Here at Hangman Hill

Friday was a beautiful day in the White Mountains, and we had arranged to meet up with our friends Mike and Denise to spend the weekend camping and hiking.  

Denise has almost reached the top of all forty-eight 4000-ft peaks in New Hampshire, so she had a few remaining summits in mind.  Under Denise’s guidance we opted to hike to the Kinsman ridge and to “bag” the north and south summits.

We ascended via the Basin-Cascade trail (perhaps better known as the ‘rooty-and-rocky’ trail?), hiked past the idyllic Kinsman pond (with its splendid lean-to), and then zig-zagged our way up the ridge.  It was such a fine day we stopped for lunch three times (twice on the way up, once on the way down).

We descended via the very steep Fishin’ Jimmy trail to Lonesome Lake hut where we stopped for tea and a snack.  We then dashed the last two miles down to reach the car just before darkness.

 

 

 

 

 

On Labor Day we decided to hike up Mount Washington via the Ammonoosuc ravine trail.

The day started warm and still, with a lovely forecast.

However, soon enough we rose up into the clouds that came out of nowhere on the summit of New England’s highest peak.

The “Lake of the Clouds” is very aptly named.

 

At the summit we paused briefly for a photo and to see the steam train depart.

 

By this time the temperature had dropped thirty degrees and the wind was gusting at over 50mph!

Fortunately we were able to find the trail down (the Jewel trail), and we soon emerged from the clouds.

In fact, we were quickly back into balmy conditions on the trail.

 

And by the time we got home, it was still hot enough for pre-dinner cocktails outside on the deck.

On Saturday we had a spectatacular day in the White Mountains and hiked to the summit of Mt Jefferson.  On the way up we took the scenic but strenuous Castle Ravine trail with its many waterfalls and rock formations.  For the descent we followed the castellated ridge that forms one side of the ravine.  We were a little over guidebook time on the way out, but made up for it on the way home and we were home in time for tea.  It was a very quiet trail and we saw fewer than 10 people on the path all day (the summit which intersects with other paths was a different story however).

 

The trail markers were very clear on this route.

 

A glimpse of the ridge on our way up the ravine

 

Sheri working hard on the trail

 

The Castle Ridge

 

Summit of Mt Jefferson (with bugs and lots of people!)

 

The way down

The view from the trail-head of Castel Ravine (center) and Castle Ridge (right skyline)

We left Kokee behind for our ascent of Mount Eisenhower via the Edmand trail.  We enjoyed blue skies, sunshine and dry trails for most of the day (except at the  summit).  Bruno got sore feet (because he forgot to cut his toe-nails), but other than that we had a great hike in the high peaks.

 

  

 

Our recent trips to New Hampshire have been focused on hiking and enjoying the fine summer weather.  Rennovation activities will resume as soon as it starts raining!

 

A recent sunny Sunday afternoon found us seeking shade under a big maple tree.  Our activity;  painting some of the large bottle gourds that we grew a few years ago to make birdhouses for next year.  We still have some finish work to do, but we had fun thinking of creative ways to decorate these future avian condominiums.

 

We have been fortunate to have had a sustained spell of warm sunny weather over the last month.  On Wednesday temperatures were in the 90’s, so we headed back to Watch Hill after work to cool off.  After a refreshing dip in the sea with Kokee (see 2nd photo below) we walked to the Olympia Tea Room for a tasty cocktail and some dinner.

 

 

A few weeks ago we signed up for a paddle on a local salt pond after work.  The goal was to look for bioluminescent jellyfish that glow when they are disturbed by the canoeists paddle.  We didnt see any jellyfish but we did have a good time paddling in the warm water as the sun set on a perfect summer’s day.

Our summer vacation this year was spent with Bruno’s parents (Pam & Nick).  We had two weeks of fair weather and split our time between New Hampshire and Connecticut.

 

To begin we spent a fne day in Portsmouth NH, and looked around the Strawberry Banke Museum where a whole city block of houses fromthe 1800’s have been restored to their original condition.

 

We finished the day in Portsmouth with a harbor cruise which was a treat for everyone (including Kokee).

Of course, we had to take the steam train to the top of Mount Washington and the views from the top were perfect.  We even managed to fit in a short tour of the world-famous weather observatory at the summit.

Sheri was in her element amongst the trees on the top of Black Cap mountain in North Conway.  We also visited Freiburg (Maine) and several waterfalls on this sunny day.

 

There were many fun-guys to hang out with on the trail.

Once back in Connecticut we made several trips to the beach, and sampled a few local restaurants.  Dessert at the Weekapaug Inn was fantastic, as was the gelato at our local coffeee shop (Junk & Java).  We also visisted the Babcok-Smith house in Westerly to learn about life in our closest town when it was first being developed by the granite industry.  

  

Of course no trip would be complete without a dinner at the Olympia Tea Room in Watch Hill.

Final good-byes at the Westerly train station at the end of a very enjoyable visit.