I made the most of the warm weather this weekend and hiked as much as I possibly could. Like I said a few posts ago, the leaf peeping season is thriving and it has always been one of my favorite things to do. I figured I could assess the mountains I hiked on how well the foliage is in case my fellow bloggers were trying to get insta-worthy pictures and want to make sure they are getting the most out of the hike they choose to do.

I started my hiking weekend with a solo trip up West Rattlesnake on October, 19. If you are planning to do this hike to look at the changing colors, I recommend waiting a little while longer. Most of the trees were green with only little color change.

On October 20, I made the ascend up Artist’s Bluff and man was the view spectacular! I give this this hike a 10/10 for foliage views. It is a relatively short hike at about 0.9 mi round trip and is one that the whole family could easily do.

On October 21, I made the treck to Canaan, NH to hike up Mt. Cardigan with my dog, sister, brother in-law, and my cousin. It took us just under an hour to make it to the top, only stopping briefly for water on two occasions. There are 360 degree views of endless foliage, mountains, windmills, small towns, and little lentic areas. It was absolutely amazing and by far the most rewarding hike of the weekend. There are many opportunities to get a good picture, free of people in the way because at the top there is about large flat area which gradually slopes surrounding the fire tower that gives you more than enough room to do so. If you are planning a trip to leaf peep I highly suggest Mt.Cardigan!

Most people think that the best hikes are the ones that are in the middle of nowhere or that are located in rural areas. Those types of hikes will give you the stereotypical mountainous views and full-view countryside landscapes, but they are not encompassing of all hiking experiences. One perfect example of this is hiking located in the BIGGEST CITY in NH: Manchvegas (aka Manchester, NH).

Over the weekend I ventured out to the West side to explore a place called Rock Rimmon. At first glance it looks like a giant boulder that is surrounded by baseball fields, a kids park, and resedential streets. There are multiple ways to get up the “Rock” but I chose to climb the quickest route by the basketball court. The Ten minute ascend included a leafy and rocky path, with plenty of tree roots creeping out waiting for you to trip on them. The path was narrow and winding taking you around the large rock. As I got closer to the top there were piles of shattered glass all around and the rock was vandalized with graffiti, too vulgar for me to repeat. Although the peak had proved to be city-esque, it’s views made me do a 180, literally. Below are the photos I took from the north view of the peak and the south view of the peak.It is a dramatic difference.

This hike is definitely one-of-a-kind and not what you would expect to find in the big city.

Hey fellow bloggers, so I was having trouble thinking of what to write about this week. I already made a post about leaf peeping and thinking about snow sports is far too soon, needless to say, I was at a loss. Thankfully, I finally got an idea.

Now that we are in the mist of October, everyone is excited about halloween. Dressing up, carving pumpkins, and going to haunted houses and hay rides are all the craze this time of year. Obviously none of that stuff relates to mountains, unless I made a ridiculous post about carving pumpkins to look like your favorite mountains like this one I found on Pinterest.

No worries though, I’m not that extra. The idea did make me wonder if there were such things as haunted hikes though. Hiking is all about relaxation for me so I typically don’t ponder over horrific events or things that might make a “thrilling” experience . I never made the connection that some hikes are dangerous enough to be a source of hauntings like the ones I love to read about in “Scary Stories to tell in the Dark” by Alvin Schwartz.  I did some investigating and what I found was pretty cool.

It turns out that there are TONS of hikes in the U.S with spooky trails and ghostly tales. The scale of scary hikes ranges from hikes with reported ghost sightings to those whose swear the fallen victims of the climb call out to the passing hikers and sounds like wailing women. If you are interested in scary stories and enjoy hikes and want to learn more about the combination of the two, I suggest you check out the article I found that gives you some.

Here is the link!!