When we had arrived at the Franconia Notch on the 17th of October to begin our week's stay in the area, we could see Mount Washington in the distance, its summit capped with snow. Despite which the week that followed was one of unusual warmth and clear skies.

And it was under a clear, sunny sky that we approached the Rocky Gorge state park on the Kancamagus highway, gratified that the parking lot was nowhere near as crowded as it can be in the summer months.

The Swift River lives up to its name, roaring down off the White Mountains to tumble through a rock-strewn gradient that makes up its streambed. People tend to want to clamber over the flattened rock face on either side of the streambed; it's an irresistible attraction. Most, however, are content to view the landscape from the bridge that looms over the river as it gushes onward.

With the mountainous backdrop, the surrounding forest in full blazing costume for fall, and the roar of the river, the atmosphere is quite dramatic. But Jackie and Jillie, like us, were anxious to get on with our intention, crossing the bridge to attain the opposite side, where the little lake nestled in the forest confines glittered in the sun. We soon left it behind to mount the trail that would circle the lake and lift us into a pine, hemlock, oak and maple forest, satisfying our puppies' anxious quest for the adventure of new smells and hiking challenges.

Halfway through the trail a tall, thin young woman came up behind us, the only other person we saw on the trail. An amiably relaxed young woman, we soon discovered she was a Russian citizen, and her facility with English was impressive. She and her husband (although she was alone on this occasion) had decided to take a year off in their studies to travel the world. They intended to travel only to warm spots, avoiding cold places, so Canada wasn't on their itinerary. We continued our hike with our new companion maintaining our slower pace, and enjoyed a drawn-out conversation.

At the conclusion of the trail we said our goodbyes. And there, beside the lake, we came across other people, all of whom, some with young children, some with other dogs, fussed over our two little miscreants who always seem to take peoples' attention. Partially it's their size, partly because they present as 'twins' that other people cannot tell from one another, and in part it's because of their behaviour; suspicious of those they don't know, torn between curiosity and caution.