Hiking Mt. Greylock in Williamstown, Massachusetts

A couple of weekends ago Adam, Elise and I went for a hike on Mount Greylock in Williamstown, Massachusetts.  Mount Greylock is the highest natural point in all of Massachusetts.  And while we didn't hike to the summit (that would have been an ALL day hike) but we did hike a couple of the more strenuous trails which involved a waterfall and a great view!  The hike started out on a farm and slowly snaked it's way up the mountain to a camp ground.  The ascent was TOUGH!  The trail map billed it as strenuous and they were right - it look us quite a while to make it up the steep incline!  Eventually we arrived at a campground where we took a break and then headed over to a waterfall.  The waterfall added about 1.6 miles to the hike but it was well worth it!

 

Signs at the trail head by the farm - many trails!

 

Made it to the waterfall!

My people in front of the waterfall!

 
This picture shows the true height of the waterfall, it was pretty big and on a steep incline.

They think they're bad ass!

After hiking back from the waterfall we had lunch and then made out way to the Stone Ledge, which while not the top of Mount Greylock had some great views.  We hung out up there for a while just taking in the views before heading back down the mountain.

Stone Ledge on Mount Greylock!

Awesome view!

 

Panoramic shot of the mountain view!

 

The descent proved to be just as challenging if not more so than the climb - I would venture to say that the way down was steeper than the ascent.  By the end my knees were killing me!  But we eventually made it all the way down, through the farm again and back to the car.  The hike was a lot of fun but also exhausting, I am pretty sure I fell asleep on the car ride home.  We have plans to eventually hike to the summit of Mount Greylock - I think it would be especially fun to do in the fall when the leaves are changing colors!

Hiking Pawtuckaway State Park in New Hampshire

During our little vacation to coast Maine & New Hampshire we decided to bring our hiking stuff with the goal of hiking somewhere in New Hampshire (cross another state hiked off our list - even though the list if pretty small at this point).  Adam picked a trail in Pawtuckaway State Park which was located about 25 minutes from where we were staying in Hampton.  The weather was overcast, not chilly but definitely not the temperature you would expect when the previous week was 90+ degrees, foggy and it looked like it could start raining at any second, but we ventured out anyway!

 

Hiking in New Hampshire, terrain wise, is completely different from any other hikes we have done.  The terrain was rocky but not like 'fallen rocks', more like you are hiking over boulders that have been there for centuries!  The environment also varied a ton, one minute we were scaling the side of a mountain then the next we were in a 'valley' surrounded by grass and flat rocks, the next we were right alongside a pond and then we came around to find huge boulders!  The boulders were awesome and we later learned that the area is very popular with rock climbers.

 

The hike should have taken us about 5 hours but we did it in a little under 4 hours.  Why did we book it you may ask?  Well because if you stopped, even for a second you would be eaten ALIVE by mosquitoes!  They were SO bad!  They chewed you up even when you were moving.  They bit through my pants and when we finally made it back and I was able to count all my bites, I had 18 HUGE bites all over the front, back and sides of my legs.

 

All in all and despite the mosquitoes the hike was a lot of fun!  We weren't able to get any pictures of the views due to the fog and you don't get a great sense of just how huge the boulders were from the pictures but the diversity of the trail made it a great hike!

Adam through the fog in one of the open rock valleys.

Hey look - I'm on a big rock!

Me next to the boulders.

HUGE boulders!

Adam and the rocks!

 

When in New Hampshire - go for a hike!

Coastal Maine & New Hampshire

This post could also be titled 'the time we went on vacation and it rained the entire time' (except of course for our drive home, then it was sunny, sunny, sunny - isn't it funny how that happens).  Adam and I took a 'mini' (Wednesday - Saturday) vacation to coastal Maine and New Hampshire a couple of weeks ago.  In May I spotted a deal on Living Social for a two night stay at the Victorian Inn in Hampton, New Hampshire - which is a town right along the coast of Maine.  The deal included breakfast every morning (obviously - it was a B&B after all), two bottles of wine and a vineyard tour all for a great price!  I jumped on the deal and we booked our stay for late June.  We stayed at the B&B Wednesday and Thursday night and then headed up to Portland, Maine (my first time in Maine) for Friday night.  We came back Saturday and even though the drive home was the  only time it was sunny we still had a blast!

Let's start with our digs!  The Victorian Inn was AWESOME!  I would recommend staying there to anyone who is headed to coastal New Hampshire.  I had never stayed at a B&B before so I was slightly apprehensive about what I may find.  Yes the room was slightly outdated (lots of floral) but the bed was super comfy, we had a private bathroom with a jacuzzi tub, breakfast every morning was delicious and kept us full until well in the afternoon and everyone at the B&B was incredibly kind and friendly.

 Our room at the B&B - hello floral!

 

Jacuzzi tub!  I could have lived in this thing - it was awesome and HUGE! 

 

While in Hampton we explored the Boardwalk, went down to the ocean and ate the most delicious seafood!  (I plan on writing an entire post about our vacation eats but for now if you are ever in the area, Petey's Seafood in Rye, NH is a MUST.  The drive along the coast to get to Petey's is also one of a kind - right along the ocean wall and you pass some  insane mansions along the way.)  Each night after dinner we headed down to the Hampton Beach Boardwalk to walk around, get dessert and play at the old school arcade!  We had an absolute blast at the arcade - Adam is a ski ball champ!  There was also a sandcastle competition happening while we were there so we were able to see some insane sand art!

 

Enjoying some seafood at Petey's!

 

 If you know anything about Adam you will know why this picture is both ridiculous and hysterical.

Sandcastle competition!

Crazy sandcastle!

'Selfie' with the sandcastle!

The biggest one!

Dominating at ski ball!

 But I kicked butt on the race car game.

 

Delicious breakfast every morning - clearly I am VERY excited for these pancakes!

 

For the trip I had this grand expectation of being able to spend an entire day at the beach; the week before our trip the weather had been in the 90s and sunny, but unfortunately mother nature had other plans. The weather while we were in Hampton was about 65 - 70 degrees and rainy, which meant the ocean was about 50 degrees - i.e. COLD! We ended up spending only about 30 minutes total on the beach - I stuck my toes in and feared that they may fall off.  TInstead of beaching it up we decided to go for a hike - more on that later - but the hike ended up being the perfect alternative and lucky for us, it didn't start raining until we returned.

Rocky coastal New Hampshire!

 

It's really cold!

But I'm going to be happy about it anyway!

Adam in the surf.

Walking up the coast toward the seawall.

 

Friday morning we left the B&B and headed to Portland, ME, but first we made a stop at the outlets in Kittery, ME.  Kittery is located just across the border from New Hampshire and has some awesome outlets - Le Creuset, Crate & Barrel (I wanted to buy everything in that store), but the best outlet by far was Kittery Trading Post!  KTR is a HUGE outlet that stocks everything you could possibly need for any type of outdoor activity - hiking, biking, kayaking - it not only stocks the actual equipment but also tons of clothes and household goods.  And did I mention the giant stuffed moose!  Now in case you didn't already know, I sort of have a thing for moose (one of my goals in life is to see a moose in the wild - they actually have tours for that) and for some reason I just really like moose.  Maybe it has something to do with my love of Vermont (Vermont = moose) but who knows, either way, I didn't want to leave Maine without a stuffed moose (yes my 26 year old self wanted a stuffed moose).  

 

Actual stuffed moose at Kittery Trading Post.

 

Moose & Bear

Me and the moose - and don't forget the mountain lion above my head!

 

Adam made my dreams come true (I am clearly very easy to please) and bought me a stuffed moose - I named him Howard - Howard the Happy Moose.

Friday we headed up to Portland (but not before a detour to Kennebunkport for lunch) and after checking into our hotel went down to explore the city!  Portland is an incredibly walkable city and is full of great bakeries, restaurants and interesting shops.  We ended up walking around for about 3 - 4 hours before deciding on a local seafood joint for dinner.  After dinner we were stuffed and tired so we headed back to the hotel.  The next day before we left for Freeport, ME we headed back to downtown Portland to walk around a little more, eat breakfast and mayyyybe go back to our new favorite bakery.

 

These placards are located throughout Portland - I never knew that Maine played such a large role in the 'Freedom Trail'.

Statue of man with lobster!

After we left Portland we headed up to Freeport, Maine for the sole purpose of going to the LL Bean Flagship store (and taking a picture with the large boot).  Freeport is located about 20 minutes north of Portland and is home to another set of fabulous outlets.  I have to admit that I was a little disappointed with the LL Bean outlet (the prices and selection were not as great as I would have imagined) but it was fun walking through the flagship store.  We did however find some GREAT deals at the Corningware and NorthFace outlets.  The whole trip to Freeport would have been worth it to solely get a picture with the giant boot (haha get it).

 

The giant LL Bean boot!

Me and the boot!

 

Overall the trip was a blast!  It was great to get away for a while and explore new places with Adam.  Maine is absolutely gorgeous and I would go back in a second!  Our next trip will be to Washington D.C./Baltimore in a couple of weeks - I am headed down there for a conference and then Adam and Elise are meeting me later in the week.  Should be a fun time!

Haystack Mountain - Vermont

Last Sunday we headed up to Vermont to hike Haystack Mountain.  Haystack is located in the town Wilmington, VT which is about 20 miles outside of Bennington, VT and about an hour and a half from Albany.  Haystack didn't appear to be that tough of a mountain but afterwards I definitely felt like I had gotten a good workout!  The hike was approximately three hours round trip and ended with an awesome view of Southern Vermont!  What made the hike challenging was all the rain we had had that past week - the trail was soggy!  There were portions of the trail that were straight mud and looked like a swamp and to make matters worse there were TONS of bugs!  Once we made it through a couple of muddy spots though it wasn't nearly as bad; although on the way down my boot did get completely dunked in a mud pit - so much so that the mud went over the top of my boot and into my sock - gross!  Luckily it was on the way down but by the end of the hike my lower legs pretty much looked like I had been attacked by a mud monster. 

Vermont is pretty much one of my favorite places ever and I love hiking there!  I dream about one day owning a cabin in the woods in Vermont.  So, here are some pictures from the top of the Haystack Mountain! 

Top of Haystack Mountain looking toward Southern Vermont/Massachusettes

 Adam taking pictures of the view.

Elise with the mouatin/river in the background!

 

Me on the top of Haystack Mountain!

Another mountain conquered!

 

Check out that view!  I love this picture!

Summer Fun

I am looking forward to the summer!  Even though summer is not quite here yet it is supposed to be in the upper 80s and 90s the rest of this week and this weekend; which means it is going to be HOT for the Freihofer's Run for Women!  Since summer is fast approaching I figure I should write about our plans!  I am planning a couple of run things, a few trips but nothing too major.  We are striving for a frugal summer and I am focused on saving for some exciting things in the future!  But savings doesn't mean that a girl will give up her vacation - so here's what we're planning!

 

We are headed to Hampton, New Hampshire in late June for a long (5 day) weekend!  Where we are staying is only 1/2 mile from the beach and I couldn't be more excited!  I love the beach, growing up my family spent at least a week at the beach every summer, but since moving to Albany I haven't been to the beach in a while - so this was the perfect opportunity!  Hampton is also located about 45 minutes from the White Mountains and we are planning to hike one day.  So this will be the perfect little get away - beach time and hiking, the best of both worlds!  What is even better is that I got a great deal on the place we are staying.  We are staying at The Victoria Inn, which has been reviewed as a great little bed and breakfast.  (I have never stayed at a B&B before so I am also pretty excited about that.)  Oddly enough I found the deal on Living Social Escapes; normally I just look at those deals and drool because they are either for exotic locations or week long getaways to resorts, but this deal offered two nights at the The Victoria Inn with a private room, two bottles of wine and a vineyard tour for an amazing price!  I was SOLD!

 

So anyway, not soon after that it will be the 4th of July and as of now I have two options for the 4th - I will either be running the Saratoga Firecracker 4 Miler for the second time (in my opinion last year's race was not that well organized so I am hesitant to completely commit again) or we will be heading to Boston to watch the Red Sox play.  Either way it should be a run 4th, and since the 4th falls on a Thursday I decided to take off that Friday to make it a 4 day weekend.

 

In later July I will be in Washington D.C for the National Alliance to End Homelessness Conference and we decided to take advantage of that and extend the trip.  The conference runs Sunday - Wednesday and Adam will be coming down that Thursday.  We will be staying with some of his family for a couple of days and doing all the fun things DC has to offer!  Even though I have been to all the monuments numerous times, I still can't wait to go back and visit.  After that we will head up to Baltimore, MD to meet up with my parents and go to the Orioles/Red Sox game that Saturday.  I am pretty excited about the game, as a kid my father had season tickets to the Orioles and it seemed liked we would go every Sunday - but it's been a while since I've been to 'the Yard'.

 

As of now we have no plans for August but I am hoping something will develop.  Work this summer will be VERY light as far as travel is concerned; I will travel to NYC in mid-June and then I will be attending the conference in July but those are about the only trips I have on the books so far.  It'll be nice to be in the office for a while because come September, I will pretty much be gone the entire month!  Aside from those few trips we are also planning a bunch of hikes, hopefully heading up to Burlington, VT for a long weekend and a couple of day trips around the area.  All in all it should be a fun summer and I am looking forward to what we have planned!

 

Bring on summer!

Hiking Bald Mountain (Green Mountains of Vermont)

Memorial Day weekend was f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s!  Aside from the constant rain and frigid temperatures the first two days, Monday turned out to be beautiful!  Saturday of Memorial Day weekend I participated in the Survive the Farm 5K Obstacle Course Challenge and you can read all about that here.  After the race I was pretty much down for the count, but after a hot shower and a 2 hour nap I was feeling somewhat human again; that night we had dinner with some of Adam's family and then called it a night.  Sunday morning we hit up the gym, Adam made a lentil salad and then we headed down to Kinderhook Lake to have a cookout with some of our friends.  Kinderhook Lake is where we spent last 4th of July but this time there would be no boating or swimming because it was rainy and cold.  Luckily it cleared up a couple of hours before we left and I was able to enjoy some time by the lake!

Kinderhook Lake during the nasty weather on Sunday.

 Angry lake!

The sun finally came out!  Enjoying some time hammock by the lake!

 

Waving from the hammock!

Kinderhook Lake!

 

Since Monday was beautiful we decided to go for a hike!  We settled on Bald Mountain which is located right outside of Bennington, VT (Vermont is one of my favorite places!) and is only about 45 minutes to an hour outside of Albany.  The hike took about five hours - approximately six miles round trip and had amazing views!  The trail was pretty rugged, not nearly as rugged as our hike in the Adirondacks but definitely less used and less maintenanced than other trails we have done.  It was also extremely muddy (what is with me and mud this weekend?) because of the amount of rain last week, on top of already being soggy from the spring snow melt.  At times long portions of the trail was a made into a stream by the rain/melt and we had to not only figure out ways around the water but also how to continue along the trail.  My foot did end up going in a stream and pile of mud at one point, but luckily that was on the way down.  The view at the top of gorgeous!  We stopped, ate lunch and enjoyed the view before heading back down.  Great way to spend Memorial Day!

 

Just as we began our hike - if you look closely you can see the Bennington Battle Monument!

Tunnel under the highway toward the start of the hike.

 View from the top of Bald Mountain!

Me and the awesome view!

Adam and another portion of the awesome view!

 

Surveying my land!

Bald Mountain, Vermont!

Adam perched on a rock!  Love this picture!

 

<3 Vermont

 

So by the time Tuesday rolled around and it was time to head back to work I was sore and exhausted from the weekend!  The combination of the Survive the Farm race, Sunday gym session and a strenuous hike pretty much did me in for the week.  It was also somewhat difficult to adjust my mind back to work mode after a three day weekend.  So after taking it easy for a couple of days - yoga and some biking - I will be gearing up for my third race this weekend, the 35th Freihofer's Run for Women!