Mountain Trail (2006)

Check out that rocky trail.  You can tell that water runs down it whenever it rains, and makes for some smooth and slippery exposed stones.

This was one of Frito's favorite hikes.  This is Mt. Kearsarge up near Tucker Pond.  It's a quick 30 minute hike to the top, and always a nice little get away.

And this was way back in 2006, so Frito was just a young pup (6 years old).

Picking wild blueberries with Mom

Another one of Frito's favorite activities when he was up at the cottage was hiking up Mt. Kearsarge.

Here he is halfway up the mountain helping Mom scope out the wild blueberries.

Fresh air, moderate exercise, and healthy snacks -- what else can one ask for?

Finished hiking

OK, so I figure you've had just about enough of my hiking adventures. This will wrap up my visit to Mt. Kearsarge -- see how beautiful it is at the bottom of the trail. Alpha just had to pose me with those ferns in the background.

If anyone is interested in a short little hiking adventure, I can recommend Mt. Kearsarge. Anyone can hike up the easy trail (Rollins), and the harder trail (Lincoln) is good for a change of scenery.

Marking the trail

No, no, no, not THAT kind of marking the trail. Jeez, this is a family blog ya know ;-)

When you are hiking, you have to be able to follow the trail. So kind people mark it in some manner. They can use "blazes" on trees, but on granite, would have to paint the rock -- and this won't do you any good in the winter.

So they also build little "cairns" -- piles of rocks -- to mark the trail, like the one I'm sitting next to.

Here's a different kind of trail marking. There are many very old chiseled names in Mt. Kearsarge, but this one looks like a memorial for a friend. I guess I'm helping to keep Jake and Rob remembered.

Not that way!

Here we are heading down from the summit of Mt. Kearsarge. This is the steeper of the two possible trails. Jeez, I guess so. Sometimes people actually climb up that rock wall, but there is no way we are going down it.

So Alpha took me on the normal trail. Still pretty rocky. Hey Alpha, which way am I supposed to go now?

No worries -- I managed just fine ;-)

No Dogs???

On the top of Mt. Kearsarge, there is a fire tower, where they watch for forest fires and call them into the local fire departments. Alpha wanted to take me up, but it was closed for the day. And then I spotted this sign. Sayyyyyy, how come no dogs???


Here is a picture of the fire tower itself, just to give you some perspective.


Well, now I realize at least one reason for the "no dogs" rule. It is windy, noisy, and kinda scary on the fire tower steps. But don't worry, Alpha took me down.


And here you can see me on the top when the wind blows. Yes, it was pretty gusty. But don't worry folks -- at no time did my paws leave terra firma. It was actually pretty fun!

Hiking with Alpha

Here we are on our way up Mt. Kearsarge. It is a nice viewpoint from the trail while hiking up.

Do you see that little pond in the background? That's my pond!

Or I should say where the cottage is located. It's Tucker Pond in between Warner and Salisbury NH.

You can't actually see our cottage, since we are behind the hill on the right side. Here's a zoomed in view:



And here I am with Tucker Pond in the background, looking like I'm about to fall off the side of the mountain ;-) Ha!

Hiking Mt. Kearsarge

I got to spend another weekend up at the cottage -- one of my favorite places!

Alpha took me hiking up Mt. Kearsarge. The girls stayed home thinking it was going to be too cold :-( But it was beautiful.

Here I am at the top. You can see it is a modest climb. But I just love getting out and exploring.

I was adored by many families who were also out hiking, I'll share some more photos in the days to come. Yes, Alpha took MANY ;-)