My NH Hiking Adventure

So, I couldn’t put it off any longer….I finally gave in and went hiking this past weekend.  Chris and Max have become quite the hikers and I have, up to this point, been able to avoid this one particular activity.  Max had climbed more peaks in his 5 years than I had in close to 40.  But, it was a beautiful day, and I had nothing else to do or nowhere else to be, so I joined the boys on their hike up Mt. Kearsarge.

Now, Mt. Kearsarge is by no means a large mountain by NH standards.  It is almost 3000 ft.- half the height of Mt. Washington.  But, it is a nice hike, located in Warner, NH, and has a fire tower up top, a bald peak, and a wonderful view.  You can get there by taking 89 North and getting off of Exit 10.  There are three ways to get to the top….one way is by going halfway up by car, and then taking a nice walk up the rest of the way.  The other two ways include a 1.1 mile, very rocky steep trail, and a 1.8 mile more gradual and less rocky trail.  Now, left up to me, I would have chosen the riding up option.  As anyone can tell you, driving up to the top of Mt. Washington is great….a lot less work, and still a wonderful view when you get to the top, but of course, I had no such luck.  Hiking the whole 2900+ feet was the task of the day.  So, we decided to go up the hardest one, and then save the easier, albeit longer, one for the way down.

Yes...I climbed up that....the rockiest steepest part of the trail!

I’ll spare you all the gory details, but suffice to say, I am glad that my jaunt up the mountain was not documented by a recording on any sort of digital device….we just have pictures that caught all the positive moments!  I actually did fine on the way up, and the view from the peak was wonderful!!!  It really was a beautiful day, and it was extremely fun to watch Max.  Max is a natural….running and bounding up the rocks without so much as tripping.  He reminds me of a little mountain goat.

We made it!!!  Is my face a little red there???

To be honest, things got a little bit sketchy for me on the way down.  I should have eaten more before heading up, because I crashed like the Hindenberg.  My legs got really weak, I was dizzy, and I was slow as molasses on the way down!  But…….I made it!  And although it was very physically challenging for me, it was a fun and extremely enjoyable family activity!  Not sure if I will do that again any time soon…hiking just really isn’t my thing……but overall, I think I did pretty well for a first timer!!!

Chris and Max at the top of the world!!!  Well, not quite, but you get the idea!