An unexpected hike

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Today we were leaving Stowe and I was quite sad to be leaving as I had really enjoyed the area and could quite happily have stayed for a bit longer. The next stop on the tour was the Kancamagus Highway which was 2 hour drive from our hotel; it was a route I had read about before coming which was supposed to be one of the most scenic drives on the east side of the US. Grant and I set our go-pros to record the whole drive which was spectacular and offered some excellent views of the surrounding areas along the way. Sadly the colours had started to fade from the trees and it was clear that we had missed the best autumn colours by a few weeks at least.



On checking the map I could see that we were pretty close to the Cog railway which went up Mount Washington so we decided to head there next much to Jake's displeasure as he had already stated before we came that he did not want to go up this particular railway! The sat nav took us a very dodgy route up a dirt track which was very narrow with a lot of obstacles along the way, it was certainly not a route I would have chosen to use but thankfully we had a car up for the challenge. Upon reaching the mountain there was a debate on whether we wanted to get the train to the top of the mountain or whether we wanted to hike up it.



In the end due to money constraints we decided that hiking up the mountain would be the best option. Jake and Alex started the hike but after 15 minutes they decided that they did not fancy and headed back to the car. It was quite clear that the rest of us were not fully prepared for this hike, I was wearing trainers and was only had a jumper on to keep out the cold which was only getting worse the higher we climbed. After about 2 hours it was clear that we were never going to make it to the top and if we did not turn back soon it would be dark before we made it to the bottom and with the trail not particularly clear we would like have been stranded in the mountains for the night! Just before we turned back, I think we got just about halfway, Harv hit his head on a branch covering him with snow which was absolutely hilarious but unfortunately no-one was able to catch this on camera.



Heading back down was even more treacherous than heading up and I fell down at least 5 times of which I was extremely grateful I was at the back when this happened so no-one was able to bear witness to this! Following Harv was unpleasant though as he was leaving behind some really nasty smells. When we finally made it to the bottom I was nearly knocked off my feet by a dog and it was quite a comical little dance I had to perform to stay upright. I was really cold by the time we were done especially my feet and spent the next 2 hours in the car drying my shoes and socks and warming up my feet. I really wanted to get some food as well but everyone else wanted to wait until 5 before deciding to stop off anywhere so I decided to get some sleep instead.



When I woke up we had stopped at a truck stop which initially I was annoyed at because I did not think that the food would be that great in there. Surprisingly the food in there was actually pretty good. The rest of the journey passed without any further note until we arrived at the hotel a few miles down the road from the basketball hall of fame. When checking in Jake forgot that he had put 1 room in his name and another in mine and was really concerned that initially only one room was showing as booked! We were quite near a Walmart so I decided to go and get some food and a drink. While in Walmart I was queuing to pay for my items when a second till opened up and everyone behind was able to get served before I could including Jake and Jack much to my annoyance. When back at the hotel no-one really felt like going out and we were in the middle of nowhere and there did not look like there was much about anyway. We spent the rest of the evening playing cards and watching the basketball.

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