Climb Every Mountain

Go ahead, I'll wait while you sing the next couple of lines of that song.....

 

 

Okay, now that you're back, let's take a hike up New Hampshire's Mount Monadnock, shall we?  One of our favorite annual outings!  This year, Andrew and I decided to try the most challenging of trails, figuring we'd shake things up.  Up, indeed. And up, and up and up.

Andrew was all smiles at the outset, but that's because it was still flat ground here. 

A few minutes later, and it was "Dad, seriously?!?"

This ain't your East Boston Camps trail.  This one involved some serious climbing!

But hey, once you get up there, you're king of the mountain.  I didn't have the heart to tell him we weren't at the top quite yet. 

What a landscape!

The summit, behind him, seems so close.  It really isn't. 

I crouched to allow you to see more of the vista, not because I was tired.

Stopping the occasional passer-by for a father-son shot. 

Thank God for these cairns to help mark the way to the summit.  It can get a tad confusing once you break from the smaller trails into the rocky plateaus. 

We finally made it to the highest point of Monadnock!  At which point, Andrew, king of the mountain, once again proved his royalty by posing with an international tour group of teenage girls hailing from numerous states and countries.  They were all cheering for him to join him in their group picture and then asking me to take pics of him with them with THEIR cameras.  Story of his life.

The obligatory father-son shot at Monadnock's apex.

Seriously, if you've never attempted Monadnock, it's one of those must-do excursions in New England.  An incredible experience.

He's got the whole world laid out before him.  And he's up for the challenge. 

Heading back down, another stop at the cairns, or as us Lord of the Rings fans like to call them, the Beacons.  Luckily today, the beacons were NOT lit, so Gondor and Rohan didn't have to answer.

But as the laws of physics dictate, what goes up, must come down.  And let me tell you, the downward trek was even more taxing on our legs than the uphill voyage.  We'll be feeling this one for several runs to come!