Grafton Notch State Park, trip #2

This time, I met Brian there. He lives in the lower half of New Hampshire so the drive was three hours for him. I didn't get snow until I hit Rumford. He had already had an hours worth of snow on the ground before he left his home, and it snowed his whole trip up. I got to the park before he did. And was met with the sight of snow blowing over the mountains and the wind blowing so hard my Jeep's door swung back and

hit me. Brian had decided to take an extra half an hour before he left. The last two trips we had decided to take, I had used mapquest to get directions and had gotten lost. This time, I had learned my lesson and bought a Maine Gazeteer- when you travel in Maine, get rid of your GPS and don't bother with the mapquest and get a Gazeteer! I got there an hour before him. It was nice to have one over on him for once. The snow wasn't falling so hard by the time he showed. We hit the Table Rock Trail this time, it's part of the Apalachian Trail system. This trail was great! But it was tough! Whoo, I am afraid of heights and enclosed spaces, and it had all of those things. There was still snow coming down, and you could see it coating Old Speck, but the sun was out. It was a very nice trip up and the trip down was a huge surprise- it flattens out a few minutes down and the rest of the way is just smooth sailing. Although I was joking about how it seemed rather anti-climactic after everything it took to get up the mountain, but most of the way down was followed by a pretty little water falls. And again, the view was well worth the hike.

After Table Rock, we hit Mother Walker Falls, Brian stepped into a puddle which wasn't very wide and the next thing he knew he was up to his knee. I had to laugh, he went to change his pants on the side of the road and stopped just in time. A busload of school children went by just as soon as he had his pants unbuttoned. I enjoyed Mother Walker Falls, it isn't as breathtaking it's still as enjoyable. We also hit Moose Cave, where Brian decided to do something he hadn't done even as a kid. He shinnied up a gorge using his back braced against one side and his feet on the other. It wasn't really big enough for two people so I stayed down and watching him. That, and let's face it, chubby chicks don't shinny into anything. I have this overwhelming fear of being stuck in a hole and having to gnaw my arm off or something. We stopped at Screw Auger Falls, the sun was out and the snow wasn't falling...always the way of it, isn't it.

Supper was at Pat's Pizza in Bethel. The food was just as good there as the one in Augusta. I was exhausted when I got home, but I had such a good day it truly made it worth it.