A Sunday Stroll Reflection: Changes in Weather, Mood, and Perspective

While rushing home from Hanover to get ready for the October 2nd Sunday Stroll (we had planned to hike up the Kodak trail on Mt. Cube) Ann, my wife and hiking buddy, said, essentially, that the days ingredients of rain, cold, and fog with ample dashes of trail mud, slippery rocks, and leaves was a perfect recipe for something you’d rather see in the movies. And, with her mind made up, that’s where she went, to the movies.

I, thinking of myself as being sterner stuff, donned rain gear and drove to the gate at the end of Quintown Road. As I suspected Ann was right; no one else joined me to braved the weather. Since I was there and the rain little more than a heavy mist I decided to walk up the road past the AT crossing to see where it went. As I reached the start of the trail I paused and couldn’t resist; quickly I hiked up to the Eastman ledges and found a muted landscape below which soon faded into the low clouds. That was far enough.

As I started down I was happy that I’d gone; there is something special about such days on a mountain – intense quiet, a peaceful alone-ness and a rare feeling of having left the world behind, however briefly. That short hike, in Robert Frost’s words, had “given my heart a change of mood and saved some part of a day I had rued”.

Come hike with us some Sunday; it’s good for body and soul.

Roger Hanlon, UVLT Trustee & Sunday Stroll leader

Roger leads friends of UVLT on hikes in and around the Upper Valley to share his appreciation for the beauty and goodness of our lands. If you’d care to join him keep an eye on our calendar or contact him at: jrhanlon@daypitney.com.