Mt. Moosilauke Hike on the Carriage Road

On April 19, 2016April 19, 2016 By careofmonIn Hiking8 Comments

Sunday of this past weekend, my husband Jon, Mizpah, and I headed up to NH for a hike. Jon’s broken toe had healed just in time for our wedding, and we were ready to get back to hiking after almost 2 months away from our favorite mountains. We chose Mt. Moosilauke after reading through Saturday’s trip reports because Mt. Moosilauke had just some soft snow/ice on the Carriage Road trail where some of the mountains still require crampons. The Carriage Road trail is wide and gradual, it was a little over 10 miles and took us a little over 6 hours to do.

At the summit of Mt. Moosilauke, there are remains of the Prospect House built in 1860, later known as the Tip Top House, a hotel similar to the one on the summit of Mt. Washington. It burned down in 1942. The Carriage Road was built in 1870 to bring guests up to the summit.

Tip Top House, Moosilauke Breezy Point, NH

Breezy Point Road leads to the Carriage Road trailhead. Nathaniel Merrill built a farmhouse there in 1834, and converted the farmhouse in 1860 to serve as an inn called the Merrill Mountain Home. Slightly downhill from there, the larger Breezy Point House was built in 1877. It was destroyed by a fire in 1884, and then the Moosilauke Inn was built there in 1886. In 1915, the Merril Mountain burned down, and in 1953, the Moosilauke Inn burned down.

A smaller motel was built at the inn site which closed in 1981. Crazy history. The spot where the inn was is just a big field. I guess there was even a 9 hole golf course there around 1900. We did find a cellar hole around where the Merrill house could have been.

Then on our way out, we found this cellar hole further downhill from where the inn would have been. Could have been outbuildings from the original Breezy Point House.

Here are some more pictures from our hike. We did Moosilauke back in November too, and in this post, I discuss the link between Moosilauke and Dartmouth College.

Built in the 1990s by the Dartmouth Outing Club, just beyond this bridge there was a shelter called Camp Misery in the 1930s. I believe the bridge is made of pieces of the shelter.

Mizpah and Jon on our way to the summit, South Peak in the background

Moosilauke’s summit is always windy, it is the first tall peak that gets wind from Vermont!

Mizpah relaxing when we got back to the car

So now I have done Moosilauke 3 times. Its great because there are so many different trails up and down it, I have never done it the same way twice. We are going to try to hike the next couple weekends and we have some big hiking plans for this summer. I still have 9 left to complete the 4000 footers in NH. Of course they are all tough, long, or far away hikes- save the craziest for last? I read this article this past week, and it really summed it all up for me. Where do you like to hike!? I love hearing other people’s hiking stories!!

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My Wedding Weekend!!

On April 14, 2016April 13, 2016 By careofmonIn Fashion, Lifestyle, TripsLeave a comment

I apologize for my blogging hiatus, but its been a crazy couple weeks since my Aiken SC trip. I got married this past weekend!!! We headed up to the Indian Head Resort in Lincoln, NH on Friday, and did our rehearsal there. Then we had our rehearsal dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Truant’s Taverne. Now, some people think you have to choose- you are either a Truant’s fan, or a Woodstock Inn Station & Brewery fan. Woodstock is on the other side of the street, they brew their own beer, so delicious. I love both. I couldn’t decide if you made me. One benefit of Truant’s is that it’s closer to the ice cream place I guess. The people that own Truant’s also own White Mountain Bagel Co. which is where we got breakfast for Saturday morning at the hair salon. Their tomato basil bagel is so good. Ok I promise my wedding weekend wasn’t all about food…but we also got lunch on Friday at another place I love, Half Baked Fully Brewed….ok back to the wedding.

Rehearsal time with the traditional bow bouquet made from shower gifts 🙂 Wearing a Lilly Delia little white dress (sadly sold out)! Yes, the lake outside is still frozen on April 9th….New England

Indian Head Resort has many conventional hotel rooms, the ones with a view of the Shadow Lake, the Pemi River, and the mountains are the best. The resort also has two adorable houses for rent, so some of my bridesmaids were in one, and the groomsmen were in the other. Our rehearsal dinner was all about fun comfort foods- chicken fingers, mac n cheese, steak tips, and garlic whipped potatoes. There was also salad though, no worries, haha #eatclean. The varsity room upstairs at Truant’s has shuffleboard, arcades, pool tables, and a jukebox. It was such a fun night. We headed back to the hotel, grabbed drinks at the Thunderbird Lounge, and did some hot tubbing! Indian Head has an indoor heated pool/hot tub AND a heated outdoor pool/hot tub. The outdoor hot tub is huge, I want one.

Saturday, the mothers, bridesmaids, and myself headed off to the Daydreams Hair & Nail Studio for hair and makeup. The ladies at the salon were so sweet, they genuinely cared about what we wanted and we loved them! They made everyone’s hair and makeup dreams come true. Their makeup is a mineral based line, so it was great for my skin, and they had the wispie fake lashes which I love so much more than the blunt cut lashes.

We got back to Indian Head, put on our dresses, and then it was time for champagne and photos! Jon and I did a first look so we saw each other and did some pictures before the ceremony. It was so good for both of our nerves/emotions to do the first look. The ceremony was inside, and it was perfect. There were tears, laughs, and it feels like it was over so fast. We did some photos outside even though it was freezing, and then it was reception time. The food was amazing, our DJ was fabulous, and it was just awesome having so many friends and family members all together in one room!

My dress came from David’s Bridal, and my bridesmaids’s dresses were all navy/gold dresses from Lilly Pulitzer! My sister wore the navy beaded ‘Largo”, my friend Kayla wore the navy ‘Bentley’, and my three girlfriends from the barn actually did Rent the Runway for the navy ‘Valli’. My sister got her dress from the After Party sale, and the Bentley dress was really affordable on Amazon. The groomsmen were in gray tuxedos, navy ties, brown shoes, super classy looking bunch of guys.

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After the wedding, we all hit up the hot tub one more time before heading to bed. Sunday many guests met up with for the breakfast buffet which includes lots of bacon and an omelette station….soooo good. Again, sorry for my food obsession.

Because I am in grad classes, we are not doing a honeymoon right away, but we do have some fun trips planned for the summer 🙂 I can’t wait to get the professional photos to relive the amazing weekend all over again. Both Jon and my families vacationed at Indian Head Resort growing up, often because camping trips got rained out at Fransted Campground, so it was extra special to be there, and with the mountains that we have hiked looking down over us….it was just a great weekend full of love and happiness. Hope you all had a lovely weekend!! Here’s one last pic of the beautiful sunset over the Franconia Notch.

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Southern Presidentials Hike to End February

On March 3, 2016March 3, 2016 By careofmonIn Hiking1 Comment

Oh man is this week kicking my butt! Between work, classes, homework, and wedding stuff, it feels like my free time is nonexistent! Today I finally took my wedding dress to get altered though, so that was a huge check off my list! Woo hoo accomplishment! This past weekend, we hiked Mount Jackson and Mount Pierce in NH. These are the southern most mountains in the Presidential Range and the trails start in the beautiful Crawford Notch area. Fun fact- Mount Jackson is actually named after Charles Jackson, the state geologist back in the 19th century NOT Andrew Jackson, our seventh president.

Jon, Mizpah, two friends, and myself set out on Sunday morning around 9 AM. Immediately we all put on our traction, three of us have crampons, and one of our friends just had microspikes. The trail was solid ice from melting snows. Wearing crampons is pretty serious business. You have to be careful of every step, making sure you don’t slice yourself or one of your hiking companions. Super scary with Mizpah running afoot. The day started a little gray, but over the course of the day, the sun came out and blue skies prevailed! We had pretty good views of the rest of the Presidentials. Mizpah had a great hike with the warmer temps and her claws were perfect in the soft ice. She will probably never hike the northern Presidentials (Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Madison) because of the rocky terrain, but the southern ones are ok. Her hut, the Mizpah Spring Hut, is on Pierce 🙂 Here are some pics from the hike!!!

Crawford Notch Depot- station for the Notch Train of the Conway Scenic Railroad which will resume service on June 14th!

Winter wonderland trails, like our very own Narnia

View from Jackson- up on the left you can see Bretton Woods Ski Resort and thats the Mount Washington Hotel in the middle. The red roof is really easy to see up on the mountain, not so much in the photo!

It’s really important to remember to bring food for yourself AND your dog. We bring a bag of Mizpah’s food for her to eat on the trail, and a water bowl!

For hiking on ice….here are my La Sportiva Nepal mountaineering boots, Grivel crampons, and EMS Gaiters (similar here) . Winter hiking is pretty awesome if you like to collect gear!

The rest of the Presidential Range from Mt. Pierce- the ridge to Mt. Eisenhower looks so cool. Mt. Washington’s summit is in the clouds.

Frozen waterfalls on the Crawford Path down from Pierce

Picturesque little pup in her Ruffwear jacket and collar

Had to take a quick snap on the way home of the Mount Washington Hotel and the Presi’s

My fiancé broke his toe the other day soooooo we might not be hiking again until April! Poor guy. I had already done these two mountains, but we were with a friend sort of new to hiking and wanted a short hike with nice views for him. This hike was about 6 1/2 hours. I still have 9 peaks left to finish the New Hampshire 4000 Footers. Goal is to finish by the end of this summer!

Hiking, horseback riding, trail running, swimming, biking…I love anything that gets me outside. What do you like to do to get outside? Do you have any outdoorsy goals for this spring/summer??

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Bridal Shower at Gov. Rolland Spaulding Estate

On March 1, 2016March 1, 2016 By careofmonIn Lifestyle, TripsLeave a comment

This past Saturday, my mother and future mother-in-law hosted my bridal shower at the Rolland Spaulding Estate, now a part of the Governors Inn Hotel. There were 27 ladies in attendance, and we had the best afternoon. The estate and inn were built back in 1920. Brothers Huntley and Rolland Spaulding lived in the two buildings and both of them were governors of NH! The Spaulding children actually grew up in Townsend MA, went to Lawrence Academy in Groton and then Philips Exeter Academy in NH when they moved up to NH. Their father, Jonas, and their uncle Waldo started Spaulding Brothers in Townsend, a leatherboard manufacturing mill. They expanded into millwork in Rochester NH making fiberboard and thats where the estate and inn are!

We had a fabulous luncheon, bridal shower bingo, so many amazing gifts, and then read through some wedding advice. Some of the gifts included a Kitchen Aid Mixer (so excited) and a Ninja blender (also so excited). Jon and I are so blessed to have such generous family and friends. For the occasion I wore a cerise cashmere & merino crew neck sweater for $36 (I think its down to $34 now!) and an older Lilly Pulitzer crab embroidered skirt that I got from Ebay for $36 with navy tights and riding boots. The Lilly skirt is white label….but its not “The Lilly”, so its probably from the early 2000s, not exactly vintage, but its one of my favorites 🙂

One of my lovely bridesmaids Alex, also in her Lilly 🙂

I loved the rich green upholstery of this chair with the carpets. It was a great occasion to wear my J Crew Factory bracelets! I love them but usually feel they are too dressy for everyday life.

Can you believe my future MIL made this cake? Talented lady, and it was delicious too!!!

Fireplace in the parlor room #fireplacegoals

Loved all the fox hunting prints in the estate

View out the windows of the oval dining room where the food was set up. They do weddings out on this lawn in nicer weather….the snow is just about gone!

Oval dining room where our food was set up

There are guest rooms in the inn and the estate. Presidential candidates and dignitaries traveling through NH often stay here because of the historical significance of the property and its founders.

With the other half out on the sun porch after he lugged all our gifts out 🙂

Jon and I actually went to a wedding at the Governors Inn Hotel this past summer, and I fell in love with the place. Now I have a whole new set of memories at the property which makes it so special.

I hope that you all had a great weekend! It was so nice today in the 50s here in MA, what do we think? Is it officially spring or do we think winter will have one big storm left??

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Killington Ski Trip!

On February 25, 2016February 26, 2016 By careofmonIn Trips2 Comments

This past weekend I got to use my new skis again up at Killington Mountain Ski Resort in Vermont!! We got 22 people together in one house for a really good friend’s birthday. Her husband organized the weekend and told her it was just going to be a few friends and surprise, there were 22 of us ha!

The house we stayed in was unreal. It had its own location on instagram, The Cabin at Bridgewater. It sleeps 25 and is right down the street from Long Trail Brewery, no more than 20 minutes from Killington. The house had a hot tub out on a porch, a grill, a huge fire pit that I didn’t even really see until the snow melted and get this…..it had a teepee with a fire circle in it too. Crazy. The fireplace at the house was well used as well as the enormous bean bags- perfect for lounging! If it wasn’t so close to my shower, I am sure Jon and I would have found them for our registry!

Now this has not been the greatest year for snow up here, but hats off to the Killington snow makers and groomers, the trails were in pretty good shape! It was a little icy in some spots, and as the day progressed, the huge piles of snow started form as the snow got pushed around. Its a huge mountain though, biggest that I have skied at. My fiancé, Jon, had never been either. It was super easy to sorta get lost and end up somewhere on the mountain by mistake ha.

On the way up to Killington, we stopped at LA Burdick Chocolates in Walpole NH for some unreal hot cocoa and macarons, and then we hit up the Vermont Country Store in Rockingham, not the Weston one. Then we stopped at Long Trail Brewery before heading to the house.

I have fallen in love with LA Burdick Chocolates and can’t wait to visit their locations in Cambridge/Boston!

Here’s some pics from the Vermont Country Store

Cute little mill with a water wheel next to the country store

In front of the Vermont Country Store Kissing Bridge!

‘Merica!

Love the decor in here!

Dale of Norway 🙂

So much amazing Vermont cheese

Irish Wool Sweater from a previous post!

Love the front of the country store

On our way home from Vermont on Sunday, we stopped at Seven Barrel Brewing in Lebanon NH and then Flying Goose Pub in New London NH. I liked both places, but Flying Goose had a large selection of beers to try, probably close to 20 of their own beers. It was amazing. As we left the cabin, I took this pic from the car. You can see how much the snow has melted.

It’s been a weird winter here. I would definitely love to explore Vermont more! Maybe go back to Killington? Maybe try Stowe next year?? Who’s with me??

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Ski Day at Gunstock & Valentine’s Day!

On February 15, 2016February 15, 2016 By careofmonIn Lifestyle, TripsLeave a comment

Happy Presidents’ Day!! Today we celebrate George Washington’s birthday which is on February 22nd AND Abraham Lincoln’s birthday which is on February 12th. The official holiday name is actually still Washington’s Birthday though.

This past weekend, we braved the cold to ski at Gunstock on Saturday. It was cold, but we were dressed for it- no exposed skin at all. We skied from 8:30 AM to 1 PM, did about 13 runs. My new skis were awesome. They are Rossignol Temptation 77’s and they definitely made me look like a better skier than I actually am. They turn so easily and really are no work at all. I am used to using rentals and sometimes really having to bend my knees and push to turn, my new skis are very little effort at all. I got an awesome deal on them too because ski places are trying to get rid of inventory and the snow is a little late this year. I got a great deal on my Nordica boots too!

Me and Jon bundled up! Look at the beautiful backdrop we have!

End of the day as the worse weather was rolling in….

The views from Gunstock of Lake Winnipesaukee are breathtaking. All of the trails are awesome, but my favorite is Stonebar. I usually try to do that one a couple times. Saturday, we all ended on Stonebar which was awesome. It was just starting to get really windy and the sun went in behind snow clouds when we were leaving, perfect!

Sunday’s Valentine’s Day was an extremely cold day, thank goodness we skied on Saturday. Jon got me a Lindt dark chocolate & pomegranate bar and the Harding Lane mountain hat I mentioned here! He does read the blog!! Woo!! It was the perfect gift. Jon loves his Yeti koozie, and put the Miller High Life tshirt I got him right in the laundry to wear this coming weekend. We made a delicious dinner with heart shaped steaks, roasted kale, and wheat rice pilaf. I made little chocolate heart cupcakes too! We chose the Southern Tier Choklate stout to go with our meal, so good!

I honestly don’t know if we will ever go out for dinner on Valentine’s Day because we have such a good time planning a nice meal and dessert. We save so much money too!! Tomorrow I am off to Florida for a few days, and my new hat will be coming with. It will be in the 70s, which is cold now to my parents, but will be soooo warm for me! I wish Jon could come but he sadly has to work. February vacation is a definite perk of being a teacher. I hope that you all had a lovely weekend and enjoyed Valentine’s Day no matter who you spent it with!

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Wolfeboro NH in Winter

On February 9, 2016February 9, 2016 By careofmonIn Lifestyle, Trips4 Comments

Wolfeboro, NH is known as America’s Oldest Summer Resort. The town is on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire, and there is also Lake Wentworth which is a smaller lake within Wolfeboro. The beautiful Brewster Academy boarding school is in Wolfeboro on Winni and so is a gorgeous golf course, the Kingswood Country Club. Wolfeboro had a train station in the late 1800s/early 1900s for the B & M line that went right to the dock for the Mount Washington Lake Cruise. Before the train went to Wolfeboro, you had to take the train to Weirs Beach or Alton Bay, and then take the steam boat over to Wolfeboro. Here’s what the station looks like now. It has moved inland and is no longer used.

Wolfeboro has a very cute downtown area with shops & restaurants. They have town docks that people can come into to stay for the day or just dinner! I can’t wait to go back in the summer to hang out at one of the rooftop/deck restaurants to just people watch and admire the lake. Lake Winni is a very popular destination in New Hampshire, its huge! In the winter they have a huge pond hockey tournament and an ice fishing tournament. This coming weekend, they are having a beerfest out on the ice. Other towns on the lake include Meredith which is home of the pond hockey tourney, Center Harbor, Tuftonboro, Moultonboro, Gilford which has Gunstock Mtn too, Laconia which has Weirs Beach, and Alton Bay.

Love the Christmas Trees on the end of the docks

Different view of the docks

Area where the Mt. Washington Lake Cruise comes in to port in Wolfeboro

Festive light post!

This is a migratory route for salmon to spawn in the lake!

Here is what the steamboat landing/train station used to look like:

20scanwolfeborosteamboatlanding — From Lake Winni Forum

Some shops were still open this past weekend, and just a couple of restaurants. Wolfeboro XC Ski Association gives visitors and residents something fun and aerobic to do in the winter, I definitely want to go back to try their trails out. They even make snow for some of their trails! They have a very well known shop there, Nordic Skier Sports that I would love to go to as well. Now onto the places I did go!

Beveridge Craft Beer & Soap Shop has an awesome little tap room where you can go to try some fun New England beers. They gave us some delicious ranch dill pretzels to have with our beers and they had a bowl of Dove heart chocolates out. It was really nice, informal, and cozy. This is the store that is organizing the beer fest out on the ice this coming weekend.

From there, we went to The Lone Wolfe Brewing Company. Be aware, their website is their facebook page. They had 8 beers on tap for us to get samples of, so we did 2 flights of 4 each. I looooooved their Farmhouse Ale. I also like their Agape session IPA and their Breakfast Stout. Honestly though, the real star of the show is their spent grain soft baked pretzel. It comes with mustard and a cheese sauce…..and it was amazing. Crispy on the outside with butter and salt, and soft on the inside. Even if you don’t like beer, the pretzel is worth going.

Saturday night, we went to a birthday party for a friend at her house. In glorious NH fashion, there was a bonfire in the snow and snowmobile rides. If you live in New England, you have to find ways to enjoy the outdoors in the cold. Walking Mizpah, bonfires and snowmobiling, hiking, skiing, xc skiing, snowshoeing….whatever it is, you gotta get out there and seek the Vitamin D. Hope everyone had a good weekend! What did you do? Tell me things!

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Red Bows & Hiking the Hancocks

On December 15, 2015January 14, 2016 By careofmonIn Hiking2 Comments

Wow, last week was crazy! My goal is to do at least 3 posts a week, and I failed terribly last week. Good news is I finished my grad class for the fall semester, and just about finished my Christmas shopping! Woo! High fives all around!

Two holiday/Christmas parties, an awesome charity 5k run, and hiking South and North Hancock sums up my weekend. I am definitely feeling a little worn out today. The Hancocks are #36 and #37 of the New Hampshire 48 4000footers for me, so I just have 11 left! It has been an amazing journey, and honestly once I finish, its not really an ending. Hiking in all seasons here in New England has become a very happy and healthy part of my life, I love it, its right up there with horseback riding 🙂

This hike is a lollipop hike. You go walk a pretty flat trail down the Hancock Notch Trail to the Cedar Brook Trail to the Hancock Loop Trail. Then you start to climb and can choose to head toward North or South first. We went to North first because that trail is rougher terrain which is easier to climb up. We went up and over North which has nice views, over to the tree covered South summit, and then back down to the stick of the lollipop.

View from the outlook on North, almost right at the horizon you can see Lake Winnipesaukee in the middle

Another view from the outlook, over to the right you can see the ski trails on Loon Mountain

It was such an unseasonably warm day, no jacket needed. I did wear my microspikes for 2 sections.

New rerouted trail away from the brook, really pretty

These trees will grow, even if they have to grow out of a rock 🙂

The red bows on the summits of both peaks were a surprise. I enjoyed them, BUT they do violate the Leave No Trace policy we all try to hike by. Its tough, most hikers that consider themselves stewards of these ranges don’t approve of anything that could become litter or could disrupt the existence of the animals/plants living there. The fact that this little decoration is in support of the holiday season also ticks some off, nature is neutral I was told. I hope that whoever put them up will come back to dispose of them, but I don’t see harm in the intent behind them. I am a holiday romantic, what can I say??

And on that note, yesterday was National Hot Cocoa Day! I celebrated with a mug that I painted at Clay Time in Shrewsbury MA. I used really cool silk screens to decorate my mug, it was so fun!

Hope you all had a good weekend! I will be better this week about posting, promise!

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New England Classic Beauty

Tag: newhampshire

Mt. Moosilauke Hike on the Carriage Road

My Wedding Weekend!!

Southern Presidentials Hike to End February

Bridal Shower at Gov. Rolland Spaulding Estate

Killington Ski Trip!

Ski Day at Gunstock & Valentine’s Day!

Wolfeboro NH in Winter

Red Bows & Hiking the Hancocks

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