First Day Hike

First Day Hikes are part of a nationwide initiative led by America’s State Parks to encourage people to get outdoors. The hikes are held on New Year’s Day as states throughout the U.S. sponsor free, guided hikes in their state parks to encourage adults and children to get outdoors and enjoy the beauty of a natural resource.  

While I didn't see any estimates on this year's First Day Hikes, last year nearly 28,000 people rang in the New Year by collectively hiking over 66,000 miles throughout the country.

In our home state of NJ, there were not only numerous First Day Hikes, but a selection of state parks to choose from; however, choices were more limited when we lived in a small VA eastern shore town. Now, the situation has changed and we have a choice of NH state parks, several less than an hour driving time away.

That's why on New Year's Day 2016, we put on our walking hiking shoes and joined over 75 people at Silver Lake State Park in Hollis, NH, for an walk that went through woods, an apple orchard, and a small tree farm. 

As you can see, we also had snow on the ground thanks to a snowfall (first of the season) two days earlier. Christmas was unseasonably warm here in New England as in many other states, but all that changed here within a few days. And, while the going was a bit sloppy and slushy at times, it was fun to be outdoors hiking in the snow — at least for us.

We hiked through wooded areas and yes took some selfies enroute.

We followed paths that went around an apple orchard, which looked quite forlorn with the fruit long gone.

Still being holiday time, I found natural ornaments there — still red apples.

And in some years to come, these trees may be ready for Christmas time.

It was a quite overcast during most of the walk which made this old barn all the more dramatic. It was monochromatic even before I altered it to become a B&W image.

As we neared the end of our walk, which as about 2 miles, the skies cleared and presented me with some dramatic skies.

Afterwards, we explored some backroad areas by auto. However, by late afternoon we found that outdoors hiking builds up an appetite, so there was only one thing to do . . .

We found a local tavern that served good burgers (and sweet potato fries) to satisfy our appetites. We also each received a hat to mark our hiking experience.

Just wondering — How did you spend the 1st day of this 2016 New Year?