Day Thirteen, Half Rest, Half Hike

As we approach the one week till graduation mark, I have began to think about the people who have influenced me, especially this year. There are many teachers, but I almost feel that it is rather meaningful to have my friends around, and to do things with them. Today I went for a hike up Ragged with Lulu and Angus. There was initially a broad invitation, but with scheduling conflicts and such, it ended up being just the three of us. We started up the SRK Greenway, and stopped by balance rock, then traversed over to the top of the chairlift at the Ragged Mountain ski area. It was an area that I probably would never have hiked over to on my own, it being just a little out of what I would like to hike by myself. The three of us made it over and back down in little time, I think about a three hour round trip from the tennis courts. As well as it being the most fun hike I had been on so far on senior project, it was also the longest, clocking in at around seven miles. Over all it was fun to spend time with them, and to know that there are people who would be willing to put up with me for seven miles. 

View from the lift

The trail became a bit hard to follow at times, but there were some fun vistas to look over campus and over to Kearsarge. 

Campus, with Blackwater and Bradley Lake, and Mt. Kearsarge on the left

One of the really cool parts of being in the woods in the spring are the abundance of wildflowers. There are some that look a bit mundane, but some, such as trillium or lady's slippers, which are quite pretty. 

One of the many trillium flowers we saw

Critter Cam

In honor of their very kind invitation, here are two of my favorite critters with Balance Rock, which as of today was still balanced. 

Angus and Lulu