The blues in the White Mountains

 Berries that is! Years ago I spent my summer in the White Mountains, and in addition to enough hiking and other activities that I lost weight despite a diet that included eating a family size cheesecake in 36 hours, I appreciated the length of the blueberry season. With elevation, there is the treeline, above which only hearty, low plants grow, and as a correlary, I conceived of the blueberry line, which rises in elevation as the season progresses. Want late berries? Hike higher.

In the aftermath of the late-ish fireworks, Amy, Brian and I headed across the valley to hike a loop of the north end of the Moats with an out and back spur to South Moat. These aren't "big number" peaks, so they don't receive the same attention as the Presidential Range, but that is also part of their grace. After passing through Diana's Bath, we saw one other couple in the woods for our whole outing and still had the view pleasure of a lot of time on a rocky ridge without trees, and happily, lots of blueberries!

Saturday had intermittent rain forecast, so I stayed close to what's left of my tarp shelter with a morning walk for provisions and through Whittaker Woods, and then later the sky cleared enough to draw me out towards Pudding Pond, a nice meander with an excellent name, and on I my approach, I was coming up behind a group of three, one of whom, upon hearing me, turned and gave a hearty full arm wave from 100 feet up the trail. After closing that gap, I greated them with, "I commend your emphatic wave, which, alas, seems an endangered expression these days!" I bemoan the number of people doing like-minded activities on trails and multiuse paths who won't respond to a greeting, so I sometimes follow my hello with "Never mind" when they fail to reciprocate.

Clouds kept clearing, so the luring continued, and I took the turn to quadruple my walk and head up Peaked Mountain for views from the east side of the valley, and yes, more blueberries! Bonus, I enjoyed a panoramic nap up top, even with a very polite disruption from a couple visiting hikers. Yes, the quality of human interactions seems to increase with the distance from downtown.

Views like this make me sleepy

Say what I will about the tourist hubbub in town, it does have some valuable assets like water I needn't filter, and exterior power outlets at the library for changing my phone while I listen to the BBC news podcast. It was a relaxing day at the starting edge of the mountains, and I rested well in anticipation of my departure south the next day.