a sea of mountains

As the weather turns consistently chilly and the leaves fall to the ground and the darkness returns, let's talk about summer! Back in June, Will and I took the kids up to New Hampshire for a long weekend, and we had the best time hiking in the beautiful White Mountains. The trip up was a little stressful as Annabel woke up the night before we left with a 102 degree fever and ended up having strep throat. We had to make a pit stop four hours into our trip to get her some antibiotics and then just prayed that she would make a quick recovery so we could all enjoy the trip together. Luckily, she bounced back within a day and was so excited to get out and hike. A girl after my own heart.

After arriving Wednesday night and settling in to our VRBO, we woke up Thursday morning and went out for a very low-key breakfast followed by a slow train ride through the mountains. It was just enough activity to keep Tommy occupied and let Annabel sit still in my lap as she recovered from being sick. That afternoon, Annabel and Will relaxed at our cabin while Tommy and I headed up into the mountains to the visitor's center at Pinkham Notch to get some information for our hike up Mt. Washington on Friday. We talked to a ranger who recommended that we take the Tuckerman Ravine trail and then connect to the Lion's Head trail. She highlighted the path on our map, we snapped some photos of the beautiful scenery and then headed back to join Will and Annabel at the cabin. 

On Friday morning, we woke to a perfect day. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the temperature was supposed to be in the low 70s in town which meant 50s on the summit of Mt. Washington. I was a little nervous that Annabel wouldn't be well enough to hike, but she came bounding out of her room at 6:30am and said, "Let's hike a mountain!" Yes! So we packed up some snacks and water, hats, gloves and extra sweatshirts and headed back up to Pinkham Notch to start our "strenuous" 4.5 mile hike to the summit of Mt. Washington. We were so excited! 

I don't know about you, but mountains are pretty much a requirement for me in life. I need fresh air and a good climb and a sea of mountains in the distance to remind me of what's important in life. So spending 5 hours (3.5 of those above tree line) hiking up a giant mountain admiring the amazing views is my idea of a fantastic day. Our hike up Mt. Washington was indeed a fantastic day. Here are a few way too many photos of our hike, if you'd like to see.

Summit selfie in the sunshine! We made it! 54 and windy at the top.

It was such a amazing day - great memories and a big accomplishment for our kids. They were such troopers as we went up, up, up the side of the mountain. The next time we hike Mt. Washington, I hope we will be passing through on the AT on our way to Katahdin in Maine.

To end today, here are a few sunset photos taken from our NH cabin with Mt. Washington in the distance. Everyone could use a few more sunsets in life, yes?