I think 2018 is shaping up to be the year of hiking! We’ve been up Mount Wachusett, Mount Greylock, and now we can add Mount Watatic to that list. David suggested we go up to Vermont, but considering the hot weather was on its way, I wanted to keep it close to home and not too high in elevation. Watatic was the perfect choice; it’s only 35 minutes from our house and the summit is at about 1300 feet.

The parking lot is small (fits about 10-12 cars) but there are spots along route 119 where you can pull over. We loaded up our packs with snacks and water, and David hoisted Eleanor into the Osprey pack. (The pack is working quite well for us; the only downside is that the hip pads don’t come all the way around.)

The hike was actually more of a work out than I was expecting. Since it had rained the day before, the path was muddy in some parts and slippery over the rocks and roots. We made sure to watch our footing and were able to make it to the first lookout point safely.

We took Eleanor out of the pack and let her walk around a bit. And it’s definitely on our radar to go out and get her some hiking boots. 🙂 She’ll be walking on her own in no time!

The rest of the walk to the summit was a good mix of up hill hiking and meandering paths. It’s certainly getting us ready for our (hopeful) through-hike in a couple of years. Although it was muggy out, there was a bit of a breeze at the summit.

We didn’t end up staying at the summit for too long since Eleanor was getting a little anxious. She was a little fussy getting back in to the carrier but she quickly quieted down and was her happy little self as we hiked back down. We went down a different way so that we could add some more mileage to our day. Total mileage was about 3.5 miles in just a couple of hours.

It ended up being a great hike that allowed us to get outside, get in some exercise, but not be away from home for too long. We got back in time for lunch and Eleanor took a nice afternoon nap. 🙂

Any New England locals that can recommend a fun family hike? We’re heading up to southern Vermont in October so that’ll be fun (and cold!).