Back in June, for David’s birthday, we took the kids up to Monson, ME to visit the hostel owner’s of Shaw’s Hiker Hostel, who have quickly become good friends of ours. We attempted to hike a small mountain, not on the Appalachian Trail, called Borestone. Unfortunately the little legs couldn’t make it more than a mile (which was perfectly fine for us!) but David and I knew we wanted to come back and visit.

So back in September, we visited the hostel again (it was still very busy with hikers, but luckily they had some space for us) and decided to tackle the mountain.

The first half up is gradual and rooty, but not too much of a challenge for us.

After about a mile, we reached the lake, and a little rangers station where we had to pay $5 each to access the summit.

The hike up was considered technical, but that’s because there were some parts of the rocks that had handholds to be able to get up. It wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle and I actually enjoy a good rock scramble.

The views were absolutely stunning. We stayed up there for a little bit, enjoying our snacks. At an elevation of 1,981 feet, it dwarfs in comparison to the mountains of the Appalachian Trail that surround it. But the hike up (and the views) will leave you breathless nonetheless.

What’s a hike that surprised you the most?