Day 51

Our time in Vermont came to an end today as we crossed into New Hampshire which, so far, equals Vermont in its beauty. Mark biked some good mileage and I followed him closely to take some good pictures of him riding through this wonderful part of the country. The temperature never rose above 70 and now that the sun is setting, it's dropped into the 50's!! The season is changing quickly up here. We're thankful that we bought good sleeping bags that cocoon our bodies and keep us warm in 30+ degree weather.
When Mark finished riding for the day we stopped off at a place called Lost River Gorge. There were a few options for hiking trails, so we picked the shortest one (3/4 mile) that advertised a nice overlook at the end. We briefly read the warning sign that said, "For experienced hikers only!" But Mark shrugged and said, "Oh, Americans exaggerate everything. I'm sure we can handle this trail easily." So we started down the trail and, at first, it appeared that he was right. Then we came to the point where the trail went straight up and there was no longer ground to walk on, but rather giant rocks and boulders. For the next 45 minutes we climbed up while hanging onto trees and roots to pull ourselves up. Yes, we were rock climbing and using every available muscle in our bodies. You may be wondering why we just didn't turn around when we saw the difficulty that lie before us. My only answer is that we Tiu's must have a problem. We don't know when to say when. Anyway, we made it to the top and the overlook was pretty nice. The climb back down was a different story. It was some scary stuff. At first I was just trying to go backwards and descend it the way you would a ladder, but I eventually has to sit on my bottom and scoot my way down. Mark was just saying, "Huh. I guess that sign they posted was legitimate." :)
Another adventuresome day.