You haven’t heard from me in a hot minute. I bounced around a fair amount in September since I was pretty serious about celebrating birthday month, given this is the last year of my 40s.
Besides local outings, I went to Florida for a few days to see some high school friends. I love that even though the decades have taken us all to different states and circumstances, we always pick up right where we left off. I attended the Iconic Tour (En Vogue, TLC, and Salt-N-Pepa) concert with my friend Tiffany. It made sense that she and I said yes to traveling for this concert, since we went on a road trip after graduation and spent our first year of college together. Many of the songs performed were the soundtrack to those years and flooded us with memories. We had a blast.
I was home only a week before I was back on a plane, this time to Maine, where I led a retreat in Bar Harbor. Even though I grew up in neighboring NH, I had never been to Acadia National Park, so I was especially excited to see the East Coast fall colors. The maples were already showing off their brilliant red, while the oak trees were mostly still green with touches of orange. The birch trees were golden, creating a beautiful scene as we hiked at Jordan Pond, explored the carriage roads on e-bikes, and watched the sunrise from atop Cadillac Mountain (the first place in the US to see the sun come up).
The group gelled well, as I knew they would, and we had a blast kayaking Frenchman’s Bay, taking photos of the wild turkeys in the backyard orchard of the house we were staying at, and laughing over shared meals. The five days we spent together went by quickly, and then it was time for John and me to head to the next leg of our trip.
On Wednesday morning, the group dispersed, and we made the long drive across Maine into the White Mountains of NH. The views of the hillside blanketed in yellow, orange, green, and red reminded me why fall was always my favorite time of year growing up in NH. Colorado-native John was so impressed that he said we should always go back east in October.
We made it to our hotel in Franconia and sought out a local brewpub for an early dinner. Despite it being only 3:30 p.m., the place was busy, so we sat at the bar, which turned out to be serendipitous. The bartender heard us talking about the hike we were doing the next day and shared tips from his experience on the popular loop. We knew rain was forecast for the next day, so we strategized which trail to start on in case we had to turn back due to bad weather on the exposed ridge. I LOVED my vegan sweet potato burger and fries, which were great fuel for the big day ahead. After dinner, we walked the short Main Street, where I picked up peanut butter fudge for my Mom and treats to bring home to our dogs.
The next morning, we headed to the trailhead. Other cars were there, but there was plenty of parking. We set out on what was supposed to be an 8-mile loop. I had read that the Falling Waters trail had recently been rerouted to make it less steep and avoid erosion, so I prepared for a bit more than an 8-mile outing. In the west, the trails have more switchbacks than in the east, so gaining over 4,000 feet of elevation was going to be challenging, which is why I opted to check a bag for this trip to bring my hiking poles. I was sure glad I had them as we picked our way up the slippery rocks toward the ridge.
We made it to the top of Little Haystack, where we found it completely socked in with fog and clouds. Some other hikers opted to turn around and go back down the same way rather than cross the ridge in the wind. We put on our hats and gloves, zipped up our rain jackets, and pressed on. The whole time we were on the ridge, visibility was only about 20 feet, and the wind whipped from the left. I was grateful for the short patches of trees. They weren’t tall, but they were big enough to provide some cover. My layers kept me warm and dry as we crossed the summits of Lincoln and Lafayette. There were no noticeable markers at the summits, and we had no views, so we stopped only briefly so I could eat a quick snack.
As we started down Lafayette toward the Greenleaf Hut, the wind was now in our faces, and my hands started to get cold. I moved slowly over the rocky trail. The clouds were moving quickly, and we caught glimpses of the hut below and the colorful trees on the mountains across from us. We took photos as the gray clouds began to lift off the mountain. We passed through a brief patch of light hail, but by the time we reached the hut, it was clearing even more. We heard thunder in the distance as we ate our snacks in the hut, which provides food and shelter for those hiking the Appalachian Trail.
We were glad we chose the direction we did as we started down Old Bridle Trail because there were lots of lookouts. As the fog cleared even more, we got views back toward the ridge that let us see what we had just hiked across. The hillsides were beautiful, with deciduous trees mixed with pine. We stopped many times for photos, and the hiking itself was slow going. There were lots of rock slabs that I had to scoot down on my butt or turn and go backward to find the best footing. We chatted with others making their way up toward the hut, including one guy on a mountain bike! I could barely believe it was considered a hiking trail, let alone a bike trail. We wished him luck and continued on.
As we made our way back deep into the trees, the clouds rolled back in, and a light rain began to fall. The canopy overhead kept us mostly dry, but my body was starting to feel the effects of the steep trails. I kept checking my watch, noting that we were moving significantly slower than our usual 20-minute-per-mile pace. At least two miles of the loop (one on the uphill and one on the downhill) took over an hour each. After my watch buzzed to let me know we had reached eight miles, the mental fatigue set in. I was prepared for a little more than eight, but by the end it was over nine miles! My feet and knees were sore, and I was getting hungry! Finally, we got back to the car, where I changed into flip-flops and looked up the closest restaurant with vegan options.
After lunch, we drove south to my parents' house, where we stayed that night before heading to my brother’s place the next night. We had a quick visit with my family, then boarded a flight home the next day. We had to change our route because the hurricane made our original itinerary through Nashville no longer viable. We had only a 40-minute layover in Baltimore, so I was extra worried about my checked bag making our connection. The app provided tracking, so I was relieved when, at our gate, I saw my bag had been loaded onto the plane for our second leg.
We made it back home that evening, where our two dogs and two cats greeted us enthusiastically, and we enjoyed a quick dinner of food we had picked up along the way. I started some laundry and packed a bag for the next day. I was scheduled to be in Denver by 7 a.m. for a weeklong myofascial release training. That’s where I am now – on our breakfast break. I drove back and forth the first two days, but on Tuesday I checked into the hotel and spent the next two nights. Luckily, my body is still on Eastern Time, so getting up at 5 a.m. each day has been fine. Today is the last day and I can’t wait to share what I’m learning with my yoga students.
This is a long way to explain where I’ve been and what I’ve been up to. I’ll be happy to be home for the next couple of weeks before I head out on my next adventure – a writing conference in Kauai!