A winter retreat

While most people seek a warm and sunny beach to get away from the long winter's drag, I choose to head in the opposite direction. My husband and I have been joining a small group of friends for a weekend get-away in the White Mountains for the last 15 or so years. Here is a picture of the Rocky Branch Resort: (full of all our stuff)

 

The lean-to is located in Bartlett NH and is approximately a 4 mile hike from the main road and takes about 3 hours to get there. It is about 2 miles from the road to the trail head and then another 2 miles to the lean-to. We typically cross country ski in and often have to change into snow shoes due to the river crossings and steep inclines and we tow our gear in on sleds.

We spent the day on Saturday trying to cross country ski on the Isolation Trail, but much of the trail system was washed out a few years ago in a big flood that devastated much of the white mountain trail systems. The attention sign under the trail sign tells that the trail to Isolation is closed, it will take much work to get the trails cleaned up from the powerful force of the river. 

 

This year, we were lucky enough to have the warmest temperatures that we have ever had. Although, we didn't have any fancy gear to tell us, we guessed the daytime temps were in the 30's and nighttime's dipping in the low 20s.

Although I missed my dogs from the second we left the driveway, there is something to be said about getting away from every thing and just having some "me time". No one depending on me to feed them, no one to walk or clean up after. But I still missed my critters back home and hoped someone would venture in with a dog at some point.

On the ski out, we encountered dog tracks that showed that someone had been on the lower trail earlier with 2 or 3 dogs. I had hoped to meet up with them for a much needed dog fix, but we did not see anyone on the trails the entire weekend.  

And while it was a lot of fun being out in the woods for the weekend, it was SO good to get back home. Greeted by 3 happy pups, even the chickens in the backyard let us know that they missed us. You really don't know how much we take for granted until you get it back. A hot shower and a warm bed never felt so good.