Photo Friday: Mount Monadnock

I decided to spend one of my precious few free weekends hiking up one of New Hampshire's beautiful mountains. While the trail wasn't exactly what I expected -- within 20 minutes I was scaling solid slabs of rock like I was practicing my rock-climbing skills -- it was a wonderful time, and I could quickly see why Mt Monadnock is one of the country's most climbed mountains. Due to a setting sun and sore knees, we only made it 3/4 of the way up, but the views were incredible. Besides, now I have a hiking goal: next spring, I'm hitting the summit of Mount Monadnock.

Although I better pace myself. One of the highlights of the hike was witnessing a helicopter rescue. While the woman wasn't severely injured, it's still enough to make you pause and remember that, at the end of the day, you're dealing with a pretty relentless mountain.