Month: September 2016

Mt. Isolation Hike

On By careofmonIn Hiking2 Comments

This past weekend we finally got some fall weather! My husband, Jon, and I celebrated the fantastic weather by heading up north to hike Mt. Isolation. This particular peak is just over 4000 feet at 4003 feet and is technically in the Presidential Range. I never considered it a part of the Presidential Range because it isn’t named after a president, but it is. Its also in the Dry River Wilderness, which means a couple things- any existing structures will be removed when maintenance is needed and not replaced, no bridges, some planks that are logs not lumber, signs aren’t painted, and not many blazes between signs. There was a shelter built on the trail that has been removed. There are some primitive camp sites up there though. Most people are not huge fans of the hike because it is very long, the river crossings can be treacherous, and the trail is usually muddy and gross. Right now, New Hampshire is in a drought though! So I guess the only good thing that can come from the drought is the pleasant trail I got to hike on?

We took the Rocky Branch Trail to the Isolation Trail to Davis Path up to the summit. That made a 14.5 mi, 9 hour trip. There is a shorter route in both time and mileage but it is harder up and down the Glen Boulder Trail. You gain elevation, lose it, and then gain it again. The crossings over the Rocky Branch were beautiful. Some foliage is starting to turn, mostly the leaves are green and yellow, very few red leaves.

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Rocky Branch. These crossings can be tough in the spring and winter depending on the amount of precip the mountains get!
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My pack and fleece are both from LLBean! 
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The peak just to the left of center is Mt. Monroe. That ravine you can see there is Oak’s Gulf. Mt. Washington is hidden in the cloud in the right center.
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Our boots are La Sportiva Pamirs. These are the boots I would grab if I had to take one pair of shoes for a zombie apocalypse. 
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In this pic you can kinda tell how windy it was, it was crazy up there.

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Mizpah stayed home for this hike because it was just soo long. Now I only have 4 peaks left to have hiked all 48 4000 footers in NH. I need to do the three Bonds and Owls Head. We want to do both of those hikes as overnights, so I probably won’t finish until next summer. It was cold up there, and the winds were gusting up to ~50 mph. The views were so worth is though. I was just a little bummed that Mt. Washington was in a cloud. From Mt. Isolation you can take trails over to Mt. Washington, Mt. Monroe, and to the Mizpah Spring Hut just below Mt. Pierce. I am looking forward to more fall hiking, bring on the leaf peepers!

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Dartmouth College Outing Clubhouse Wedding

On By careofmonIn Trips2 Comments

This past weekend, my husband, Jon, and I attended a wedding for one of his cousins at the Dartmouth Outing Clubhouse in Hanover NH. The Dartmouth Outing Club (DOC) was established in 1909 “to stimulate interest in out-of-door winter sports”. In 1929, the clubhouse was built. The “club” actually encompasses a dozen or so member organizations all having to do with some outdoor pursuit. The clubhouse is a beautiful building on Occom Pond with stone pillars and ivy crawling up the sides. It is right across the street from another beautiful Dartmouth property, the Hanover Country Club.

Front of the clubhouse
Pondside of the clubhouse
Hanover Country Club

The upstairs of the clubhouse has a large main room with fireplaces on either side of the room. There are historic photos on all the walls which I loved. Dartmouth runs the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge as the base of Mt. Moosilauke and owns the Second College Grant which has trails and many rental cabins. I wrote about the lodge on Moosilauke here. Seeing photos from Moosilauke and some of the cabins from the 1940s, 50s, and so on was really amazing. The Dartmouth Outing Club has done so much historically for the White Mountains. It was men from Harvard and Dartmouth that were some of the earliest hikers up many of my favorite peaks. There are a couple rooms off of the main room as well as a kitchen.

Main Room
Main Room
Main Room
Photos in a side room

The man in the portrait is Sherman Adams, ’20. He accomplished a lot in his life including being a part of the founding of Cabin and Trail as a senior, which was the central club for the DOC and gifting land on Moosilauke for a cabin used for wilderness skiing. He had quite a political career as a congressman, governor of NH, and finally chief of staff for Dwight D. Eisenhower. Off the main room there is also a beautiful balcony that overlooks Occom Pond.

Downstairs is the rental center for outdoor gear like cross country skis. There is a terrace that goes out to the pond and that’s where the ceremony was held.  The terrace was the gift of the class of 1944.

Pondside of the clubhouse & terrace

Hanover NH was an adorable town that I definitely would like to spend more time in. Its sort of a funny town up there practically in Vermont, very secluded. You have to wonder if everyone in the town is somehow associated with the college and its various associates.

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Occom Pond, the leaves are just starting to turn!

I love weddings and this was my only one this fall! It was great seeing a lot of Jon’s family and celebrating his cousin’s big day. Being a hiker and lover of New Hampshire/New England it was amazing getting to spend some time in the DOC House.

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LLBean for Fall!

On By careofmonIn Fashion2 Comments

It’s Wednesday but my Labor Day weekend is still fresh in my mind. We camp up in Freeport ME every Labor Day weekend right on Casco Bay. It is my favorite weekend of the year! The scenery is beautiful, and there are trails to walk on along the water at the campground. In the past we have done the LLBean discovery classes (stand up paddle boarding & clay shooting), but this year we decided to do some kayaking. My husband and some of the other guys went mountain biking, and I went for a great run in beautiful Freeport. LLBean was busy this past weekend with back to school shopping. It is the time right now to snag some great LLBean items for the fall and winter!!!

LLBean Boots

This is the time to buy LLBean boots BEFORE the rush at the holidays. Bean boots were backordered for months last year. I have these and these, but I am always keeping my eye out for the boots featured in the photo below. I love these and haven’t seen them in a while. Remember to order down a size from what you normally wear unless you want to wear super thick socks with your boots!

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Via originally from KJP

Fisherman Sweaters

LLBean has some great fisherman sweaters. The one I have is here  and I love it. This one is a tunic sweater so a little longer with a slightly bigger neck. I would really love the tunic in green. These are from the signature line and so are more true to size than regular shirts/sweaters.

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Sweater Fleeces

A great item to have during the colder months is the LLBean sweater fleece pullover. This year they added some new colors! I really like the kelp green one. I have the pewter one and it washes well, but I do line dry it. I love the retro label on these!

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Scotch Plaid Flannel Shirts, Slightly Fitted

These sold out last year, so grab them now while they in stock! They are a nice weight flannel, not too thin like a lot of brands. See them here for $44.95. I have the black watch and just got the stewart victoria. They are great flannel shirts- warm and not too boxy. For both the sweater fleece and this shirt, I sized down from my normal size.

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Daybreak Scuffs

LLBean has great slippers. They are well known for their wicked good moccasins, but the daybreak scuffs are worth a shoutout too! I got the ones with the moose on them, but I am going to guess that the lobster will be VERY popular. The chocolate lab was popular last year. There is a cat and owl pair too! I ordered my normal size for these. I wear mine barefoot or with light socks, so you might want to go up a size if you want to wear thick socks.

Labor Day has come and gone BUT summer isn’t over yet. We have some seriously warm weather coming our way! Summer isn’t over until September 22 🙂 Hopefully this post has given you some fall fashion inspiration!

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Shopping smart paid off for the Lilly APS

On By careofmonIn FashionLeave a comment

I received my Lilly Pulitzer After Party Sale shipment this past week! Woo!! In the past, I like many Lilly lovers have taken advantage of the sale to purchase expensive items like dresses for less money. The truth is though, I looked at my closet, and I already have more Lilly dresses than I can wear. The TRUTH is that I don’t really wear dresses that often. What I really wear more are tees and shorts or tees and skirts. I realized the real void in my wardrobe was not that I needed more dresses despite the great deals, I needed more tees for every day wear. Finding these holes in my wardrobe is sort of a new mission of mine after moving and seeing exactly what I own. These are the three tops I got from the sale, love all the nautical/marine prints 🙂

Lilly Pulitzer only has two sales a year- the one in January and this one in August. It can be really easy to over do it on these sales just because you feel like this is your only chance to get the items you have been checking out all year.

There’s a psychology to these sales. First, not all items are even in the sale. You finally get in via the online queue after an hour to find that the item you wanted isn’t even in the sale.  Well that’s ok, maybe you just find something similar. Because of the great deal, you decide to get a few things. Because its only twice a year, you get a few more things. Now instead of getting one thing that you really wanted, you are getting six things that you kinda want and actually end up spending more money than that one thing cost at full price. You check out quickly because you know that nothing is safe until you check out! Once the flurry of activity is over and your final sale items have been purchased, you start to go over the items you bought. Maybe that feeling of satisfaction starts to wane as you start to worry about sizes, or realize that you already own a really similar pair of shorts to the ones you bought, or you realize you have a bill due on Friday that you could have used that money for.

I am not saying that we shouldn’t enjoy sales, and I really do love the Lilly APS. I got three great tshirts this year for just around $100 and I am really happy with my purchases. This year I really planned and thought about what I needed though as opposed to what I wanted….or worse what I thought I SHOULD want. We work hard for our money, and we owe it to ourselves to make smart purchases and avoid buyer’s remorse 🙂

This is a timely post considering the fact that there will be many Labor Day sales this weekend! We are heading up to Freeport ME for the weekend, what are you up to!?

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