What was due to be a chilly, cloudy day in the weather department turned out to be not so much so either way. On Thursday night, one person was scheduled; by Saturday night, a nice size group had formed. Five of us met at the Richmond P&R and headed south from there where Mark and Robert met us. It was fate – the upper lot had not been plowed so the entrance fit three vehicles perfectly. Left the trailhead about 10:10 am and onward we went! The trail starts very level with little ascent until about halfway towards the summit. The further we headed up, the trees became more beautiful with fresh fluffy snow from the day or night before. Others had been before us (not that day, as we never met another soul or souls), so there was no breaking trail until nearly the summit and that was not much work at all. The clouds had lifted enough where at the summit Mt. Washington, the Franconia Range, the Hump, Mt. Mansfield and even Giant Mountain in the Adirondacks were clearly visible. It was great! A bit of wind at the top, so we dropped down and had some lunch and then moved downward. Hit the cars around 2:40 pm which is more than enough time to be up and down but we got a bit distracted….

If anyone has been on an outing where I am the lead, they know how much I like trivia and games or just plan fun topics of conversation. Christmas Day I had some friends over and my buddy Ellen had been to a Christmas Eve party and the host introduced “Truths and Lies”; Ellen in turn introduced it to the group that day. It was so much fun, I had to pass it along and decided I would do so the next time I was with a group who I felt would be willing and able and have as much fun with it as I did. How to play is easy: simply tell two truths about yourself (an experience, a trait, a story – anything) and then something that is realistic but untrue about you. We howled all day, as everyone took a turn and learned a whole bunch about each other. Ask Phil sometime about driving 150 mph or Mary about her dancing experience or Mark about his border crossing experiences. You will learn more than you ever dreamed about one another.

Leader: Robynn Albert, participants: Phil Hazen, Darryl Smith, Mary Keenan, Lynda Hutchins, Robert Riversong, Mark Blanchard (Note: wonderful photos from this trip are at the bottom of this post but are mixed into photos from the Stowe Pinnacle trip. I can’t figure out how to get them to post under here! Im working on it – Ted)