The Moms Go Walkabout
Todd and Buds spent much of Tuesday during New Hampshire Week hiking up Mount Chocorua. (Renamed Mount Cucaracha, Chimichanga, and Chocula by all of us at various times.) Compared to their assault on Mount Washington last year, this one was a stroll in the woods. They picked a beautiful, warm day, and were pleased with the tremendous views they had from the top.
Gina and I scaled the same mountain later in the week, choosing a different starting point…and a rainy day.
It began raining on us shortly after we left the house, but we were encouraged by our belief that the rain, and the clouds, would be intermittent.
“The clouds will pass,” we said.
“I think the sky is getting lighter,” Gina said.
“Isn’t that the sun over there?” Gina said.
“I’m sure the sun is breaking through…”Said you know who.
Our first stop on the hike was Champney Falls. It sprinkled on us on and off, but the tree cover kept us well protected. Compared to our Massadoah Hike, we weren’t even damp.
The Massadoah Hike can be referenced here.
The air on our August 2013 hike was misty, and the path was damp, but Gina had her backpack rain fly, and I had my frog hat, and we were all good.
The hike to Champney Falls was beautiful and peaceful.
I had to take the picture above because this was the only time Gina had her big camera out on the whole hike. This shot was taken on our way off the mountain, and she said, “I’ve got to take my camera out so I’ll have had a reason to carry it for the last 7 hours.”
The hike itself was good. We hiked at a relaxed pace, taking time to stop and enjoy the lush surroundings, talking and laughing. We saw very few other people.
We got to the falls, 1.5 miles in, in an hour and 15 minutes, so we felt good about that pace. Gina was our lead for the vast majority of the time, and I was again impressed by her drive and determination. I told her I was playing sheep on this day, so however far she wanted to hike, I would do. Her backpack is like a magical bag of stuff, yet she never complains about the weight or discomfort. (I had a headache for much of the hike, and she pulled out a baggie of pills for me to choose from for my pain relief. When her boots caused a heel rub, she pulled out a little first aid kit to select from mole skin or band-aid. I firmly believe I could have wished for most anything, and she would have had it in her pack.)
I would have been willing to turn back at any point on the hike, but her good spirits and example encouraged me to forge ahead with little complaint.
This post will serve as a memory jog for Gina and me, but for the rest of you, suffice it to say there was a moment when we learned we still had .4 miles to go to the summit when I was largely out of enthusiasm. Another point when I said to Gina, “Well, I am interested to see how far you were going to go…”when we were at the point of deciding if we were going to walk around to the other side of a mountain for the “view.”
And finally, there was much hysterical laughter when we sat down on the summit to survey the land before us.
Remember, here’s what Buds and Todd enjoyed:
On the day Gina and I chose, here is what we saw from the top of Mount Chocula:
As is our way, despite missing the view, we still found much to enjoy and laugh about.
We saw a vast number of mushrooms up and down the trail, thanks to the damp, misty weather, I assume. One of the mushrooms, which looked like it had been smeared with strawberry jam caused me to exclaim, “Nature is disgusting.” which became one of our mantras.
We were finally off the trail around 6 or 6:30 p.m., grateful to see the car, grateful we had made the hike, and grateful we would shortly be back in cell phone range so we could assure our families we weren’t dead.
We hiked on a Thursday, and Friday was a gorgeous clear day. We joked about doing the hike again so we could see the view for ourselves, but I love our story more for all its quirks and foibles.
And we’re thinking of hiring ourselves out as rainmakers. If you have a mountain and a drought, we’re your women.
