hiking buddy

not only did i finally find another intern that likes to wake up early (hallelujah!), but we also walk/hike the same pace!

this is Brittany, she actually went to KSC for her undergrad degree and is originally from NH. she doesn't live in Keene, but about 20 min north of the city (which means middle of nowhere and has to drive to Keene for grocery shopping).

she invited me to go hiking with her and her dog, Henry, and we did ~8 miles (15 miles rt) of the Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway. it's about a 50 mile trail that links Mount Monadnock and Mount Sunapee. it's a very gently rolling hills and the parts we hiked alternated between gravel paths, dirt and roots and meadow. we started off Rt 9E across from the Granite Lake and headed north toward Pitcher Mountain. it took us about 2.5 hours to get to the base of the Fire Tower at Pitcher Mountain and it's a .3 mile hike to the fire tower.

we got a bit lost on part of the trail and you go through people's driveways as well, which seemed a bit odd. we only ran into one person on the trail the entire time we were there. this view on the right is at the top of Pitcher Mt below the fire tower. the fire tower was a lot more sturdy than the one on top of Okemo, but you can't go all the way to the top! it was a gorgeous 360 view and it felt like we were surrounded by mountains in all directions, too bad we had no idea what any of those mountains were, but we were pretty sure the large mountain in the distance of this pic is Mount Monadnock.

we were on a killer pace and got back to our cars in 2 hours. it was funny b/c i was thinking "14 miles, that's a lot, i should pack lots of water and food since i packed 3 L for Mount Jefferson." so of course i load up my backpack. only ended up drinking 10 oz and ate an apple (not that i didn't scarf down a ton of food when i got home) but i guess it's good i'm being safe and over prepared (go girl scouts). plus, a great extra workout. now i get to cross another fire tower off my list!