New England in Fall

One of our favorite places in the world is New England -- particularly in the Fall. When we moved to Massachusetts thirty one years ago we drove to New Hampshire on our first weekend to see the much celebrated foliage. It was spectacular and Rosie and I agreed it was beautiful beyond belief. That first exposure left an indelible imprint on us.  We lived in Massachusetts and Maine for eight memorable autumns.

This past weekend I had some National Forest Foundation Board Meetings in New Hampshire and I asked Rosie if she wanted to join me for the weekend. She thought it was a great idea and we had a wonderful time.

We flew into Portland, Maine, where we lived for 18 wonderful months in 2000-2001. We were anxious to see our old home and we were thrilled to see it looks great. In many ways that was our favorite of all the homes we have lived in over the years. The people we sold it to have taken great care of it.

Then we drove to the base of Mt. Washington -- the highest mountain east of the Mississippi. We wanted to climb this legendary mountain. Thirteen years ago I made this challenging climb with Julie but I had forgotten how challenging it is for any climber. With over 5,000 feet of total elevation gain in about four miles -- almost every step is a challenging grade. Virtually every step on the climb is on rocks.