Here at Hangman Hill

Each year we enjoy receiving the Christmas cards that our friends and family send to us. We put them up in our dining room and enjoy them over the holiday season and into the new year. \

As we take them down in January it is always fun to re-read them and to select a few which have designs that we really like. For 2021 there were seven cards that made our ‘favorites list’. Below we share the images with you so you can enjoy them too.

We thought long about whether to spend the weekend in NH. The temperatures for much of the weekend were expected to stay in single digits with high winds. But we enjoy out regular trips to NH and there is always The Vintage Bakery if the mountains, fresh air and friendly folks aren’t reason enough.

Saturday morning was crisp and clear with the thermometer stuck at -4F. We chose to hike nearby so that if we bailed out at least we hadn’t spent too much time in the car. We started up the Mt Langdon Trail with two options, Mt Langdon via the Langdon Shelter or Mt Parker which has fabulous views.

It turned our route kept us on the southwest facing sides of Langdon and Parker so we were in the sun most of the day projected from the high winds. The steady climb kept us warm and we pressed on to Mt Parker where we had clear views to the north and east.

We took a few photos from the summit but didn’t stay long as the exposure to the winds kept us on the move. We had lunch about 0.5 mile below the summit. We have learned that soup and a thermos of tea is the best way to refuel in the winter. It was the right choice today too, but it was really too cold for more than 10 minute lunch stop. We ate our soup and savory scone from the bakery as fast as we could while Zealand had a hearty snack before packing up to continue down the trail.

Happy New Year! We enjoyed an extended stay in New Hampshire to celebrate Christmas and the New Year. We had the usual traditions of good food and drink, walks, a traditional Christmas pudding, a few new toys and music thanks to the elves.

We also had some unexpected surprises, including some fantastic ski conditions. We made the most of the conditions and had FIVE days on skis before warm temperatures crept in. We also explored some trails to the north in the Mahoosic range, an area that is new to us. We had a good but long day as we were breaking trail with snowshoes most of the time.

The timing of one of our walks in the Hundred Acre Wood, an area very close to the chalet, coincided with the arrival of the Polar Express Train (aka Conway Scenic Railroad) at the “North Pole” (aka Theater int the Wood). This is a legendary experience for the locals, and tickets are limited, so so it was nice to experience it, if only from a distance.

We were pleased to have a ski with our friends Damon and Jane who were visiting Jackson from Saranac Lake. We missed Damon and Jane during our van trip this summer, so it was great to catch up with them. Mike, Denise and Mesa joined us for a New Years celebration that included a ski, a hike, plenty of good food, and games in the evenings.

For the finale we completed a puzzle that highlighted 62 of the National Parks that was a gift from DiAnn last Christmas. It was fun to count which ones we have visited (not many) and learn about a few parks we didn’t even know about. We hope to visit more of them someday.

Happy New Year everyone! Wishing you good health, and for some, more fresh snow… you know who you are!

We have been spending the Christmas break in New Hampshire, enjoying some time outside and with each other. We found better than expected snow conditions for cross-country skiing and had day-trips to Jackson Ski Touring and Bear Notch on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Tuesday was forecast to be dry but with low clouds, so we opted for a hike as a change of a scene. Our plan was to hike a 10-mile loop just west of Gotham in the Mahoosuc range.

After digging out a spot at the trailhead to park our car, we started off on the Peabody Brook Trail and quickly found ~6 to 8-inches of untracked snow on the trail. Even after putting on our snow shoes it wasn’t that much easier to walk because there were still lots of rocks and branches just under the snow ready to trip us up.

We persisted, but it was slow going. After taking a side trail to explore the Giant Falls we headed up more steeply. The trail became narrower and as we ascended we encountered a lot of hobblebush on the trail and many overhanging branches. It was exhausting and it didn’t help that we were out of shape for snowshoeing!

We reached the junction with the trail to the Bald Peak Ledges at about 1.30pm and we were hungry and tired. A couple of Christmas chocolate truffles gave us renewed energy so we decided to make a quick side trip to see the ledges and have some lunch before heading back down the way we had come up. We had only hiked 3.6 miles in 3-hours, but it felt like we’d gone a lot further than that.

Thankfully the descent was much easier and quicker that the ascent. At about 3pm we met a couple on their way up with large backpacks and no snowshoes, and I suspect that they had a very uncomfortable night out in the woods. We made it back to the car before darkness fell and we were glad to have been out on the trail all day and to have a warm bed to go home to.

After 15 years we had to say farewell to our beloved feline companion Chatra earlier this week. Chatrapati (his full name) (or Chatzy to his friends) was a Bombay cat from the Caricature Cattery and he was a brother to Orissa, Bihar and Haryana. He will be forever remembered as an active and affectionate cat who wouldn’t take no for an answer. Amongst his favorite activities were napping in the sun and walking on computer keyboards. We will miss you very much our dear feline friend!

When asked what I wanted for Christmas, I was hard pressed to think of anything. Well, a white Christmas with fresh powder for skiing on Christmas Day did come to mind, but as good as Bruno is… I didn’t think that that was a fair request.

What I didn’t know I needed, but Bruno did, was the Let There be Brass recording by Heimatdamisch. Heimatdamisch is a German Polka cover band that released a recording called Let There be Brass. The first song, a cover of “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” by Cindy Lauper, evoked a big smile, joy and the urge to get up and dance (fortunately we were listening to it in the car). You can see them perform this gem live here.

There are some great covers here including Van Halen’s “Jump”, Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” and the theme to “Ghosbusters”.

If I can ever secure a live performance, you are all invited.

On Sunday we made a trip to Stonington Borough to visit the Lobster Pot Christmas Tree that was erected on the Stonington Town Dock. The tree is decorated with lights and hung on the exterior of the tree are buoys painted by local artisans.

We arrived just as a the sun was setting setting the sky a blaze as a backdrop for tree. We were glad to visit in the daylight see could appreciate the buoys that were painted or otherwise decorated. See a few of the favorites below.

There was a line to go inside the tree, so we just wandered around the exterior and enjoyed seeing a community come together to celebrate the sea, the season and this lovely seaside community.

If you go… try parking on the cross street by the library/town green and walking the short distance to the town docks. We recommended going at dusk so you can see the buoys in the daylight and watch the lights bring the tree to life’s as the sun goes down. The tree will stay in place until late January.

Bruno recently managed to squeeze in a short trip to the UK to see his family and for work. It was great to see everyone after almost two years away!

We are very grateful to be spending Thanksgiving this year with our good friends Mike and Dee. We took a short hike to the summit of South Doublehead, and enjoyed a fabulous dinner of turkey, veggies, and numerous side dishes. The evening was finished off nicely with Pecan pie from the Vintage Bakery. And, of course, we exchanged traditional turkey notes…..

Back in August we enjoyed a week touring New England in a rented camper-van. This trip was inspired by our friends Spy and Shauna who had rented a van on a recent trip to the West Coast.

We found a van to rent at Outdoorsy.com and we were able to pick it up in nearby Cromwell CT. It was a Mercedes Sprinter van (diesel) with a fold out bed, stove, sink, fridge, shower, toilet and lots of storage. And it was dog friendly too!

Day-1 was short with a brief stop in Kent CT and a chance to see the waterfalls at the nearby state park. Our first night was spent “camping” in the driveway of our friends Joey and Bernie. It was very hot, humid and there were frequent thunderstorms, but we all enjoyed the experience and got to iron out a few teething troubles before we hit the open road.

Day-2 was spent driving north towards Saratoga Springs NY and along the way we stopped at ART OMY (an outdoor sculpture park) to walk around and enjoy the art. It was 100-degrees Fahrenheit, so we were pleaded to have the air-conditioned van to retreat to at lunchtime. In the evening we found a local alpaca farm where we could spend the night (courtesy of the HipCamp app).

On the 3rd day we continued our northward trajectory and passed through Indian Lake and stopped for a short hike to the OK Slip waterfalls. This hike was good to stretch our legs, but the falls were a little underwhelming. We found another campsite using HipCamp and spent the night next to a beautiful river where we swam and enjoyed sitting around the campfire.

By Day-4 we were in the Adirondacks and revisited some places we hadn’t been to for over 20-years. We passed through Saranac Lake and stopped in Lake Placid for elevenses. After that we headed towards Keene NY and stopped off to hike Pitchoff Mountain along the way. The view from the balanced boulder was just as good as we remembered it! We also swam in Casade Lake before driving down to Keene to visit the Canadian Alpine Club campsite (Keene Farm) where we had spent many happy weekends in the 1990’s.

Keene Farm was quiet because the US-Canada border has been closed for the over a year. However, it was as beautiful as ever and was being lovingly cared for by a local custodian. We walked around the campsite and checked out the new outhouses and shower stalls. We also marveled at the solar powered water pump that was a big advance from the had-pump we had used all those years ago.

We spent the night in the parking lot and next day hiked to the Ledges that overlook the farm. We also paid tribute to Sheri’s dog Kelsi whose ashes had been scattered here. Amazingly we also found the remains of the wooden plaque that Bruno has created to commemorate Kelsi’s life and times at the farm. After enjoying all that the farm had to offer we headed to Keene Valley to check out The Mountaineer (legendary gear shop) and have brunch at the Noonmark Diner (famous eatery).

We took a short hike to the top of Baxter Mountain and enjoyed eating wild blueberries on the trail. Then we jumped in the van and headed south-west to leave the Adirondacks behind us. We saw many cute villages and small towns and eventually crossed the Champlain Bridge over Lake Champlain. This took us into Vermont and we found a small state park where we could spend the night.

The next day we meandered slowly southwards stopping to look at various towns in Vermont. We found another nice state park for lunch by a lake and relaxed before our 6th and final night in the van at Molly Stark State Park near Wilmington VT. We again enjoyed sitting around a campfire in the evening.

On the 7th and final day we drove into Adams (Massachusetts) so that we could hike Mount Greylock, the highest peak in the state. It was very humid and the clouds were quite low, so we didn’t get any views. We did enjoy a very nice hike and Zealand got to stretch his legs before the final drive back to Cromwell CT to drop off the van.

Overall, we really enjoyed the independence and flexibility of “van life”. Being able to stop for tea/coffee at any time was a nice feature and the 23ft van was very spacious and comfortable. And it was very easy to drive too. We’d definitely consider another trip in a similar vehicle, especially if the pandemic continues into 2022!