I think I’m beginning to see the beauty of New England now.

This past weekend, Kevin and I had a friend, Andrew, visiting New Hampshire from Pennsylvania. Andrew chose a trail loop that he wanted to go backpacking on, and we would be spending a couple of nights out there. Kevin and I were ready for this; we had purchased multi-day Osprey packs, and we needed a reason to break them in. This trip was totally a good reason.

It took about an hour and a half to drive north from Manchester to the White Mountains. We’ve been told that they are the place to go for outdoor activities in all of New Hampshire, and they didn’t disappoint on this first go-round. The Franconia Range is a mountain range within the White Mountains. Andrew had decided on the Franconia Ridge Trail Loop, 8 miles long in total with an elevation gain of almost 4,000 feet.

We arrived at the trailhead around 4 p.m. and hiked up the Old Bridle Path. This route was practically empty of people because of how late we started. It was really nice to have the trail to ourselves. As we climbed up, the views already stunned us, especially during the “golden hour.” Some of the trees teased us with changing colors, but everything was still mostly green. The weather was clear and warm. We continued well past sunset and reached the Greenleaf Hut, an awesome cabin with wooden bunks, an old-fashioned kitchen, and many resources from food and water to maps. We had to go a bit further to find a spot to camp; Andrew hung up his hammock as Kevin and I put together our tent, and the three of us made dinner.

The next day, the weather took a turn. We woke up to completely cloudy skies and drizzling. We ate breakfast, packed up, and returned to the hut. Once we topped off on water, we headed up into the fog along the Greenleaf Trail, the rain quickly becoming sleet as the temperature dropped. We had to bring out our rain covers for our packs and other waterproof gear, like our rain jackets. We also had to prepare with our winter gear: gloves, hats, hoods, and scarves. We hiked up to Mount Lafayette, sometimes unable to see each other in the mist. There certainly wasn’t a view to speak of at that moment, no matter how many times I turned around to see. Luckily, the sleet had stopped.

We got up to the summit around noon and had lunch. The wind and cold were bad, yet there was a small area of big rocks built up to block the gusts. We waited around long enough for the fog to disperse, and man, was it all worth it right then and there. Lush mountains and valleys rolled up and down out in the distance, and we could see sheets of rock, rivers, and even the roads. After each of us took a lot of photos, we kept going and hiked along the ridge itself. This part of the loop is also part of the Appalachian Trail, which was so cool to think about. The other summits, Mount Lincoln and Little Haystack Mountain, emerged and disappeared further on as the clouds came over the ridge.

As for the last part of the loop, we took the Falling Waters Trail down. We didn’t get very far at first, deciding to set up camp much earlier than the night before. We moved off Falling Waters and went down to Shining Rock, an enormous slab that glistened with water. Our makeshift campsite proved to be much closer quarters than our previous one. However, both nights were definitely chilly; I actually needed to borrow Andrew’s space blanket and wear all of my clothes in my sleeping bag to get warm and fall asleep.

On our final day, we finished with the loop as we resumed down Falling Waters. Goodness, we couldn’t ask for better weather compared to the day before! The skies were almost completely clear, and everything was much sunnier and warmer. The trail was packed with people, their kids, and their dogs. We were constantly reminded of trail etiquette, that’s for sure. Falling Waters, true to its name, had beautiful cascades with cold, flowing water. There were more photo opportunities to be had. Then we made it back to the car. We had to drop Andrew off at his car, and we were on our way home. Once we were done, we were positive that, only over a couple of days, the trees had changed more to yellow and red. I feel like we truly saw the transition to fall.

Despite the weather at times, this trip was awesome! Both the Old Bridle Path and Falling Waters Trail were pretty difficult. Each one was steep, so they were hard going up and down. There were some wet spots and loose rock that made each route sort of slippery. Fortunately, there are a lot of boulders that you can use to get a good workout going up and control your speed going down. The loop was exhausting but exciting. Every section of the loop was wonderful in its own way. As opposed to just hiking, backpacking seriously added to the whole experience, too.

There was a point one afternoon where I stopped all by myself, with Kevin scouting ahead and Andrew bringing up the rear. The trail was absolutely quiet except for the rain tapping on my pack cover. I was surrounded by pine trees and moss; the forest on either side of me spread out without stopping. I couldn’t see any opening, not even ahead on the trail winding in front of me or behind me. I could see my breath and feel the chill in my lungs.

I really love nature for being so isolated and peaceful sometimes. I’ve had moments like this happen before in New Mexico and other parts of the Southwest. But I feel as though this moment was specific to the Northeast, and the entire trip helped me to appreciate New England even more. I can’t wait to see what it’s like for the rest of fall and into winter.