Skyline with my loves

I’ve heard it said that happiness is only real if shared, and while I might not agree with this entirely, I do believe there is great joy in sharing our happiness with those we love and treasure.

With that in mind, it pleased my soul to spend another weekend in the glorious outdoors of the Pacific Northwest with my sweetheart, my son, and some dear friends.

 Heading up – it’s only a little over a mile, but it’s a steep mile! 😄💪

My son started out on skis but quickly tired. I got frustrated and chucked his skis in the woods, then had second thoughts and being attached to the sled, asked my darling if she wouldn’t mind retrieving them. 😘 

Our merry band arriving at Skyline Lake!

Camp was set up in good time ⛺ 

Woke up to fresh snow and blue skies! Coffee lap of the lake with my boy 😍☕ 

Father and Son visit the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River during Seattle Snowmageddon 2017 ❄⛄:)

We awoke Monday morning to some 4 or 5 inches of fresh snow in Redmond and notice from the school district that all schools would be closed due to the inability of folks in these parts to drive in snow 😉

We went outside at the crack of dawn to play in the fresh snow and survey the damage-

 

I wanted to get out and enjoy the fresh snow so loaded up the truck with some picnic supplies and then my son and I headed out to brave the snowy roads and explore the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River 🙂

I was quite surprised to arrive at the large trailhead parking and discover that no one had been there; we had the Middle Fork all to ourselves.

Happy Trails!! 😘🗻👍 

Snow cave camping at Artist Point with my son ⛄🗻❄

A brilliant weekend outing with wonderful friends to Artist Point, adjacent to the Mount Baker ski resort.

Father and son Henskin Lake backcountry New Year

Happy New Year!! 

New Year’s Eve skiing at Crystal Mountain, followed by backcountry camping at Henskin Lake – what a marvelous way to ring in 2017!

Sunset hike in the Marin Headlands

Feeling California

Taking a dip in the Saco River, Crawford Notch State Park, White Mountains, NH

Riding down from the summit of Mount Washington-

Really feels like we’re on top of the world up here!

Here we are approaching the Dry River Campground in Crawford Notch State Park- you can see the Frankenstein Cliff off in the distance-

We were running out of light but Kristhawee was keen to go swimming. A local ranger had told us there are some nice swimming holes in the Saco River. Let’s see if we can find them!

This will do nicely!

A gorgeous spot but oh how that water was COLD!!!

Haha! Kristhawee took the camera and got some funny pics of daddy 😉

Time to head back to camp before the sun sets and the temperature drops!

The White Mountains of New Hampshire exceeded all expectations! Tomorrow we head to Vermont!

Father and Son ride to the top of Mount Washington, White Mountains, New Hampshire!

It’s a short ride from the Attitash Resort to the Mount Washington Auto Road; upon arrival there was a queue of vehicles waiting to drive up, but it moved along fairly quickly.

I did ask a nice lady from New York to snap a pic of us while we were waiting in line 🙂

This looks like fun 🙂

The entrance to the Mount Washington Auto Road! Couldn’t ask for a more beautiful day to ride to the top of New England’s highest summit!

The super nice lady at the ticket booth didn’t charge me for my pillion 🙂 Off we go!

The road is narrow and steep and there was a fair bit of traffic so we take it nice and slow. I wasn’t expecting dirt though! Ah well, we’ve ridden worse!

Father and son selfie on the Mount Washington Auto Road 🙂

We made it to the top!

The Summit of Mount Washington stands at 6,288 ft (1,917 m) tall and is highest peak in New England!

There is a really cool cog railway that also climbs all the way to the summit- They claim it’s the world’s first cog railway? I always assumed the Swiss invented these?

Once upon a time you could book a bunk at the Tip Top House, but now it’s preserved as a National Historical Monument-

Father and Son on the top of Mount Washington, White Mountains, New Hampshire!

It was fun to watch the cog trains work their way slowly back down the mountain-

You’d never guess it from these pictures, but Mount Washington is famous for extreme weather and holds the world record for the highest recorded wind speed on the planet- 231 mph!!!

There are movies and plaques inside the visitor center that tell of the dozens (hundreds?) of lives that Mount Washington has claimed. Pretty sobering stuff, but we’ve lucked out and can hang out in our T-shirts on this beautiful day!

A couple shots back at the bike, then it’s time to head on down.

Life is GOOD!!!

Father and Son ride Alpine Slide at Attitash Ski Resort in the White Mountains of New Hampshire!

The pancakes we had made the previous morning were such a hit that Kristhawee wanted more! Who am I to argue with such an excellent plan? 😉

Today’s plan is to ride up to the top of Mount Washington which, at 6,288 ft (1,917 m) tall, is highest peak in New England! It was another gorgeous day to ride!

Some great roads in the White Mountains and quite a few bikes out and about!

New England is famous for its covered bridges- here’s a good example:

We arrived at the base of the Mount Washington Auto Road only to discover that there was a bicycle race taking place that morning and the road wouldn’t be open to the public until afternoon… Oh well, no shortage of things to see and do in the White Mountains!

We followed some bikes back the way we’d come until we reached the Attitash Ski Resort (44.082921, -71.231112)

Lots of activities here in the summer, including mountain biking, bungy jumping, Alpine Slide, Mountain Coaster and a whole lot more. We decided to give the Alpine Slide a try. Enjoyed a scenic ride up the Flying Yankee Quad chairlift- father and son selfie 😉

Hamming it up a bit 😉

Up up we go, back into the White Mountain National Forest-

The Alpine Slide is pretty cool, basically a summertime luge? Over a mile long, the Attitash Alpine Slide was good fun!

After the slide we grabbed an overpriced lunch in the ski lodge- sure feels weird to be in a lodge in the summer time! Then it was time to once again hit the road and make another attempt at Mount Washington!

 

Father and Son Explore the White Mountains of New Hampshire!

Arethusa Falls, Crawford Notch State Park, White Mountins, NH

We sure did enjoy the hike to Arethusa Falls! Now it was time to head back to camp and maybe do some swimming if the sun was still up! First we had to negotiate some footbridges that have seen better days 😉

Came across this cool old sign on our way back to the trailhead which gives a lot more info on these trails-

We rode down to the local General Store for some more supplies and Kristhawee’s new friends joined us again for Jiffy Pop after dinner 🙂

Little dude doesn’t want to smile for the camera 😉

 

I guess it’s hard to smile when you’ve got a mouth full of popcorn! 😉

Arethusa Falls, the highest waterfall in New Hampshire!

We went the long way around via the challenging Frankenstein Cliff trail, but arriving at Arethusa Falls made it all worthwhile! No wonder Crawford Notch State Park is famed for its hiking trails!

Almost there!

Banana Slug!

Welcome to Arethusa Falls!

Arethusa Falls, Crawford Notch State Park, New Hampshire, USA

Arethusa Falls, Crawford Notch State Park, New Hampshire, USA

 

Arethusa Falls, Crawford Notch State Park, New Hampshire, USA

Kristhawee at Arethusa Falls, Crawford Notch State Park, New Hampshire, USA!

Arethusa Falls, Crawford Notch State Park, White Mountains, NH

Father and Son at Arethusa Falls, Crawford Notch State Park, New Hampshire, USA 🙂

Father and Son at Arethusa Falls, Crawford Notch State Park, White Mountains, NH