The Prelude to Mount Washington

Mount Washington is famous for its extreme weather, but there is more to this 6,288-foot mountain.  It is a dream for nature lovers and sight seers alike.  There are numerous trails to the peak, each offering something special, whether it be waterfalls, or a lake at 5050 ft.  Furthermore, all offer excellent views and a challenging ascent to the summit.  For those, less ambitious, Mount Washington offers easier means to reach the summit, the Mount Washington auto road and the famous Cog Railroad.

The Cog Railroad (above)

My brother and I planned this trip a few months in advance and decided that we wanted to do a big loop, taking two different trails, in order to experience as much of the mountain as possible over a 3 day weekend.  We decided to take the Ammonoosuc Ravine trail combined with the Crawford Path for the ascent, followed by the Gulfside trail and the Jewell trail for the Descent.


The Ammonoosuc Ravine trail had a few major advantages.  There is a large parking lot for hikers at the cog rail station, the trail begins approximately 500 ft higher in elevation than the trails on the other side of the mountain, there are numerous waterfalls, and the lake of the clouds.  Though there are a lot of advantages to taking this trail it should be noted that the trail is very steep in spots and usually wet.  In my research it was rated as one of the more difficult climbs, but in my opinion that made it all that more rewarding.

St. Kitts (First Cruise - Installment #7)

St. Kitts, like all the Caribbean islands is quite small, only about 65 square miles.  it has yet to really catch up with the development of the other islands leaving it relatively un-crowded and unspoiled.  According to the St. Kitts website, it is a big hit for nature lovers, because the ecosystem has been so well preserved; furthermore, nature lovers will want to take advantage of tours through lava formation, tropical rain forest, seaside lagoons, scuba diving, and snorkeling.  While St. Kitts offers plenty for the nature lover, it also offers tours of plantations and plenty of quaint shopping areas with beautiful colonial architecture. (facts from the official St. Kitts website).

View of St. Kitts (from Google)

Antigua (First Cruise - Installment #6)

Antigua, a beautifully hilly little island.  It is only about 100 square miles in size and through my research I discovered, like most other island countries, they like to boast about their beaches.  It has been stated that they have a beach for every day of the year, 365 in all.  The little island is also well know for having excellent snorkeling and scuba diving.

Above, a picture of a beach in Antigua

(I couldn't find a decent picture of the beach that I visited, 

so I grabbed this from the official Antigua website)

St. Lucia (First Cruise - Installment #5) aka. The Quest for the Perfect Beach

For St. Lucia, I decided it would be best to "wing it".  There were plenty of things to do; however, I had a tight budget and was nearing my limit.  I found that a lot of people made their way to the "Twin Pitons" for hiking and exploration.  They were something, from a distance and maybe the one regret I had about my trip. Never the less, my day worked out better than I could have ever predicted.

Image of the Twin Pitons.  Since I did not make it to the Pitons,

I had to get this image off of Google.

Barbados (First Cruise - Installment #4)

First a few fun facts I learned while in Barbados.  Barbados is a coral island that was pushed to sea by volcanic activity over time.  The West Coast of Barbados, is made up of fine white, coral shore beaches.  As with most of the Caribbean islands, coral reefs are adjacent to the shoreline and provide an excellent snorkeling.  The East Coast is not as calm.  Due to constant trade winds the waves pound the rocky shore providing a lively surf.  Barbados is rather flat in comparison to most of the islands I have been to.  The island is mostly made up of rolling hills.  One thing i found very interesting is that Barbados has a vast array of caves and underground lakes.  A taxi driver told me this was due to the fact the Barbados was once two distinct different land masses that merged together.  Though I think it would be a quite an adventure checking out underground lakes, I never had the opportunity, nor do i know if they are even available to the public.

The Welcome sign located as you get off the cruise ship

Dominica (First Cruise - Installment #3)

Tuesday I found myself on Dominica (pronounced Dom-in-eek-a).  Dominica sits midway along the Eastern Caribbean archipelago, just a few miles from Martinique to the south and Guadeloupe to the north.  The indigenous Carib Indians named the island Waitukubuli which means "tall is her body" in the carib language.  The island is sparsely populated with around 70,000 people inhabiting its 289.5 square miles.  A significant portion of the population lives in and around the capital city, Roseau.  Dominica is an arcadia of unspoiled nature with tropical forest covering roughly two thirds of the island.  Rivers, lakes, streams, and waterfalls abound, are fed by the islands high annual rainfall.  There are so many rivers that the people there boast of having a river for each day of the year (365).   In addition, Dominica is a volcanic island having black beaches and has one of the larges boiling lakes in the world. 

St. Thomas - (First Cruise- Installment #2)

Day two began at the cruise dock located near Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas.  Now if you are a big shopper, every island is packed with shops and locals trying to sell you things as soon as you disembark.  There is usually quite a selection, with jewelry being the big ticket item.  After a while i found the bombardment to be quite frustrating and annoying but you can't blame them for trying to make a living.


Now, I'm not a big fan of shopping so I made my way to find some local transportation.  I found it quite easy to get around on the islands.  There was what seemed like an endless supply of taxis and what I would call safari type trucks (picture below).  In my opinion the trucks were the way to go as long as you don't mind riding with a truck load of tourists!  

My First Cruise (Installment #1)

I have always wanted to take a cruise, if for no other reason than to experience the Caribbean.  A cruise is a great way to experience a lot in a short period of time and I feel it is one of the best ways to experience islands.  


In October 2009, I found a great deal on a cruise through carnival.  The economy was nearing the base of the recession.  Needless to say it was the perfect time to take a vacation.  Anyway, I booked a 7 night cruise with the following ports of call: Puerto Rico (cruise began and ended here), St. Thomas, Dominica, Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, and St. Kitts.  For me it was perfect.  Each day was a new island and a new adventure.