Lake Winnipesaukee, Mt. Pierce
I went on a brief trip with my friend to the New Hampshire lakes region and the White Mountains National Forest. I lived in NH for 3 years, from 2009-2012, and I never realized how much beauty surrounded me. I also didn’t have a car at the time, and my bubble was very limited to the Hanover/ Lebanon/ WRJ area.
On Saturday, we flew into BOS. I arrived a couple hours earlier, and I sat in the airport, eating a bagel with cream cheese and reading Push, by Tommy Caldwell. I was so tired from my week of work, that I was happy to wait in the airport and not navigate my way into the city. Once he arrived, we drove to Chinatown, and ate some food! It was a little late for dim sum, but they had some har gow left, and I was satisfied. No lo bak gow though. We thought about exploring more, but we’re old and tired people. So, we headed to the hotel and took a long nap. Then, we ordered pizza and went back to sleep.
On Sunday, we took the train and had coffee at George Howell. I consumed the prettiest coffee with amazing latte art. Then, we drove to Carter Hill Orchard in Concord NH. The reviews were right – they had the yummiest apple cider donuts! My friend thought that we should buy one each, but I insisted we buy six. He now sees the error of his ways. It was a rainy day, so we didn’t hike the trails that day. We had dinner at T-Bones, and then checked into a tiny house on a farm for the night.
The weather cleared up on Monday. We had coffee at Wayfarer, then went to Mount Major trail. We followed the blue blazes up the Main Trail to the summit, then took the yellow blazes down on Brook Trail. It was 4.6 miles, 1,188 foot elevation gain. We’re slow hikers, so it took us 2:49. What a beautiful day! We had a delicious dinner at Black Mountain Burger Company. I wish I could have had a sampler plate of all their appetizers. It all looked so good. I mean, how could you go wrong with fried mac and cheese balls? Sadly, I didn’t try them. But, their fries were amazing. Then, we checked into Lumen Campsite and tried glamping for the first time. I highly recommend it! The tent/ bed/ site was so comfy. I am also a huge fan of modern day plumbing. Yes to flushing toilets and hot showers! Unfortunately, the propane tank they gave us to power the space heater was near empty and ran out in no time. It was a chilly night, so I was glad I had packed my Disco 15 sleeping bag.
New day, new trail! We had coffee and picked up sandwiches at Moon Cafe. Unfortunately, we got a late start to the day. I really wanted to hike one of the 48 NH 4000 footers, so that brought us to Mt. Pierce via the Crawford Path. The parking was a $5 donation (very reasonable in my opinion). The trail starts off with multiple small waterfalls. It was a steady incline; mostly rocky, muddy, but fun nonetheless. There are interesting mushrooms to see along the way, and it feels and smells like Christmas the entire time! The summit is worth the hike. We ate our sandwich. I was getting anxious about making it back before the sun set. It was also starting to rain. I was rushing my friend, and I was frustrated when he wanted to peel and eat his orange. However, I’m glad he wanted to eat that orange. Because of him, we were able to see a rainbow stretch across the entire valley. The sun was setting quickly on our hike down. At one point near the end of the trail, I was nervous because I heard some rustling behind me. But, we got to the parking lot before it got too dark. We were the last car in the lot. It was 6.0 miles, 2336 foot elevation gain, taking us 4:21. We had dinner at Gordi’s in Lincoln. A good way to end the day.
We drove back to Boston on Wednesday. We stopped at Mad River Coffee Roasters in Campton, NH along the way. Once we got back into the city, we decided to walk around Quincy Market before returning the car rental and heading to the airport. A decade ago, I remember enjoying the city, but this time around, it seemed busy, expensive, touristy, and over stimulating. Overall, we had a great trip. I wish I had endless energy to do more hikes, and maybe an extra day or two in the Whites would have been nice. But, my body is satisfyingly exhausted, and I’m already looking forward to the next hike.