30th June, 2007

Every year of this day means a lot to me... Last year, I was in HK with my panda, sis and friends. This year, i am here in Portsmouth - alone. Nonetheless, though we are all located at different parts of the world, we all did the SAME thing.

Today, I did something for myself and for you as well...

你, 听见了吗?

A group of TAP trainees planned for a hike to Mt Monadnock today. But I didn't join them as they planned a night hike - wanting to catch sunset at the summit of the mountain before descending. Knowing myself, being clumsy and also my weak body constitution, I opted to climb it during the day. KY was kind enough to forsake the night hike and accompanied me to go earlier during the day.

Mt Monadnock is located in Monadnock State Park, Jaffrey NH. It is said that Mt Monadnock is the second most hiked mountain in the world, after Mt Fuji of Japan. I was all so scared off by the pictures I see from: http://www.qcc.mass.edu/brink/Trav-rec/mt_monad/monadtr.html

But I went ahead still...............

The drive there took about 2 hrs and the admission cost $3 per person. After getting all ready, we started our hike up the White Dot trail at 130pm. Before the way up....

After ONLY 5 minutes...

The steep terrain and all the boulders really made it difficult for me. Panting and dizzy spells were part and parcel of the rest of my way up. Really taking a toll out of me.. :p But i gotta keep going......

After an hour...

As we got higher, i was practically on all fours.. Wahaha... so as not to slip and fall :p About another hour later, we saw strong sunlight from the top. We have reached the scenic viewpoint that is just below the summit...

Wanted to go further up to the summit, but I was really daunted by the steep rocks and boulders. Since I have already achieved what I wanna do for the day, I didn't wanna push myself any further. I called it a day and wanted to make my way down. Sorry KY........

Note how KY walked down and how i slide my way down.... :p

Met up with the group of TAP trainees abt an hr later when they were making their up. After a couple of exchanges, we continued our way down Mt Monadnock via White Dot trail still n reached the bottom of the mountain at abt 5pm.. KY then brought me to the Miller State Park nearby where we drove along the summit auto road to the summit. Upon alighting, I saw this signboard..

But hor......... Where is Boston huh?

On the whole, it was a great workout for the day and to sum the day up, I managed to catch some Wimbledon replay at KY's place after a simple fare that we cooked up ourselves :)