Art in the Woods
Painted, framed, and hung a little watercolor off a bike trail today in the woods behind my home. The local cycling club is doing some work out there today.. hoping someone finds and enjoys this today.
Posts tagged ‘Hiking’
Oct 16
Gorham, New Hampshire
walked out my front door with Luka and took a lovely afternoon walk. 
I feel so lucky to live where I do
I am grateful that I can walk straight into the White Mountains from my neighborhood.
and happy I can make my pup happy too
First Snow
Luka and I went a our first hike in two weeks, poor thing, she has been definitely deprived of her weekly and once daily hikes. We chose Howker Trail in Randolph because we’d have the chance to see 3 waterfalls. We saw two of them. The path was so slippery with leaves over tree roots. I was worried more for Luka than myself, even though I was the one slipping. It was lovely AND it was snowing! Which made me realize that I need to get snow tires soon!
The leaves of Coldbrook Falls
another beautiful day in the forests of Randolph
My trials at Peboamauk Falls
I had no expectations really. Perhaps I should have.
The trail started simply enough alongside a home on Randolph Hill Road. It would meander gently up and down for the first mile and a half, maybe two.
I passed no one coming or going, although once a did a hear an excited dog in the distance. When the trail divided, one path leading to Ice Gulch, the other to the falls, I chose the falls.
Little did I know what I was getting into. The trail was ridiculously steep and straight down. Luka had no trouble, but I had to take it slow, grabbing onto roots, scooting on my bottom. I knew that going down also meant having to go back up, but I took the challenge. I hiked all this way to see the falls. I hate to say it, but I was a bit underwhelmed. There were a lot of downed trees, in the falls and in the creek. It was kind of a mess…I know I shouldn’t expect a perfect photo op every time I head to the falls, but maybe I do expect it a little.
The trail back up was marked with a simple “path” sign at the bottom, and if I didn’t have a seasoned trail finding dog I would have likely turned around and gone back the way I came. But Luka seemed to make and I figured if I ended up somewhere I wasn’t supposed to be, I could turn around or bush whack. I literally scrambled and climbed my way up the side of this hill. I talked myself into a calm by repeating “don’t look down” over and over. And when I did make it to the top, I crawled on my hands and knees hoping not to see anyone as I would too scared to stand up straight.
I did stand up and was pleased with the scenery on top. A lovely stream wandering through the forest, a barely marked trail following alongside it. Again, thank God for Luka who always knows where the trail is.
According to my map and phone, I seemed to have missed my turn off to head back toward Randolph Hill Road. I doubled back and looked over and again for the trail and decided it must have been obliterated by a fallen tree or two. I would have to take Ice Gulch Trail I decided.
The air got colder and colder, it felt good as was hot and tired. We ended up finding the trail back to Randolph Hill, there was a newer looking sign leading the way. This was great as a later read that Ice Gulch Trail isn’t suitable for dogs.
Luka, my intrepid partner, never seemed to tire. I was grateful for the many spots for her to drink. I really appreciate an accommodating trail, one that provided all the drinks necessary for my pooch.
I’s like to do Ice Gulch again, with someone. I’m not likely to go back to the falls…it took a lot out of me. I was exhausted when I returned to the car and am still wiped out today.
My dog would make a great personal trainer
Luka is the best dog ever. And she’s in shape. She kicked my booty today on what I thought would be a simple hike. 1.3 miles…that was it..how hard could it be? Well if the 1.3 miles is straight up, it’s harder than you think. And if you’re a bit out of shape, it’s harder still.
Luka is in phenomenal shape. She went and up and down that trail always coming back to me with looks of encouragement..”Are you coming?” “Let’s just see what’s around the corner; just one more corner, you can do it!””Hey, I’ve doubled back for you at least 30 times, if I can do it, you can too, keep going.”
We took the lookout trail in Randolph. It’s great because it offers a view of the Presidential Range and the trailhead is right across the road from a nice lake for after hike swimming.
I need to get into better aerobic shape; seriously, I thought I was having a heart attack at one point I was so winded. I then decided that I needed to slow down and not necessarily keep Luka’s pace. She’s got four legs; I’ve only got two. The viewpoint was smaller than I had expected, but it was lovely and I felt relatively safe so high up. We were high!
Down the trail was much quicker and Luka ran, which meant that I ran. It was actually pretty fun. I love running (well…jogging, or plodding quickly) down trails. We were rewarded with beautiful flowers and a quick and wonderful dip in Durand Lake.
I can honestly say, if I hadn’t had Luka with me, I probably wouldn’t have made it to the viewpoint. She keeps me going..in fact when we (I mean I) were done, Luka was ready for more.
Proteus Falls…in the hood
Took a quick little trek into the woods today. One of the electricians who has been doing some work on the house told me about this spot. It was close to home and a big bang for the buck. The trail was .1 miles…and it was lovely the whole way.
Adventures in Franconia Notch
Franconia Notch in my humble opinion is the jewel of New Hampshire…but give me a week and I’ll find other jewels, enough to string into a necklace, of other remarkably beautiful places in this state.
The first images are of from the the tram that takes one up to Cannon Mtn. There were teases that we might see bear on the trails below us, but this was not the case. In fact, in the three weeks we have been here, I have yet to see a bear or a moose. I wouldn’t be so anxious about it, except there are signs for moose everywhere warning us that they are ever present and ready to launch themselves from the woods and onto our car…not one moose sighting yet. I digress.
The views were spectacular, visibility up to 100 miles. We could see Canada, Maine, Vermont, and New York. We paid for that visibility with wind and chilly air. It was so cold and I had come so unprepared that I had to buy a fleece lined jacket from the gift store, seriously. It was a bargain though and kept me warm all day.
Here’s a sighting of the another tram making it’s way down. The trams move in coordination with each other, when one slows down, they both slow down. The season just opened for parks in Franconia Notch so there weren’t a lot of people on the tram the morning we went up. It was nice, I could move around and see from all sides with ease.
As we reached the top, the tram got a little bumpy; we were warned, but it was still a bit of a surprise. A the top, there were trails and a cafe, bathrooms, and seating. Chris and I made it to the observation tower, but it was so windy it was unpleasant enough to cause us leave as soon we got there. One of the tram operators told us that the wind keeps the bugs off of you; this was true and I was appreciating that. 
In the same turn off as the tram was the Old Man of the Mountain Memorial sight. The “OMOTM” was New Hampshire’s most iconic symbol, until it fell off the side of the cliff. The image above shows what remains. After it fell apart, New Hampshirites had a contest to build a memorial. An artist won, she created a sculpture that allows one to stand in specific places according to one’s height, and have the image of the OMOTM reappear. It’s very cool. 
The lake below the OMOTM is worth the trip as well. It’s absolutely stunning and the NH Tourism Board planted a fly fisherman while we were there who was just as cool to watch.
We headed next to the Flume Gorge. This park was amazing and I would and will come back here over and over again. The pictures included don’t seem to be any order, I apologize for that; I’m having media difficulties. But regardless, the place was spectacular. The pictures really do no justice and it was probably a good thing that my camera battery died and I just had to walk and enjoy the sights without the pressure of having to document everything.
There weren’t many people on the trail the day we went, but the path gets narrow and it’s a “one person at a time path” in places which can make the trail seem crowded even when there are few actually on it. It was nice that we able to get pictures without lots of extra people in the background. On a busier day, it would be impossible.
We found this little guy on the trail; he was completely unaware of the foot traffic.
Once you get passed the flume part of the trail you have the option of heading back to visitor’s center or going on an extended loop. we opted for the extended loop, which was just as spectacular, but different. It was really one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. 
There were more falls and pools of water, amazing boulders and geology. It was just lovely.
Definitely a spot I will take visitors. The season run from May to October so visitors will have to come in the warmer months!
deidre noreen 