Week: 16 New Hampshire and Mount Washington

Week: 16 New Hampshire and Mount Washington

The Appalachian Trail and WICKED COOL colors starting to show up on the trees!

The leaves are already stunning and they haven’t hit their peak!! (That is what people say about me too! Ha)
The vibrant colors here in New England compete with the gorgeous mountains of Utah! Though I am envious of the
fact that New Englanders don’t have to drive to the mountains to get “a fix”, they get smothered in the colors
by simply driving or walking… well, anywhere!

This was a pretty calm week…except for one REALLY cool thing that sprung from our visit to Mount Washington…

First, Mt. Washington, the tallest mountain along the East Coast. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the chance to
hike to the top (this time), but we did take a Cog Railroad car that climbs the slope at a 38% grade. A bit
scary trusting that the brake inspector was on his A-game that morning. The climb offered serious views of
the surrounding mountains and ridgelines all covered in color, exactly what I was hoping to find by spending
fall in New England.

NOW, the highlight (at least for me), was that I got Brian to commit to another one of my “Lucille-Ball
hair-brained schemes” as he likes to call them… WE ARE GOING TO HIKE THE APPILCATION TRAIL!!! This has been
on my bucket list for a while, in pencil. It found it’s way to ink this week! For those of you that know me,
know that IT IS HAPPENING. His only requirement is that we do it at a time that works for the four of us (duh)!
I am doing my happy dance! If we average roughly 20 miles a day, we should be able to cover the 2,181 miles in
just under 5 months. Thinking somewhere around the year 2027 or 2028 (that is the year that Zoe graduates high
school and I can hopefully talk her into coming with us)… It seems far away, but it will be here before we
know it. I can speak from experience, that is how this adventure started out – so far away. I look forward to
practicing my backpacking skills! WHO’S IN? (We have a decade to practice).

Maine, here we come!

XO

Tina
Boondocks and Bliss