Labor Day Weekend, 2001   :Day 1-2:     :Day 3:     :Day 4-5:

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It was all a big surprise for Bill!  I arranged this low-key short trip away without Bill's knowledge, and hoped he would be pleasantly surprised.

We arrived at the Ellis River House in Jackson, NH.  We cozied up in this charming B&B every night. 

The first afternoon, we were tuckered from the drive, so we opted for some low-energy fun.  We took the Cog Railway up Mount Washington.  It chugs its way up a steep, steep grade!  At the top, the wind chill factor was 28 degrees.  Yikes!  The views were phenomenal, and the trees were just starting to change their colors.

The next day, we went for a climb up Mount Chocurua. It took us a leisurely 6 hours round trip.  Chocorua is a very picturesque mountain, but it is not particularly challenging.  Just what we needed for a wee bit of relaxation!

As we climbed, cloud cover descended upon the mountain.  The pix don't really demonstrate just how eerie it was to have the mist and clouds obscuring our view, drifting and swirling around us...

We began to worry (only half-jokingly!) that we were going to have to take a detour to the Chocurua Foul Weather Hut to wait out the storm.

On nicer days, the views from Chocurua are gorgeous.

But we could hardly see a thing...it was quite disorienting, especially at the top, where one could see nothing but a dense wall of grey-white fog ahead.  Fortunately, the trail blazes were painted at close intervals on the rock faces, or we surely would have been lost.

At the summit, it was damp and WINDY, but strangely warm.  We holed up in a little crevice and ate our lunch.

Picking our way back down, we were treated to a bagpiper playing somewhere just out of view.  It was spine-tingly beautiful! 

Later that day, we did another hike to the Glen Ellis Falls...slow and relaxed, we were pretty tuckered!  We ate well that evening and toodled off to bed.

On to:  Arethusa Falls

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