Rainy Day Hiking Fun

We had been planning this out for a few weeks so we could get ourselves, the Griffin's and the Haas's all together for a hike. As the day got closer it became clear that the weather wasn't going to be good enough for a big mountain hike but it also wasn't bad enough to call the whole trip off. The forecast was for a 40% chance of a morning shower with temps in the 60's and getting better after that. I guess their definitions of "shower" and "40%" are slightly different than mine but armed with that information, the fact that we had all cleared our schedules for the day and feeling like we were all up for an adventure we decided to go through with the trip anyways.

We chose a waterfall hike thinking it would be good with the recent rain so we bundled up Anna and Brooke, loaded them into their packs and off we went to find Arethusa Falls. Listed at 200 feet tall and NH's highest it was a pretty easy 1.5 mile hike to the falls. We decided to add on the trip over Frankenstein cliffs which made the total trip 4.9 miles with 1500 feet of elevation gain. It rained for most of the day which got the falls flowing nicely but when we got to the cliffs it cleared just enough to give us a few views across the notch and down to the parking area. After that the rain let up for the last few miles and we headed back to the cars and then got lunch at the Moat Mountain Brewery in North Conway. The food and beers were pretty good and it was a great way to finish up the trip.

It took about 5 hours to do the whole trip, including the breaks, and despite the rain I think everyone had a good time, even the girls in the packs hardly fussed at all. Not bad considering the weather and the fact that it was Anna's first hiking trip. When we were finished they were even high-fiving and hugging each other. It was really cute. Now we know what to expect and how to plan better so if the weather ever cooperates and mother nature realizes this isn't Seattle we should be able to take a really nice trip next time, hopefully sooner rather than later. For pictures of this time however you can click right here. Thanks for checking in again.