New England "Mountain" Cimbing

Yesterday we took a family trek up Mount Watatic. It is a 1,832 foot peak at the southern end of the Wapack range on the MA/NH border. I've been excited to do some backpacking next spring and have been getting some of my gear together so this was a good hike to do some testing (we boiled some water on the butane stove at the summit for hot chocolate and filtered some water using a new filter from a mountain stream on the way back down). It was a steep climb on a cold day but we were rewarded with splendid views and a nice break spent sitting in a grassy area we found just short of the peak. Roxy also has a backpack and it was her first time using it--it didn't slow her down at all!

The only wildlife not scared away by Roxy
At the summit
Making the hot chocolate to warm back up
Ah, life is good

Oregon

Well we had a wonderful trip to Oregon to visit family and friends. We were able to spend time in Eugene, Portland, Cannon Beach and Monroe and Bellevue, WA. Here are a few photos.

Newport, OR
Cannon Beach, OR



This is the co-housing place that Liz's parents are moving to (still under construction in these pics). You can learn more about it here.
It even has a rooftop hot tub!