There is something to be said about the weather here in New Hampshire. The weather certainly has its funny moments where you see or hear thunder, lightning and you turn back to descend and just about 20 minutes into your return to your vehicle you notice that the storm has just past over your mountain. Something near to that happened today and it sort of felt shorted on the goal of making It to the top of every mountain I climb. A goal I set for myself prior to arriving in New Hampshire, in fact, a goal I had set once I knew I was able to pay for the trip (via school funds). It’s one of those things I have to face, whether it is from a storm or health, its just not safe either way to be on the mountains during issues like that. So, I had to adjust my attitude about it and move onward to the next mountain, Cherry Mountain. I’m trying to repeat Doctor Zorn’s word he said to me about making it to the top, he stated, “It’s not the point”, he goes on to say, “The point is to enjoy yourself and have fun.” SO I guess I have a lot to learn but I guarantee that I’ll do my best to have fun and enjoy my time on the mountains no matter what I experience, Good, bad or otherwise.
With that being said, I would like to thanks everyone for their continued support and teamwork throughout the day today as we encounter changes to our schedule. I don’t know if anyone else noticed anything about the vegetation while we trucked up Cherry Mountain today but I noticed some of the moss was really wet looking but when I tried to touch it, it was of a dry texture and was not budging from the surface in which it adhered itself to, usually a rock or tree, but it seemed odd to me that something can be wet but durable enough to hold strong against something else.
The trails had many rocks and stone that had fallen into the route in which we traveled today which made it a bit of a challenge. The challenge however, was a welcoming one as it gave me the opportunity to prepare myself for the really rough trial, I feel are ahead of us all in the next week or so. I look forward to learning how the Moss, in particular, eats away at the stone or tree and it would be very interesting to learn at what pace it takes the life away from what it has consumed. Does each moss type have the same erosion time or are they different?
Additionally, Toads were found along Cherry Mountain which made for a great picture, not to forget that a snake had been discovered at the summit. AS a child (long, long ago) I never really knew the difference between a toad or a frog, which still remains the same today, so anyone reading this, HELP! To me they are really all the same but I’m sure there are characteristics that make each one all their own. As for the snake, there was no mention of anyone knowing what type of snake it really was nor whether it was poisonous. One thing many of the group members knew is that we better not disturb it all too much.
An eye catching amount of trees where noticed growing within the rocks and stones as if the hard surface really are the dirt in which the seeds were sown. An amazing survival feat to say the least when you think of where the roots need to be in order to grow properly, you would thing that it (roots) only have one directive, the directive being underground. This didn’t seem to be my recent observation as I scanned the landscape during my travels upward or downward from any of the trails I’ve been honored to hike.
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