Monthly Archives: July 2012

Two Major Milestones

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Posted by on in Travels

Two weekends ago marked two major milestone for us. The first, it was the end of our second trimester, Ally and Baby are headed into the home stretch. Secondly, we hiked the last two mountains of the Presidential Range, Mt. Jackson and Mt. Webster. It was a six and a half mile trip over the two summits on a HOT summer day, but we all made it safely.

Ally and Rusty enjoying the view down into Crawford Notch at the start of our hike

We got a late start because I was up till 1:00 shooting a wedding so our 6:00 wake-up call got pushed back closer to 8:00. We stopped for lunch along a river on the way up but finally made it to the trailhead around 12:30. After a couple of hours of hiking we were standing at 4,052 feet on top of Mt. Jackson. The sun was hot but there was a cool breeze coming over the summit.

Ally and Rusty happy to be resting on the summit of Mt. Jackson after a 2 hour hike on a 80+ degree day

The obligatory belly shot standing on the summit of Jackson, the Presidential Range in the background

After a short break and a lunch time snack for Rusty we were back on the trail over to Mt. Webster, it was a relatively easy hike, mostly flat and uneventful, but the heat and humidity made it less fun. Thankfully though, there were no bugs!

Rusty finding some shade

After about an hour of hiking we made it to the summit of Mt. Webster, the smallest of the Presidential’s at 3,911 feet. A quick photo and we were anxious to get back for some ice cream!

Summit photo on the last of the Presidential Mountain Range, Mt. Webster

View from the summit of Webster of the entire Presidential Range

The trail down was fairly easy, Rusty knew where we were headed (ice cream) but still took the time to enjoy a nice swim before we got back to the car.

Rusty cooling off after a long hike on a hot day

That concludes our hikes of the Presidential Mountain Range, over 9 major summits, 4 seasons in the Whites, countless miles and on top of all that, Ally did 5 of them while she was pregnant. A definite accomplishment to say the least.

That should be the end of our hiking adventures for a while, at least big mountains (maybe one more). But there are still lots of trails and mountains to climb and we plan on bringing baby along as soon as we can. Other than that, Ally is doing great, she is still active (obviously) and feeling well, we are starting to get the house ready for our new addition. Shopping is a nightmare, but we’ll find a way through it.

The Home Stretch

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Posted by on in General, Travels

We’ve officially made it to the third trimester, the home stretch, we still have so much to do. Ally is doing great and we are trying to enjoy the last weeks of just the two of us. We’ve been contemplating what to do about vacation/maternity time, but ultimately decided we needed one last get-a-way before the baby comes. Last year for the 4th of July we went to Acadia National Park in Maine, we loved it so much that we want to make it an annual trip, we just weren’t planning on going this year. After not much arm twisting, sort of last minute, we ended up booking a place for the week up there. It was just want we needed before we bring this new life into ours.

I woke up early the first few days to go photograph sunrise, I actually entered a few photos into a National Geographic contest, click here, to see them and please share/like them on Facebook and Twitter, maybe I’ll win and get to go on a trip to the Galapagos Islands.

Sunrise from the coast of Acadia National Park

We did lots of hiking, 25 miles in total for the week. We went to the beach a couple days too, one day while Ally was relaxing in the sand I ventured across the road and hiked the Beehive, its a steep little bump that requires climbing ladders, pulling yourself up rocks, and walking along cliffs to make it to the summit. It ended up being a lot easier than I expected so when I got back to the beach I told Ally she was going to do it later that day and me and Rusty would meet her on the other side since dogs are not allowed on the trial. She was a bit reluctant at first but in the end she loved it and did great.

The Beehive – Look closely and you can see all the people on it.

Cooling off in the 55 degree water after my hike up the Beehive

Me and Rusty took the trail around back since he can’t really climb ladders and waited while Ally solo climbed the Beehive.

There was lots of driving around and taking in the sights. It’s a truly amazing place, we saw a whale breach just off shore one day while driving around. There were eagles flying overhead, fresh lobster, ice cream….

Rusty taking in the sights

On the fourth of July we woke up at 2:30am to hike Cadillac Mountain and watch the sunrise. It was a tough 2.2 miles in the dark but we were rewarded with a great sunrise once up top, despite all the tourists that drive up (I refuse to drive up any mountain!). After the hike back down, the Rotary Club was having a pancake breakfast in downtown Bar Harbor so we headed there for some much needed grub, then home for a nap.

Just before sunrise on July 4th from the summit of Cadillac Mountain

The 7 month baby bump on top of Cadillac

We are lucky to have such a nice sunrise, during our nap the weather changed for the worse and it started to rain. The rest of the day was cloudy and fog down by the ocean. The fireworks in Bar Harbor were almost postponed because of the weather.

Baby’s first fireworks

One final stop before we headed home, Ally needed a second round of popovers from Jordan Pond, they are delicious.

Popovers!