LYCOS RETRIEVER 
White Mountains
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The White Mountains is a place simply to drive, gaze, step out of the car, walk, take photos, and gaze some more. A spectacular drive is the Kancamagus Highway from the town of Lincoln to the town of Conway. Conway and North Conway are very pretty mountain towns with main streets lined with interesting stores. North Conway is a hub of outlet shopping in this tax-free state. At the end of the day it is easy to find an assortment of accommodations like lodges, motels, hotels and campgrounds and enjoy fine cuisine at one of many restaurants here in the White Mountains.
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Ranger Stations & Information--The Forest Service's [C]entral White Mountains office is at 719 N. Main St. in Laconia (tel. 603/528-8721), near Lake Winnipesaukee. Your best general source of information is the Saco Ranger Station, 33 Kancamagus Hwy., 100 yards west of Route 16, Conway (tel. 603/447-5448). Other district offices are Androscoggin Ranger Station, 300 Glen Rd., Gorham (tel. 603/466-2713); Ammonoosuc Ranger Station, 660 Trudeau Rd., Bethlehem (tel.
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The White Mountains has more than 65 lakes and streams offering a fishing paradise. Trout is the main draw,but the waters are inhabited with numerous other species. Fishing and Camping on the White Mountain Apache Indian Reservation do require permits.
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Located in east central California just north of Death Valley, and on the western edge of the Great Basin, the White Mountains rise to a respectable altitude of 14,246 feet (4342m). Yet they remain in a rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada located a few miles west across the deep Owens Valley. As Pacific storms move eastward, the Sierra simply takes the majority of moisture, leaving the White Mountains with strong dry winds. Annual precipitation is less than 12 inches (30cm), most of which arrives as snow in winter. On a summer's day the amount of precipital moisture in the air is about half a millimeter, the lowest ever recorded anywhere on earth. But these very hardships contribute to these mountains bringing forth trees so beautiful, so ancient they surpass the majestic Giant Sequoia of the Sierra by more than a millennium!
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White Mountains trails are particularly vulnerable to damage during the summer. Much of Interior Alaska is covered by permanently frozen soil (permafrost). What keeps the soil frozen during the summer is an insulating cover of organic material about 12 inches thick. Once that organic mat is damaged through repeated passes by foot or vehicle, the frozen soils begin to thaw, creating mud bogs and gullies.
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In the Second Age, the White Mountains were populated by a people related to the Dunlendings who had been servants of Sauron. They swore allegiance to Isildur, but betrayed him and were cursed: they became known as the Army of the Dead, of whose paths Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, and the rangers later took. Before the Dunlendings, the White Mountains had been home to the Púkel-Men or Drúedain.
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White Mountains