EAGLE CLIFF.
Eagle Cliff, a huge crag, with precipitous front, towers up to the height of fifteen hundred feet, directly in front of the hotel. A pair of eagles made it their home for some years, until driven away by the curiosity of explorers. A fine view of the Cliff is to be had from Echo Lake, which nestles at its base, and is one of the most charming little bodies of water to be found. The blast of a horn, or the report of a small cannon, fired at intervals to “wake the echoes,” reverberates against the sides of the Cliff and the rocky walls which environ the lake, with a succession of sharp and distinct repetitions, growing fainter and fainter, and finally dying away among the far-off cliffs, with an effect as beautiful as it is surprising.
The Profile House stands at the gateway of the Notch, the approach being from the north. On either side of the gorge, the Franconia range extends in a southerly direction. Lafayette, Lincoln and Liberty on the east, Profile. Kinsman and Pemigewasset on the west, with several lesser peaks and spurs, the valley gradually descending to the south, and widening in the descent, until it expands into the Valley of the Pemigewasset.
Three miles from the Profile House, a path diverges from the road near a small brook, and a walk of half a mile brings to view a succession of picturesque waterfalls, which have received the name of Walker’s Falls. A half mile further south is the Basin, a curious granite reservoir, about forty feet across, and twenty-eight feet deep, in which the waters make a gyratory turn, after the whirlpool order.
NEAR VIEW OF THE PROFILE.
FRANCONIA MOUNTAINS, FROM PEMIGEWASSET VALLEY.
MOUNT LAFAYETTE.