It was my first real visit to the New Hampshire seacoast and I couldn’t wait to get out on the beach. I was ready with sunglasses and sunscreen. But mother nature had something else in mind. The forecast? Rain, rain, rain… Although it wouldn’t be the lazy beach towel and a book weekend I had […]
Category: The NH State Park Experience
Fireflies Illuminate Franconia Notch at Night
By: Andrea Klaphake, Interpretive Ranger at Franconia Notch State Park It was in a flash that I found inspiration to teach others about fireflies. It happened while I was in Castleton, Vermont, at my Certified Interpretive Guide training. On my way back to my cabin while at my training I was faced with the flashing […]
The View from Pack Monadnock: Part 2
When we arrived at the summit of Pack Monadnock, the surrounding mountainscape was already tinged with the first hues of sunset. The wall of an impending storm was crossing distant peaks on its way towards us. At the end of a hot, hazy day it was an eerily beautiful scene. I’m in Miller State Park […]
NH State Park Bloggers crash the Hillsborough Balloon Festival!
Okay, so I may have over-dramatized the title of this blog post since this wacky event was free and fun for all, but that didn’t stop me and my fellow Reach the Beach runners Adam and Kate from making the most of it! We converged with our friends in Hillsborough last Friday to bring a little hot air […]
The View from Pack Monadnock: Part 1
If there’s one thing I hope to have accomplished by the end of summer writing for this blog, it’s that I’ve connected to the natural world in a way I haven’t expected. Many of the most valuable experiences I’ve had exploring the outdoors happened by changing my perspective. Sometimes just by reassigning myself a new […]
By Your Powers Combined: A Hiker’s Code of Ethics
Okay… (deep breath) I am going to take this moment to vent on a subject that I take very seriously. Every time I finish a trail run or a hike anywhere, I end up with my hands full of empty bottles and my pockets filled with candy wrappers that I collected along the way. Who […]
Mysteries in Rhododendron State Park
I couldn’t resist a visit when I heard that Rhododendron State Park was going to reach its peak bloom last weekend. This National Landmark in Fitzwilliam shelters a rare stand of native giant rhododendrons, which are more commonly found in the central or southern Appalachian Mountains. There are 16 acres of the pink and white […]
Green with Envy at Greenfield State Park
By: Jonathan Rager. Greenfield/Monadnock State Park Interpretive Ranger Firstly, allow me to just say for clarity, that Greenfield State Park and Monadnock State Park are two totally different, but special places for me. Each park in essence, provide the coals of life, to heat my interest in the wild and wonderful world that New Hampshire […]
Monadnock State Park: 2012: A Hiking Odyssey
By: Jonathan Rager. Greenfield/Monadnock State Park Interpretive Ranger You’re traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That’s the signpost up ahead – “your next stop, Monadnock State Park.” That is exactly how I felt as […]
The Trail Less Traveled on Mt. Monadnock: Part 1
I’ll begin this week with another confession. I had a lot of difficulty writing this post. It almost didn’t make it here to the blog. Months ago when I first began planning some of the places and events I wanted to visit through this internship, hiking Monadnock was the first on my list. I couldn’t […]