Hiking New Hampshire The North Woods

Through The Notch

Last Weekend I was lucky enough to head North (which is my favorite way to go, always) for a solo trip to hike and catch up with some very special friends I haven’t seen; some in about 13 years. In 1998 I moved to NH and lived there until 2006 with a brief intermission back home to RI to birth my first born child in 2001. Natalie asked me the other day what my favorite job was and Without hesitation it was the Italian Farmhouse in Plymouth, NH and that is where I met some of my most dearest friends whom I still chat with to this day and who I got to visit with over the weekend. Ethan’s grandparents still live in NH so when I go to NH i ususally get of 93 at exit 27 and only go as far north as 28 to get coffee and MAD RIVER COFFEE ROASTERS! BUT….this trip I went THROUGH THE NOTCH into the great north woods. I could have gone more NORTH but at least I got through the NOTCH this time and it was dreamy. I drove around for a bit in the little town of BETHLEHEM which is a sweet little quiet town brewing with excitment,young farmers and entrepreneurs. I would like to move there, FOR REAL! It would fulfill my goal of not ever having to go into big box stores again:) But we’ll see; for now I go PLAY as much as a I can. But if you are there is a local brewery and few quint coffee shops and this shop called LONESOME WOODS! I love nothing more than walking into old barns filled with even older stuff. It was thoughtfully stocked with vintage and new goods. The man’s name is Nick and he is a woodworker and his wife makes candles, cards, and herbal goodies. http://www.lonesomewoods.com/. CHECK THEM OUT! I scored a most beautiful hand stitched vintage quilt topper and a book on Einstein for ETHAN… He gave me a deal and I felt so good about leaving there with my goodies. BUT now off to HIKING New Hampshire

Hiking NH

My next adventure was a good ol’ NH HIKE. My newest fun thing will be to be Hiking New Hampshire although I am real glad I wasted time driving around checking out NH dirt roads and old vintage shops because my original plan was to HIKE all day. So I had to narrow it down to a 3ish hour hike and someone was watching over me because I may have underestimated my cardiovascular systems’ ability to trek up up and up for hours at a time. I chose a short hike 3ish miles called the Sugarloaf Trail and the views were INCREDIBLE, almost 360 views. It is NOT the ski resort Sugarloaf. The inclines will get your heart rate going for sure but it was a quick hike vs. others in the area and the views are more than worth it. On one side you see Vermont and the other you see Twin Sisters, Mt. Washington, Mt. Garfield and many more. https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/new-hampshire/north-and-middle-sugarloaf-via-sugarloaf-trail

Monarch Butterfly Caterpillars

I spotted some monarch caterpillars feasting on their milkweed when I arrived in Campton Saturday. They were super fun to watch.

Dinner with friends

I met a friend for dinner Saturday ofocurse we went to the Italian Farmhouse! This particular friend was actually the girl who trained me when I first got hired there and she also grew up in RI. If you have never been it’s a lovely place. It has a most GINORMOUS place in my heart, it was truly my “home” for a long time. It is part of the Common Man Family and let me tell you there is nothing Common about the Man who founded it, Alex Ray. Check him out, read about it, see what he has accomplished; it’s amazing https://www.thecman.com/restaurants-and-menus/italian-farmhouse.aspx

I saw some wildlife while up North, always exciting! I drove home through Plymouth State University’s campust Saturday night, my old stomping grounds and saw a fox running right through the middle of campus and THEN…… when i got back home to Campton I wanted to check out the caterpillars so i ventured over to the edge of the yard with my headlamp on to see if i can see them and I literally almost ran into a bear. This guy has been hanging around Ethan’s grandparents now for a couple months. Lynn-Ann (Ethan’s Grandma and one of my closest friends) startled it into a tree a month or so ago. I didn’t see it but I knew it wasn’t a deer running off it was too galumpy sounding…It sure did startle me, I took all the food out of my jeep and locked the doors!. When I lived on Ellsworth Hill in NH I had them in my yard almost daily and never thought twice about or was worried at all. It’s weird how different you become as you grow old…The next day while chatting with Lynn-Ann in the kitchen I looked out the slider and sure enough that little bear was making his way down the driveway. It was a smallerish bear and I am sure glad he ran the opposite direction of me while trying to see those caterpillars. I didn’t get a picture of him but you know what a cute black bear looks like!

The trip was awesome. I sometimes wonder about how much I like to be alone, saying am I ok? hahahhahha Just not having to talk to anyone is so calming to me and YES i have decided I am just fine. I think more people should try to be alone more. However, I do look forward to going back with my family soon, I don’t always want to be alone just like 70% of the time:)

take good care

monica