After the section retreat last weekend, I realized how much I love getting away from the HBS campus, the “HBS bubble” as it’s called. On the sunny days, the countryside in the Northeast is beautiful — rolling hills in VT, craggy mountains in NH, and even a distinct lack of people the farther you get away from the major metro regions. We escaped this past weekend to the White Mountains, a range that covers about 1/4 of New Hampshire and is supposed to be the “most rugged” of the ranges in New England. (Thanks Wikipedia!)
We drove up Saturday morning, went on a quick hike, and spent the night at a nice little B&B in North Woodstock, NH. The B&B was virtually empty… I think this was the first weekend of the “off season”, a period of a couple months that lies between fall foliage watching and ski vacations.
Scrabble by the Fire
After a nice evening of scrabble & hot chocolate by the fire, we woke up to a clear frigid day. Not a great day for hiking to the top of the mountains (which are actually covered in snow and ice by this time of year), but we did do a segment of the Applachain Trail. It led to a beautiful deserted mountain lake.
Lake in NH Mountains
I’d love to go back and do some of the more hardcore mountains, but the season is pretty much over for the year. I think it might get warm enough again in May? June? That’s the tragedy — you see all these beautiful mountains, but they’re off-limits most of the year. Too cold for a pleasant experience, but tantalizingly close. This is a strong argument for living in the Southwest. The high altitude mountains there will still be cold in the winter, but at least they’re a bit more accessible.
An Inaccessible Mountain