Pack Monadnock

As "Team Photographer" for acidotic RACING, I have loved attending a variety of different events which have taken me all around New England. This year, my husband is participating in the USATF Mountain Goat Series.. which means if he completes 6 out of 7 races in the series, he automatically qualifies for entry into the Mt Washington Road Race. Usually I don't make the summit on these races as I'm standing around somewhere else waiting to cheer everyone on.. for Pack Monadnock, the race consists of 8 and a bit miles of road running, and then the final 1 and a bit miles up the auto road of Miller State Park to the summit. They do not allow cars up the auto road during this time. I decided I would make my way up to the finish line to cheer everyone on.. there are a number of trails one can take to the summit, which I would have preferred, however I was concerned knowing some of the runners are really quite fast.. and I'm really not.. that I would not make it in time to see them finish and subsequently take their pictures.. so I opted to hike up the auto road too, therefore if they beat me, I could at least still take their pictures from wherever I happened to be. Thankfully I made it before the winners, and even had some time to climb the fire tower and take a few view shots! That last little section of road is quite a killer.. I cannot imagine how that must feel after 9.5 miles.

Strava Activity

 

Parker Mountain

We are busy this Spring. And I am loving it. Gorgeous weather. Great company. Cannot ask for more. Today, Beth and I ventured up Parker Mountain and went for the viewpoint ledges I had read about, that I didn't quite make with the boys last year. We made it and were rewarded with some pretty views over Bow Lake.

Strava Activity

Mt Major

I am learning how fun it is to take friends up a mountain for the first time. Beth and I were ready to tackle Mt Major for her first time. We ascended the Brook Trail.. which for me always seems to go on and on. I'm not a strong climber but I have relatively decent endurance. Beth has wonderful long legs that seem to allow her to float up the trails. Not to say she doesn't work for each step. It started to rain lightly when we were on the summit, so we opted for the shortest way down, which is the Mt Major trail. Relatively steep in short sections, with some rock scrambling, I was glad to be down before the rain got too heavy making things slippery.

 Strava Activity

Lockes Hill

Initially, Mt Major was on the cards. However, the day dawned overcast and rainy.. so we put Major on hold for a finer day and headed a little further down the road to Lockes Hill. Another short and sweet hike with some nice views over Lake Winnipesaukee. It just amazes me the vast array of options for exploring in this state. I'm very thankful to have it all at my fingertips!

Strava Activity

 

Fort Mountain

My friend Beth and I have been enjoying walking around our town and Northwood Meadows often. I finally convinced her to take on the mountains. Having recently been up Fort Mountain with my family, I knew it was completely doable for a hiking newbie. We also made the commitment to ourselves on this hike that striving for a healthier lifestyle was important. Hence the cheesey picture at the end (we called it our "before" shots).

Strava Activity

Fort Mountain

I had read about Fort Mountain as a nice, simple 1 mile up and 1 mile down hike of the access road to a cell tower. After making our way to Epsom, we had trouble locating the exact trailhead. We could see the cell tower, so knew we were in the vicinity. We found what we thought might be the trail and headed off. I started to get skeptical as I watched the tenths of mile click away and the observation that we were not making any real ascent. We went about a mile anyway and decided we were obviously not on the right path so turned around. After looking around a bit once we got back to the car, we finally found the right spot. It really is a road (albeit dirt) and what we had been on was a snowmobile trail. We passed the gate restricting vehicle access, noting that it does encourage hikers and headed up the correct mile to the summit and cell tower. This would be a great place for anyone needing hill repeats as part of their training regime. Well graded, and for the most part very quiet.

 

Strava Activity

Mt Blue Job

My husband and I belong to acidotic RACING, Tim races.. I take pictures. So, I have been watching folks race on snowshoes for 3 years now. I had never actually taken a step on a pair myself though. I received a message from local friend Mindy, who has kids at school with mine, if we were interested in taking a hike up Blue Job this afternoon. After borrowing some snowshoes for the kids from Mindy's neighbors and me grabbing my husbands racing pair, we headed over to the trailhead and prepared for our first Winter hike! It was SO.MUCH.FUN! I was hooked! The kids did great. Granted, this is a very short hike (roughly 1.5 miles total) and the snow cover was well packed and not deep, but it was a great introduction to another activity keeping me outdoors. We hiked up the main trail of Blue Job to the fire tower. Obligatory tower ascent and snack of course. Then headed down the backside towards Little Blue Job. It always amazes me how different trails look on any given day. As we descended, despite Mindy's confidence at our location, I was completely turned around and had no clue where we were! I had not hiked a whole lot on these trails and was not familiar with any of the landmarks yet. We reached the Frog Pond, and subsequent snowmobile trail on the other side, which quickly led us back to the car. Thanks for a great afternoon Mindy!

 Garmin Activity