The week had been so beautiful already, and it was only Tuesday. What more could we possibly ask for? Truth is, we had a ton of things planned, and not too much time to complete them. But none-the-less I was thankful for the time and opportunity we had.
We woke up pretty early, had a huge and tasty breakfast (I love that about hiking, gotta prepare your body) and headed up the Waterville Valley area to hike Welch & Dickey. It was a perfect day; not too hot, but not too cold, not a cloud in the sky. There are a few things I like about hiking, specifically with Aaron: 1. It is something we both enjoy,
and do together. 2. Aaron is
always prepared. He brings a pack filled with anything and everything that I might possibly need/want while on the mountain. 3. Our conversations. We have the most intelligent/intimate/relevant conversations when it's just us, no distractions, and they usually start in the car on the way up and end when we get back home.
Welch & Dickey are two mountains that have a small plateau between them, the total hike is about 4.4 miles from start to finish; not too bad at all. In fact, the perfect "first hike of the season." (Excluding, of course, our winter hikes.) Both peaks have beautiful views of neighboring mountains. While we ate lunch atop Dickey, we were able to watch jets from a NY base do tactical maneuvers and practices.
Aaron and I keep a notebook (honestly we do) of funny things we hear people say, either on the street, or while hiking/doing something. The rule is- we have to be together to hear it in order for it to "go in the moose book" On this hike, there were just a few other people sharing the mountain, two of which were a couple about our age. The guy was wearing big heavy boots, thick denim jeans and a cell phone on his belt. Now, Aaron and I do our best not to be judgemental, but come on, it's about 75 degrees and you're hiking two mountains? This guy, boy was he a complainer. We listened for a while, but eventually sprinted up the mountain to lose them. He kept asking us "Have you guys hiked this before?", "How much longer?", "Where's the top?","Is it quicker to finish or just go back?" Aaron was really patient with him, and his poor girlfriend was suffering. He was A-N-G-R-Y and this often happens to people if they don't eat enough, or get discouraged/tired easily. I had my own episode on Lafayette, remember? If not click
here. Something funny the guy said, once he thought we were out of earshot, " My jeans are too heavy to do this, let me just lay down for a while, I am so fu*king mad you made me come out today." Poor thing!
When we got home, we ran a few errands. On the way up to the mountain we had decided to throw a BBQ to celebrate good weather, great friends, spring clean-up, and our vacation. So we placed a ton of phone calls/texts (my preferred method of communication) and put something together.
Pat & Jeremy, taken by surprise.
Ryan (one of my best friends), Me, and Matt enjoying the BBQ. Ryan and I had a few too many Mojitos...
On Wednesday, the hottest day of vacation, Aaron and I went to a local pond, Turkey Pond and kayaked all around it. The water was so calm, the sun was shining, and the skies were a blue I haven't seen all winter. We were wearing nothing but our bathing suits!!
