Sean approached me a few weeks ago and asked if I’d be interested in making a trip to the White Mountains in New Hampshire with him and his boyfriend, Paulo, for a day. The only thing he’d planned was a scenic train ride/lunch in the afternoon, but the rest of the day was entirely up to us. I haven’t been to the White Mountains since I was a kid, and so I jumped at the chance to get some fresh air and take in the scenery. It’s been a long time since I’ve been up that way, and I’d all but forgotten that it’s almost intimidating how breathtaking it is there. Every direction you look, for miles and miles, is like something out of a painting or a postcard. I spent most of the drive just staring out my window with my jaw dropped in awe.

We headed out early yesterday morning to get to North Conway in time to catch our train, and although the ride wasn’t as scenic as I had thought it would be, the food was decent and it was still a nice way to pass an hour. I love train rides.

After we arrived back at the station, the three of us decided to keep heading North. While we drove around the curved and winding roads through the valleys- passing hiking trails, cabins, and campgrounds- we saw a group of cars parked by a river, and decided to check it out.

I think our stop at the river may have been my favorite part of the day. It was so hot outside yesterday, but the water was so clean, clear, and cold. There were a few other people there swimming around the quieter areas or riding inflatable tubes through the faster moving water, and we ended up spending a couple of hours there just relaxing on the rocks and going for the occasional refreshing wade (or in Sean’s case, a full-blown swim) in the water.

When we eventually left the river, we once again headed North, towards Mount Washington. We were looking for someplace to grab a coffee and a snack, since we were starting to get a little tired and needed an energy boost, but instead, we found a stream, and proceeded to muster up the strength to scale the side of one of the mountains to get to the waterfall where it was coming from. I had worn a flowy tulle skirt and some flats for the day, (as I hadn’t been expecting to participate in any sort of hiking or rock-climbing), which made getting up to the top of the rocky incline more than a little difficult, but it was worth it for the view alone- even if my shoes got soaked in the process.

We had wanted to keep pushing North, to see how far we could get and what else we could find, but we were losing the daylight and hadn’t exactly come equipped with food, water, fresh clothes, bug spray (I’ve got a couple of mosquito bites that are driving me nuts at the moment)- or even a tent to camp out in, and we reluctantly decided to head back towards Boston.

Overall, it was a really good day. On the ride up, I saw a lot of abandoned buildings I want to go back to and photograph, especially with the natural, picturesque backdrop the mountains and valleys provide, and I’d love more than anything to go for another hike or another swim (with the proper attire, of course) before the Summer is over.

xx