Fall Tradition - Hiking in NH

After spending a lot of my free time researching houses and wedding-related stuff (I promise I'll stop ranting about these two topics and begin raving again soon), it was nice to head into the great outdoors for a day and clear my head. Saturday was a typical beautiful fall day in New England with clear blue skies and crisp temperatures in the low 60's. Amy and I hitched a two hour ride with my Uncle Rich, cousin Andrew and family friend Jason to Mount Shaw and Black Snout in the Ossipee Mountains of NH.

First stretch of the hike was lovely, with a brook to our left providing soothing background noise:


It gradually got steeper:


We spotted two of these toads (frogs?) on our way up:


Andrew views one of the numerous brook crossings:


I needed a pit stop to apply moleskin to my heels - next time, I'll wear a better set of socks with my hiking boots!


My first look at deer poop - nice, I know:


Finally, we reached the summit, taking around two hours and twenty minutes to cover 4.1 miles:


The views were stunning, especially on a clear fall day:


The men in our hiking group - Jason, Rich and Andrew:


Me and Amy - I think we have the same picture for four years running - a great tradition!


Imagine that - you get cell reception at the top (which Andrew made a point of letting us know every chance he got - kids and their technology):


A great shot of Andrew and Amy (when did he get so tall) with Mount Washington just out of view behind them in the distance:

More importantly, reaching Mount Shaw meant lunch! In addition to ham, turkey and provolone sandwiches, I packed Pringles (my hiking staple) and chocolate chex mix for dessert:

On our way down, we hiked out to Black Snout:

Which gave us stunning views in the opposite direction, of Lake Winnipesauke:

Obligatory butt shot of Rich - this is also a hiking tradition:

Going down was rough on my toes, but gave my heels a break - plus, we got another look at the brook:

Andrew led us down for part of the way:

I wanted to soak my aching feet in the crystal clear pools created by the meandering brook:

While we could see beautifully-colored leaves on the forest ground, there weren't many around us unless you looked at the tree tops - those glorious colors are the main reason I wanted to get married in October in New England:

The descent felt like it took us forever - we were back at the parking lot around 5 pm, having spent close to six hours hiking. After a pit stop at a local store to pick up Tuckerman's Ale for Rich and a non-portapotty bathroom for Amy, we were back on by six and home past eight. I took a shower and promptly passed out on the bed for nearly twelve hours.