Passaconaway

My plan for the day was Cannon Mountain and the Cannon Balls, but when I got toward Franconia Notch it was cloudy and and the top of Cannon was covered in mist. It has an outstanding view, so I didn't want to climb on a bad weather day. I was kind of in the groove with the driving as well, so I took the Kanc to Passaconaway. I'd looked at it last night as a back up plan, and it seemed like a viable alternative.

The hike was one of those 10.2 mile hikes where the first and last 2 miles are pretty much a casual stroll in the woods (note to self, sometimes it would be ok to just casually stroll in woods without climbing a mountain). Then, the next mile is gradual gain. So, when it starts going up, it's serious elevation gain!  It's full fall foliage season in NH now, and it was so pretty up there. The trees are so perfect this year, so the hike and view was extra nice.

I got to the top, and there were a bunch of people sitting on a rock, and I was like "is this the top?" but no, I had to walk another 3 minutes or so to this little cairn. After I went back and sat with everyone (I'd only seen two people on the way up - a man taking off his shirt and a woman about to pee right on the trail. WTF people??  You can take 10 steps!) and I had an egg salad sandwich that I bought on the way up (there's a bar on top of Cannon, so I hadn't backed food). It was so delicious! I thought about the egg salad sandwich people with a little nostalgia.

All and all, a nice day, but not a mountain that I will necessarily need to repeat.

Last night Bill Clinton came to Northeastern for his U thing! Tickets were free and opened to the public for the first panel, so of course I went. I love Bill Clinton. He talked about history with such deep understanding. And then about religion. And then he talked about how one of the biggest problems that we have right now is that we never talk to people who are different than us. It's so true. On his panel, he had this musician who was this big African American guy. The reason the guy was on the panel is that he wrote a book about the KKK, and he interviewed Clansmen to do it. One of the first guys he interviewed became great friends, quit the KKK, and gave him his robe. If they can talk it out, anyone can. But, we need amazing leaders who foster inclusiveness and dialogue.