Mount Cardigan--Too Many Pictures

 One might expect to always need a sweater atop Mount Cardigan.  Today the weather was lovely with sunny skies and me, regretting the long sleeved shirt I was wearing.  According to wikipedia, the mountain is named after the fourth Earl of Cardigan, the sweater after the seventh Earl of Cardigan.  Therefore, as one may expect, the mountain came before the sweater.  As one may expect from my tone, it was a good day, with good exercise, fresh air, beautiful fall foliage, and great company.  Here are some happy parts of the day:

•   With the parking lot still in view, there was a small pond that reflected some of the day's colors.

• We didn't take the direct route to the top.  Each of us ended with a different mileage total, but we took a trail that was most likely less steep, and took us to three different peaks: South Peak, Mt. Cardigan, and Firescrew.

• The higher we went, the more colorful the views.  These pictures do not display the colors as well as the experience.

This is a view of Mount Cardigan from the trail. 
We still had a ways to go.

• Some of the forested areas were moss covered and green like the following picture.  It left a fairytale, mystical feeling.  Other areas are mostly deciduous or evergreen.  There was quite a bit of rock to scramble along, too.

The old and the new.

• We paused for lunch with a view of the town of Orange, NH.  Most likely the mountains in the distance are in Vermont, the rest are New Hampshire.  

• Eventually we made it to the top of Mount Cardigan and the fire tower.  Since trying to get to as many of the fire towers in NH is a goal of mine, I walked the few stairs up to look around.  

Almost there.

A plaque attached to the tower.

View.

The geological marker was found!
Many thanks to my companions for becoming 
contortionists to get this picture!

• The hike down was along the opposite side of the mountain.  We survived the rock scrambling and muddy areas with only minor injuries.  

The view of the tower from the other side.

We think the large black birds in the distance might be ravens.

It is also possible that I want to see ravens and they are vultures...

I was liken' the lichen on this rock.
I'm pretty sure the rock was quartz.

The signs on the trees are...humorous.

• Eventually we made it down, safely.  It was a long, nearly perfect, day in the mountains.

View from the car ride home.

☮

Currently reading: Mount Washington A Guide and Short History, by Peter E. Randall.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Happy Michaelmas!

 The timeline beginning last night went something like this: 

1. Wake up randomly and look at my phone.  
2. See a message from work and read it.
3. Someone has Covid but their last day of work was September 27, my first day this week was the 28th.
4. I go back to sleep.
5. My alarm goes off at 11:00 PM and my nose is all stuffed up.  I've had an occasional scratchy throat that I figure was allergies for a few days.
6. After doing a few things to figure out my next steps I decide that taking a personal day is best.
7. Made an appointment for a rapid test at CVS for 9:50 AM.
8. Stay awake all night binge watching on Netflix.
9. After the appointment I drive around for about two hours, exploring, before going to the Oak Hill Fire Tower to get my steps in.
10. After about an hour wandering around, checking my messages about every ten minutes, I finally got the results-Negative.  Yay!

I must say that I really didn't think the test would be positive, I've been forgetting to take my allergy meds, but I feel a lot better having taken the test.  Other happy things for today:

• Part of the morning was spent driving around looking for the property from afar.  Eventually I found a spot, pulled over and took some pictures.

Somewhere on that distant hill is our property.
I expected it to be more noticable,
but things have grown this year.

• I walked past the fire tower initially and traveled on some of the trails to a scenic vista.

This is where I was when I got the negative results.

• The view from the top of the fire tower was beautiful, as usual.

Proof I was there.  😉

• There were the usual chipmunks, squirrels, sparrows, and large birds from afar that I couldn't identify.  I also saw three garter snakes on different parts of the trail.

Only a chipmunk stuck around long enough
for a picture.  I'm happy with
how close the camera zooms.

• My meal before bed included a small amount of a goose dish that Keziah picked up from some friends yesterday.  This fulfills my Michaelmas Day requirement.  I am thankful for friends.

☮

Currently reading: Mount Washington A Guide and Short History, by Peter E. Randall.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Busy Saturday

My day began and ended with dog walks and I had a walk in the middle with a friend.  Actually, my day began with me finding both the cats on my bed and then I took the dog for a walk.  Nanni, the brown tabby, is often in my room.  Winston, the orange tabby, is not.

These cats didn't used to be so close.  I think having a dog is bringing them closer together.  Other happy things for today:

• While walking the dog I saw a pileated woodpecker.  Taking pictures while walking the dog can be hard.  This time, it didn't work. The woodpecker kept moving and so did the dog!  
• There was a bee on the back of the car.  

I really like how the picture came out.

• I went to Home Depot to look for some bulbs to plant.  I've been wanting to make some raised beds and decided to look and see what was available, maybe price things out.  They had some on clearance that were smaller than I wanted.  I looked at them and decided that if I was going to pay that much I wanted them to be bigger, but these would be easy, maybe I'd just get one.  Then I noticed another tag, looking closer it was a second, much more reduced, clearance price.  I asked the cashier to make sure I got it right, then bought six of them.  I may go back tomorrow for more.

I'd guess it took less than 15 minutes to assemble-I didn't
quite have it fully in place with this picture.
The little wooden blocks are optional.

• For a few different reasons my friend, Amy, and I weren't able to do the fire tower we had planned this weekend.  Instead, we went up the Oak Hill Fire Tower that is closer to home and familiar to me.  Great time and great views.

Some color starting in a few trees.

• A friend of Keziah's came by and visited for a while.  We also got to play games (We Didn't Playtest This at All and Snake Oil).  She was kind enough to teach us some things to help teach our dog, Aesop.  

☮

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner, by Ann Larkin Hansen.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Walking

 This afternoon I made the decision to head home tonight rather than try to find a place to camp.  I ended up sleeping in a rest area last night and it is supposed to rain tomorrow.  It was supposed to rain today too, but all we had was an occasional sprinkle.  That is, until I was about ten minutes from home.  The rain came down hard making it hard to see the roads with all the water on it.  I only felt one small moment of hydroplaning and I was very glad that I wasn't trying to sleep in a tent tonight.  Other happy things for today:

• There was a pay phone at the rest area.  I don't see those very often anymore.

There used to be two payphones here.

• The reason I chose this weekend to go north was to be with some other SCA folk to tour some fair grounds for an event next year.  I didn't have to be there until 11:30 though and I was awake and ready to do other things by eight or so.  Instead I used the Alltrails app and found a short trail nearby.  

The view overlooking Littleton, NH.

• It was great to see people I haven't seen in over a year.  The site the event will be at was pretty cool too.

These little footprints were not very big,
I think they might be squirrel prints.

• After all the business was done I headed for the Mount Prospect Fire Tower.  This is a beautiful stone structure like one might see as part of a castle.

Spectacular views of the mountains.

The house is now a museum commemorating the life
and achievements of John Wingate Weeks.
I learned a lot today.

• There are a few different trails at the State Park and I chose to do the Around the Mountain Trail.

The map.

Lens says that these are flowering raspberries.

Also according to Lens, this is brown knapweed.

The smudge in the top left of this picture is 
a raindrop on the windshield.

☮

I tried starting a different book today, but fell asleep.  

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.