What I did on my vacation Pt. 1

I long for wildness... Woods where the woodthrush forever sings, Where the hours are early morning ones, And there is dew on the grass, And the day is forever unproven... A New Hampshire everlasting and unfallen.
Henry David Thoreau

The quote was on a sign at the entrance of Lost River Gorge and Boulder Caves. When I saw it, my first thought was, I need to remember that for my blog. Of course, I forgot the exact quote, but googling '"lost river" thoreau' turned it right up.

Last week was the family vacation. My family, my brother's family, and my parents all rent a house on Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire. It was a lakefront house (pictured). It was taken from the pontoon boat we rented (but I'm getting ahead of myself). There plenty of bedrooms for everyone, a great view of the lake, a dock, beach, and use of the canoe and kayaks. The lake was great for swimming, and we did plenty of that.


Other activities included the aformentioned pontoon boat. They're nice in that there is room for everyone to sit and space for the kids to walk around a bit without fear of them falling out. The house is on a section of the lake named Moultonboro Bay. Getting the boat from the rental place to the house is fun because you have to navigate through The Graveyard. Yes, it's really called that. There are more than 1000 markers on the lake warning you away from rocks and boulders that would, if struck, significantly increase the rental cost of the boat.

We explored Lost River, as I said. We also did a bit of hiking. Right next to Winnipesaukee is Squam Lake, and the Squam Lake Association maintains a wonderful and diverse set of trails. The "Bridle Path" trail takes you up West Rattlesnake to an elevation of 1220'. All the kids made the trip up, where you are treated to wide vistas overlooking the lake. The picture at the right is the view from the top. We headed down shortly after, ahead of the approaching thunder storm. We all got doused by some rain, but everyone still had a great time.

Sharon and I also got a hike of our own in. We took the SLA trail to Eagle Cliffs. The trail climbs up the mountain, traversing Eagle Cliffs as it goes. There's one spot where you can even climb the cliff for 0.1 mi. The view was great there too, although it was cloudy that day. There was a neat point where we ascended into the cloud. It was suddenly quiet and foggy.

Well, time to head off to the cousin's house for Independence Day fun. I'll post more later.