A Fall Weekend Hike

Ok, so I know it’s technically still summer, but the weather was screaming FALL this weekend!  It was beautiful!!  Cool/Cold at night (in the 40’s…AWESOME sleeping weather), and then it would warm up to the high 60’s/low 70’s during the day! 

I wanted to be outside!

I miss hiking.  Brian and I used to go hiking/camping up in the White Mountains in NH every year in Sept when we were first dating.  I think it was after we got engaged that we were suddenly too busy for this trip.

Either way, I wanted to find a place close by that we could have an easy 2-4 hr hike!

The Department of Conservation and Recreation (dcr) website is a great resource for outdoor activities in Massachusetts!

Wachusett Mountain is about 1hr 20min from Boston, and is most known for being a local ski resort.  However, there are also a bunch of trails leading to the summit for hikers! 

Even broke out my hiking shoes I haven’t worn in years!

Before finding the actual trails, we went up this utility road which led to a wind farm!!

Those windmills are HUGE!!

From there we broke off on a trail.

Bonus if you have someone willing to carry the backpack :)

It only took about an hour to reach the summit!  A relatively easy hike, but I was definitely feeling it in my legs. 

Once we reached the top, there were people having picnic lunches, as well as a group of people watching a particular type of hawk migrate south. 

I could only see a few “specks” way up in the sky but apparently it was a sight to see all these hawks flying south. 

You could also see Boston!  It’s hard to see in the photo below but its in the middle off in the distance.

 

Going down is always the worst for me…its just hard on the knees.  Next time I need to remember my hiking poles! 

Hope we can get in another hike before it gets too cold!  My one gripe with this Mountain is the lack of “bathrooms”.  Even a lot of the bigger more remote mountains in NH have those vault toilets.  It’s just not fair how much easier it is for guys to go anywhere!!  I opted to “hold it” haha!

After the hike we headed to Gardner Ale house as Brian’s beer app told him it was nearby ;)

I missed photos of our food as I was STARVING by the time it came, but I did capture the beers.

Sampler for Brian:

Shipyard Pumpkin head for me..

Bad choice.  I wish I stuck to their own beers…  I don't like the Shipyard anymore…tastes like Bud Light with pumpkin/spice flavors.  Not good.  I’ve tasted WAY better Pumpkin beers this year!

Other deliciousness:

Breakfast!

Saturday included FINALLY trying the frozen Trader Joe’s chocolate croissants!  You need to leave them out overnight to rise, so we never think of it!

Um.  Amazing.  Warm, chocolatey, flakey, buttery…SOOOO good!

Sunday I whipped up a breakfast sandwich

• egg
• rosemary ham
• gruyere
• whole wheat British muffin

Half of a cider donut (left over from Saturday…got them at Idylwilde farm)

Cappuccino

A sampling of cider

Gave the pooch a bath

And baked some cupcakes to bring to my friends house this afternoon to watch the game!

Oh yes.

More on that later.

Oh and this little gem I picked up at Target…

        

           

And just like that weekend’s over…