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Hike of Mt. WataticAshburnham, MASunday October 5th, 2008 |
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Over here, you're in Massachusetts... |
...and over here, you're in New Hampshire! |
We began our hike of Mt. Watatic by making a beeline for the state line! We had lots of fun hopping back and forth
across the border between Massachusetts and New Hampshire and being in two states at once. Here we're all hanging out
at the state line marker.
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Continuing along our way, we caught our first glimpse of the Mt. Watatic summit from the top of Nutting Hill.
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Corinne, Maggie, Jenny, Ashley, Dylan and Aysha, relaxing in the sun on the rocks at Nutting Hill. The sun was especially welcome since
it had been a gray, overcast and dreary day when we left Worcester.
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Our band of happy hikers continued merrily up the trail and encountered some funky mushrooms. 
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When we reached the summit we were awestruck by the amazing panoramic view.
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Aysha, Ashley and Kaitlin have all the angles covered.
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To our northeast stood the hills of Southern New Hampshire. Although the 1,832 foot summit of Mt. Watatic has bragging rights
as the second highest peak in Massachusetts east of the Connecticut River, one need not travel far into New Hampshire to
find taller summits.
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Dylan... enjoying the amazing view.
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Our whole group on the summit.
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There were no frogs to be found, but we did amuse ourselves watching this fuzzy yellow American Dagger Moth caterpillar inch its way across the summit.
If you find one, be careful of the black lashes on its back. Some say they're toxic.
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Aysha gets a close-up look.
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The really hard part of the hike was convincing ourselves to leave the warm, sunny summit and head back down the mountain. We finally managed to
get moving again and complete our 4-mile loop, closing the book on another perfect Sunday afternoon adventure!
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