Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Hiking in the White Mountains, New Hampshire

Living in Maine has given me the opportunity to spend wonderful times hiking in the spectacular White Mountains of New Hampshire. One of my favorite things to do is a long hike with friends and stay overnight at one of the AMC huts along the Appalachian Trail. Upon arrival, I usually race into the hut to secure one of the highly coveted lower bunks and then I can enjoy the rest of the day and the amazing views.

View looking east towards the Presidentials and Mt Washington

We hiked the Gale River Trail to Twin Mountain and stayed overnight at the Galehead Hut. A beautiful hike straight up a rocky trail to 4,000 ft along the Gale River. Warm early summer day at the bottom and quite cold and wintery at the top. Temperatures dipped into the 20's that night and we awakened to a dustimg of snow on the peaks.

Hiking with my wonderful friend Patti and her brother Peter. We had so much fun being outdoors, putting one foot in front of the other and enjoying the spectacular views as we acended to the hut. The walk back down the next day had the challege of being a little icy and slippery, but at the bottom it was warm and sunny and we were starving so we enjoyed a picnic before heading home.

These boots have taken me miles in the mountains and are amazingly comfortable, but it is always great to take them off at the end of a long day on the trail. I always bring something cozy and comfortable to wear around the hut at night.
I sketched as the siblings played cribbage.

Here I am at the top with prayer flags woven by my friend Sarah Haskell for her project Woven Voices—Messages from the Heart. Her amazing prayer flags are woven by a community of weavers from written messages of peace. They are hanging all over the world unraveling and releasing messages of hope, peace and renewal. The flags hung outside the hut overnight, however, I could not leave her flags up on the mountain because of "Leave No Trace". Soon, I will take these flags to another mountain...

12 comments:

Linda T said...

Great sketches! Reminds me of how beautiful New England's mountains are.

A Brush with Color said...

Beautiful, Jennifer...both the paintings and you! sounds like it was invigorating. I'll look forward to your next foray into the mountains.

Wildflowerhouse said...

I would like to be there. The wonderful Fall colors. Thanks fpr sharing

donnamcm said...

You look great Jen! And of really like the varied line thickness of the drawing and the rocks, pebbles.

Sasa said...

Inspiring sketches in so many ways! (After seeing them, started to plan hiking trip for Sunday...)

nanke's stuff said...

What a wonderful time you had in such a beautiful setting! I love the prayer flags, too. nancy

Timaree said...

Great pictures. Sounds like you had a great time. It's too bad the flags couldn't have stayed as eventually they'd have broken down with nature. But, some people wouldn't understand the difference between these and trash that is left behind.

Unknown said...

Hiking in the mountains is one of the things I miss most about Idaho. These sketches bring back those exciting memories for me. Wonderful sketches!

Margaret Ann said...

You.
Are.
Amazing.
Period!!!!!

Valley Art Project said...

Your artwork is very charming, thanks for posting.

JaneA said...

Beautiful sketches! I especially love the boots. So indicative of hiking in the mountains!

heru said...

love the sketch !!