White Mountains - Day 2

 Oh I'm so tired! But it was a really good day. My dad and James are my heroes. I forgot to pack Christian's medicine yesterday so both of them woke up really early and met halfway so he could have it this weekend. Conveniently they also met up at a bakery so James brought back some delicious pastries. After a slow start and a few minutes enjoying the view from the deck we headed next door to drive up the mountain.

James stopped to get a picture of Mt Chocorua
while on his morning errands

It was James turn to drive up and wow being a passenger is a lot more nerve wracking! The Mount Washington auto road is probably not as narrow as it seems but there are no guardrails, no shoulders, and a very steep drop on one side. But the view! Oh it was incredible. 

The view continued to be amazing at the top of the mountain. Today was sunny and clear and we could see forever. Camille forgot to put on her hiking boots but that didn't stop her from climbing over the rocks at the top with us. And Sam was excited to explore and say hi to all the other dogs. 

Will and Christian exploring the top of Mt Washington

Can you find Jon?

Colin kindly took a picture of us at the top

After some time at the top we left Camille at the gift shop and did a little hiking around. Distances are really hard to judge but we went down to the train tracks and then around to the other side. Climbing down over the rocks was tricky because there were so many loose rocks and all of us were just in sneakers. At one point Christian thought he had twisted his ankle but as soon as James found something interesting farther down the trail he was up and running again. 

James and Colin talk on the way down

Colin and James are ready for a picture
but Jon is focused on something else

The boys enjoyed walking next to the train tracks and finding railroad spikes and bits of coal that had been dropped. Two trains came up while we were walking and everyone waved. Sam refused to cross the tracks though, he seem afraid to step over the cog line in the middle so we had to find a place for him to go under the tracks.

The cog train climbing the mountain

I love this view!

We couldn't be gone for long so even though the ridge trail looked so tempting we had to head back. But now the observatory looked so far away! But the walk up wasn't bad. It is a lot easier to go up rough terrain than it is to go down. The boys beat us though and when we finally arrived we found Jon following Grandma out of the gift shop with a brownie in his hand. 

Climbing back up

The trail on the left looks so tempting!

Jon leads the way

The boys on the trail

I got to drive down the mountain and it was my turn to make James nervous about being close to the edge. :-) But it was an uneventful descent and we did get to stop for some more pictures. Our plan was to head out to the Dairy Queen in Bartlett for a late lunch but we didn't realize how far away we really were. And when we got there we found they were only serving ice cream. So we ended up buying surprisingly decent pizza at a little country store and returning for ice cream afterwards. 

That sky!

We had hoped to see Glen Ellis Falls on the way back but we were all pretty tired from scrambling over rocks at the top of Mount Washington. And our scheduled pool time was approaching soon anyway. So we went back and everyone took a break in their respective rooms while Colin and I went for a walk. 

He's been having a hard time for reasons I won't get into here and after lunch he was particularly emotional. So we strolled along the trails behind the hotel and talked for about an hour. These trails are one of the reasons we so loved this hotel the first time we were here and what I was most looking forward to this time. Most of them are wide and well paved, I think for cross country skiing, although there are also some smaller and less groomed trails too. From the hotel the main trail leads across a bridge and around a meadow filled with flowers. Well, it was filled with flowers last August, there were not as many this year. But there were tons of butterflies! Colin and I saw two score at least as we wandered, many quite close up. It was really cool. 

We got back a little late for our pool reservations only to find none of the boys were ready. But it didn't take too long before they were splashing away. But I let James handle the pool time and went back to take a short rest. 

After swimming we met up with Grandma and all went down to the trails again. We were excited to show her the meadow and the beautiful view of the surrounding mountains. It was only an hour and a half since Colin and I had been down there but it was getting cooler and the butterflies had already gone. Still it was a very pleasant walk and I think Camille enjoyed it, despite my trying to kill her by leading her down one of the more adventurous shortcuts. 

Colin took this picture of us

Sorry James, Colin wins the picture taking contest

On the walk back Colin and James bonded over photography

I may be posting too many of these... 
but I really love them

We ate at the hotel tonight and the fries were excellent. The rest of the food was only ok but you can't beat the convenience! Especially since there are no other restaurants nearby. Over dinner we spent a long time talking to Colin about the future and I think he was feeling better by the end of it. Today has been a bit emotionally exhausting. 

After dinner the older boys and Grandma retired but Christian was full of energy so James and I took him and Sam out on the trails again. We only barely made it to the meadow though because poor Christian was terrified of the dark, and it was dark! Last year we saw incredible stars but tonight the clouds were covering most of them. But we did get to see a whole host of fireflies and that was amazing. 

Two motorcycles were parked by the entrance all weekend. 
Christian loved them and took this picture. :-)

Hopefully tomorrow we'll get to explore the woods a bit more. But only if I can get some sleep tonight!