Lucky me - two weekends in a row traveling up 89 and into the adventure of the Mt. Sunapee zipline and the Mt. Kearsage slipline.
ZIP & SIP - September 29. My perfect rainy Saturday would not actually be dangling from a cable in the middle of a forest, but in the right company it was a blast! Me and my buddies Kate and Kathie picked ziplining for our monthly date, and Kathie made us a reservation at
Mt. Sunapee Adventure Park (prepaid). There was no backing out due to weather, so we went, fingers crossed for the weather to break.
No such luck, but our guides, the awesome Jess and Tom, took us out for our thrill ride. We geared up, hopped on the chair lift (yes, Kate made it on the right chair), and came to our first challenge - up the net ladder to get to our first platform. Once we arrived, Tom made sure we were securely fastened to the tree. We huddled around the tree, while Tom hooked himself up and jumped off for the next platform. Jess then hooked up brave Kate, and she took the plunge first. Woohoo!
Our ziptrip took us in a zigzag canopy trip down the mountain, with a couple of rope lowering rides and suspension bridges along the way. If you've ever wanted to try ziplining, I highly recommend this venue - such a thrill with fun (yet very safe) guides. Might be nice to choose a sunny day though, although we did get a hand warmer delivery mid trip.
As for the sips, we ended up close to home at
Old School in Windham. Much more of where I am likely to spend a rainy Saturday. Bison burgers and beers were the fare. Good stuff, even though we didn't arrive on Harleys.
Mt. Kearsage: Winslow State Park- October 8
Raining again, but this could be our last opportunity for a hike this fall, so we went. The rain broke just as we arrived in Warner. The sun was shining as we headed to the trail head.
We chose the shorter but steeper trail,
Winslow, to head up. The park ranger shared that there was a lot of rock climbing on that side, and we figured easier to climb up than go down. I think we were right about that, but wet rock is slippery going up or down! After doing a lot of sliding (mostly me) when we got within a 1/4 mile of the windy summit, we were hoping for an easier descent on the longer Barlow trail.
I spent the upper part of that trail creeping down baby style, but I survived without any scrapes or twisted ankles. And it was a very sparse crowd, so no one witnessed my crawl down. Despite the challenging rocks and the fog/wind at the top, this was a pretty hike that would be enjoyable on a dry day.
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Luckily, the ride to the
Flying Goose Brew Pub and Grill was short and sweet, and there were two seats at the bar waiting just for us. All of their brews are locally made in their brewery, which is fully solar powered. It had a cool vibe, a place that is probably awesome for apres ski. Gonna have to come back again!
