Mar 20, 2017

One of the great things about staying at the Mt. Washington Hotel is that we could put all our ski gear on in our room, our boots on in the lobby, grab our skis out of the little holding area downstairs, and hop on our two-minute shuttle over to the resort. We left about 45 minutes before the lifts opened and we still sat around for a while waiting. We thought we'd be on the first chair but this couple beat us to it. Turns out it doesn't really matter anyway. Elite people get to go up early.

We still got ourselves a freshly groomed trail that no one else had skied on yet. It was so nice. We spent the whole day skiing trails with no wait at all for lift lines. Weekdays are the days to go. It was such a wonderful change of pace. The snow was pretty great for the most part and we had the place to ourselves. We got into the trees finally and eased into it, but by the end of the day we were feeling really confident.

We did a run with jumps on it and tried them out a few times. We went down Granny's Grundle and Herb's Secret a couple times which was a nice assault to the leg muscles. Overall it was a really great day and we were worn out by mid afternoon. The view was great as well. The sun was out and the sky was blue all day long.

When we got back to the hotel we headed right for the hot tub. It was nice for a little bit, but then others joined in and started chatting. It was a little awkward, but the guy told us about the outdoor pool so that was a nice tip.

The outdoor "heated" pool wasn't so warm, but we stayed in and walked around for a little bit mostly for the novelty. The coldest part was getting out in the chilly air while we were wet. Luckily we could duck into the pool house to dry off and put on our robes.

We felt like pizza so we drove a few minutes down the road to the town only to find out the pizza place was closed. Then we found another pizza place which wasn't there anymore. We ended up driving a half hour to Littleton where there was a nice little downtown area and a beautiful covered bridge over a frozen, snowy river scene with the cute little town behind it. We got our pizza and walked across the bridge enjoying the nice day and the late day sunlight.

The red building with the water mill on it is Schilling Beer Co. We went in and tried a few samples of decent beers and then we headed back to the hotel.

We went back outside behind the hotel to enjoy the fire pits and encountered a strange woman who kept telling us that we just missed them making s'mores and she could go inside and get some if we really wanted to. She eventually left and we went to the bigger fire pit because it was getting chilly.

We spent the rest of our night playing SnipperClips in the lobby and hanging around the room in our robes trying to get the perfect gangsta picture. I think we got it. It felt too soon to already be leaving our lavish accommodations, but we packed up our stuff anyway to be ready to leave in the morning then relaxed in bed. It felt like a really long day in a great way.

Mar 19, 2017

This is the main memory I have of Okemo for the day. The lines were crazy at a lot of the lifts. We only took the bubble lift once because the second time we got in the line we bailed and went to get lunch instead. 

It was another beautiful day and the lines forced us to go do trails that we had never done before or didn't remember too well. We had fun once we got on the lifts and we spent the day choosing the trails with the least amount of people on them. The snow was really great here for some reason though so that was nice.

We left Okemo headed for New Hampshire and stopped at Worthy Kitchen for lunch. I got a mac and cheese plate and started sampling beers. They had a few beers from Hill Farmstead which were quite good as well as Lawson's Finest Double IPA which was nice to try after hearing so much about it. My definite favorite was Little Umbrellas by Four Quarters. It was a coconut pineapple sour and it was fantastic. I want more right now.

When we got to The Lodge at Bretton Woods we sat and waited for the customer in front of us before being told that the hotel was closing the next day and we had been moved to the hotel across the street. That hotel is the Mount Washington Hotel and Resort. Quite a huge upgrade. I'm not sure of the price difference, and we would have had access to most of the amenities there anyway, but being able to stay there was definitely nice.

As we arrived the sunset was coloring Mount Washington and the Presidential Range pink. It was an amazingly gorgeous scene from our hotel porch balcony. We spent the night in high spirits enjoying our room and exploring the hotel a bit. I spent a little time in the indoor pool and hot tub before retiring to the room for the rest of the evening. The bed was so comfortable that it was easy to fall asleep.

Mar 9, 2014

We got up early this morning to spend our full day at Bretton Woods. This place was a little farther from the hotel, but still much closer than we expected. It's the biggest ski resort in New Hampshire, so we needed all the time we could get. It was a little chillier than yesterday but still very nice. The view was even better than yesterday somehow. We were much closer to Mount Washington and we could see it in great detail. I spent quite a bit of time just standing and looking at it.

Again, the trail conditions were perfect and there were virtually no lines at the lifts. Also, I was surprised at the black diamond trails and how they weren't overly difficult. They were steep, but I didn't see many moguls. They were all fun and Brenda was able to join us on all of them. There were a few pretty steep sections that I paused at for a moment before dropping in, but they were within my ability. We did one glade trail that was listed as blue. It wasn't too bad, but I wasn't interested in doing it again right away. 

One of our favorite trails was Granny's Grit/Herb's Secret (Granny's Grundle). It was a narrow trail covered with bumps, drops, and moguls that required sharp turns and a lot of leg work. We did it twice, and I wish we could have done it a few more times. We did a mostly straight diamond trail three times in a row and then headed back up to the top for a few more long runs down before ending the day with one last race run down which ended with a trail of moguls under the lifts that Ryan and I did extremely well. Another great day of skiing.

I wanted to check out The Cave, a pre-prohibition tavern underneath the Mt. Washington Hotel, but it didn't open until 9 so we couldn't do that. We headed back to the hotel to change and then headed out to get Thai food for dinner. I had spicy red curry that was exactly what I wanted and Brenda and I split a ginger fried ice cream that was really good but hard to eat.

When we got back we went down to the pool and swam for an hour or so before it was closed. Ryan and Bree didn't spend much time, so Brenda and I passed the time by swimming underwater as far as we could, talking about sea monsters, and trying to do backflips and handstands in the water without getting water in my nose. Not that easy. We got in the hot tub for a few minutes after swimming because you can't go the other way.

We went up to Ryan and Bree's room to play Cards Against Humanity next. It was a ridiculous game of hilarious statements. I left with things like "dick fingers" and "shooting a rifle in the air while balls deep in a hog" stuck in my head. We played for quite a while and weren't feeling like playing another long game so we called it a night there. I tried Peak Organic's Fresh Cut Pilsner, which was really refreshing and good company for games with friends. I was really tired and falling asleep as soon as we got back to the room.

Aug 9, 2011

Just a short ride down the road from where we camped was the trailhead for Mount Washington. We stopped at the Visitor Center and, after considering our options and the weather, decided to go for it! Only about five miles to the top on the route we'd be taking.

The entirety of the first two miles looked like this. It was a wide path littered with small to medium boulders. We hopped from rock to rock, all the while ascending a mildly steep grade. We passed by some people along the way, always feeling somewhat awkward as we slowly passed and overtook them. It was tiring, but I tried to keep a steady pace.

There were a few nice views along the way as we followed a stream with several small waterfalls as we crossed over bridges. There were quite a few people on the trail; old, new, children and pets.

We left the Tuckerman Trail and started up the Lion Head Trail, which was much narrower and more rugged. It became steeper as well, with rocks to climb and some muddy, slippery rock sections. This section was taken much slower, explaining a little more why the estimate to get the top was so long.

Once we emerged from the woods and came out to the open side of the mountain we encountered plenty of rock steps climbing even steeper toward the stop. We stopped for a banana break to get some energy to carry on.

The steep steps continued up for a long time to a place the seemed like the top when we were looking up but turned out to be far from it. We got a brief respite along a narrow path that led to the base of the final climb.

The last bit was slow-going and very steep. It was a huge rock scramble that reached up half a mile to the summit. We took our time, finding whatever path we could to make our way up. It took a long time and it seemed never ending as we stepped into the clouds, in which lay the mythical top of the mountain. As we entered the cloud it started to get very chilly. It felt nice after the long climb.

We finally reached the top, where there were hundreds of cars parked from the people who drive the road to the top. We went into the gift shop to warm up and look around at the silly novelties that people buy when they drive in.

We went to the highest point, where we actually had to wait in quite a long line full of people to take our photo here. There should be a photo op reserved just for the people who drive up so the hikers can get priority on the real deal. It was an odd experience.

We went into the lodge where they were serving hot soup! It was a wonderful surprise as we had gotten pretty cold after we stopped exerting ourselves. The clam chowder was great and it felt good to sit down for a while. We rested for a while and looked around the gift shop before filling up our water bottles and getting back out there for the hike down.

Alex got this lovely cape, err.. blanket to wear on the way down because of the chill. The climb down was quite a nuisance, stepping carefully from one rock to the next. It took a long time. Luckily after we passed the cloud line the weather warmed up a bit. The descent was quite hard on the knees and seemed to go on forever.

We did have a nice view along the way for most of the difficult parts. The endless trail finally led us down to the first path and that went much quicker as it was less steep and the worst was behind us. We hopped our way to the bottom, finally getting back to the car and heading for food! It was quite a good hike. I would want to take a different trail next time though!

We headed toward Vermont, finding a place to shower along the way at a shady little campground. As we neared Waterbury, we looked up places to hang out that evening and The Alchemist caught my attention. We found our way there in the rain and I was glad we stopped in.

The little bar was great. They had a great variety of beer that they brew on premises and the bartenders were really friendly. We sampled a few beers and drank a few more. The food menu looked great, but they stopped serving right before we got there. I tried a great IPA and the sour ale was really different and delicious. I want to live here.

The bartender who was closing offered to show us to a Park and Ride lot so we could sleep there if we stuck around with her as she closed. She hooked us up with a free beer and led us right to the lot after she locked up. Thanks! We parked and listened to the rain pound on the car as I tried to get comfortable in the driver's seat for the night.