Untamed New England
Exploring Historic Coos County
News Release / 13.08.2010
Women and children typically played croquet, rode horses and swam while the men took part in polo, golf, and an occasional hunting expedition. Northern New Hampshire offered a perfect social and sophisticated get-a-way from the hustle and bustle of the cities.
The invention of the automobile in the early 1900's opened up the country to another type of travel. Instead of going on a train to specified destinations, an automobile would allow a family to go wherever the roads would take them. A series of fires demolished a majority of the Grand Hotels, while others were abandoned with the lack of visitors and left to be taken down several years later.
The locals now turned to the paper industry and focused on farming the forest. Men told stories of working in the forests and enhanced the legends of men that preceded them. At one point, Berlin was the second largest city in New Hampshire, with its premier location on the Androscoggin River for logging! Man-made islands were used to secure chains of logs, which divided the river between the two logging companies. The piers still stand in the river today and are ceremoniously set ablaze for the spectacular "River Fire" event in October.
Visitors fond of the rustic and majestic feel of the area continue to travel to the region to experience another way of life. The majority of the vintage hunting lodges that once occupied the shores of the Connecticut Lakes have since disappeared, though anglers and hunters still journey to those remaining for the experience of catching an enormous land-locked salmon on the "Trophy Stretch" or finding the perfect eight-point buck. Hikers transcend into another world altogether as they travel across the mountains, where the first view of sunrise can be seen every morning.
The 2010 Untamed New England course showcases much of this region’s great past, but also turns an eye to the future. While the Balsams Grand Resort, one of only a few grand hotels remaining from earlier centuries, serves as our hub for the race – our racers enjoy “extreme� activities such as rappelling down waterfalls and mountain biking. The past meets the future.
Much of the race course travels old logging roads, and timber cutting is still pursued today through here – while the racers complete green work projects such as trail building on the new Cohos Trail system and wetlands protection. Untamed New England AR is a race where the future meets the past.
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