Skip to main content

The White Mountains- An Outdoors Paradise

He took to kayaking immediately.  A natural!

After reading my last blog post, my husband pointed out to me, "you know what's even more impressive [than hiking 10+ miles and 4,000 ft mountains] that you've neglected to mention?"  Me, "what's that?"  Husband, "that in addition to hiking all of these days, we played 5 rounds of golf, went stand up paddle boarding and kayaking, played tennis at least 4 times, and went to the river after dinner most evenings."  Me, "you've got a point."  

Honestly, this trip has been one of the best vacations I've ever had.  It is a paradise for outdoor sports.  One small regret I have is that we did not get around to mountain biking, but realistically, I'm not sure when we would have fit it in!

The wonderful thing about staying in the valley was the spectacular view wherever you were 🌄 

Kayaking and Paddle Boarding


Happily, lazily paddling around the pond


He was off on an adventure, exploring alone.

Cute, although I'm a little disturbed at how pale my legs are here.


Tennis


We took full advantage of the clay tennis courts.  
The boys and I had never played on clay before and we all liked it.
(I believe that is Osceola in the background.)


Golf


Driving off the tee

They had a Caddy Shack, too, but what's a Snow Shack?

I can't get over the view of the mountains

Daddy's the Caddy
(He's carrying 2 bags here!)

Little Man LOVES these grasshoppers and they were all over the course.

While daddy's carrying your clubs you have time to chase them.

Got him!

😍💥💘

The tee is elevated and the green is down below.  It's a cool hole.

Gardens and streams surrounded and ran through the course.


Hitching a ride! So cute 💓🐸

The full range of emotions on the course.
I don't have any photos of the shouting, tears, clubs or lawn chairs being thrown, 
but every golfer will readily acknowledge these highs and lows.

Ah, but we've rallied with a beautiful drive.

Can we play again, daddy?

The Mad River


Lastly, we spent many evenings along the Mad River.  It seemed low and docile to me, but that made it perfect for exploring after dinner as the sun slowly set.

N took this photo of his dad and brother.  Beautiful light.


Good Night!


More White Mountain Tales:

Mt. Osceola- Can kids handle 4,000 ft???

Mt. Tecumseh- Steep, difficult- can we make it?

Greeley Ponds- Quick before the tropical storm rolls through

Cascade Path- Easy warm up?

Fletchers Cascade/ Drakes Brook/ Jennings Peak- HIGHLY UNDERRATTED

Labels:

Comments

  1. Ashley BarkleyAugust 22, 2020 at 12:30 PM

    Wow! The perfect vacation for you! I'm glad you've enjoyed it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. DMV WandererAugust 22, 2020 at 3:25 PM

    It really was! I'm planning on returning very, very soon!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The White Mountains- Smart's Brook to Sandwich Mountain

Today was the first full day of our second trip to the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  I have been dreaming of returning since the moment we left this summer.  I knew my husband had a week off of work in October and I thought it would be a wonderful time to go back.  Once we decided to make reservations, I started buying and stashing non-perishable grocery items, preparing and freezing meals, heck, I even had the boys' and my suitcase packed a week in advance. Our trip north went well, although we took an hour longer (11 hours as opposed to 10 this summer) and it was raining the entire drive.  Luck would have it that when we drove in to Waterville Valley, the rain stopped, the sun came out and we were welcomed back with a beautiful rainbow.  I took it as a good omen. Once we arrived, we unpacked the car and went for a 5 mile walk along the Mad River, ate dinner, and went to bed dreaming of more adventures to come.  The following morning we all woke up ea...
4 comments
Read more

The White Mountains- East Osceola via Greeley Ponds

Not the summit, but still a spectacular view! In somewhat typical fashion for our family (beginning our time in New Hampshire with a bang (read: high mileage)), this trip started out with us attempting back to back 4,000 footers.  Why?  I'm not totally sure.  Perhaps we were feeling energetic having recently arrived, or more likely, the questionable weather forecast forced us to tackle some of our biggest hikes right away, before the impending rain.  Now, I know what you are thinking.  Yes, some hikes are completely doable in rain.  Soft trail, even trails that have tree roots are manageable, but steep and rocky terrain becomes dangerous in wet weather.  As do trails that feature cliffs or are otherwise described as "ledge-y."  I'd imagine that is what actually motivated us to check another of the 48 4,000 footers off of our list so soon: to take the weather out of the equation.   We settled on the East Peak of Mt. Osceola....
Post a Comment
Read more

Greeley Ponds

We had been super lucky so far this vacation with the weather, but today Tropical Storm Isaias was making its way up the east coast and into our neck of the woods.  The good news was that it wasn't going to be in our area until late afternoon around 4:00 or 5:00 so we still had the majority of the day to get out and play.  Given yesterday's " 5 mile low-key hike " that ended up being 10+ miles, my kids had every reason to look at me skeptically when I told them this hike would be "easy" (I know, I know.  I wouldn't trust me either, but the hike really is rated as easy.  Promise 😉)  It runs partly along an old logging road, so it is soft, wide and not technical (rocky or root-y). You'll also notice that in the photo below the sign says Greeley Pond s , as in plural, more than one.  I don't know why, but I assumed it was only one pond.  Hikes are named imaginatively all the time, take for example a hike we did recently, Wolf Rock.  The sign sa...
9 comments
Read more