A Hiking We Will Go

Quechee Gorge

This past Memorial Day I went hiking in Vermont and New Hampshire with the intention of conquering Mount Ascutney.  We hiked it a few years ago in the fall which meant we were hiking through knee deep fallen leaves and the daylight was significantly shorter, meaning the hike was truncated because we needed to get off the mountain in daylight! The trip out east started with a visit to Quechee Gorge and some of the covered bridges that had sustained damage due to Hurricane Irene last year.  With the heavy rainfall from the hurricane and the many smaller rivers in the area, there were natural paths for the water to take, only the water overwhelmed the banks of the rivers, carried debris downstream, and deposited trees, mud and anything else carried along wherever the water crested. Most of the state didn't suffer damage and much of it has been repaired enough to bring back the tourists. The hiking started first with Mount Sunapee in New Hampshire since the elevation going up wasn't as much as Mount Ascutney, then we did Mount Ascutney two days later.  We made it to the top of both mountains and were rewarded with some spectacular views.

One of the damaged bridges

The top of Mount Sunapee

The path up Mount Ascutney

The view from the top of Mount Ascutney