It’s been a while since we’ve written a post, but don’t think that means we haven’t gotten outside!  Our treks are a bit milder these days now that we have baby in tow, so sometimes they just don’t warrant a blog posting (not to mention the lack of time to write).  Anyway, we did get out last Sunday for a fun family hike to Hermit Falls along the Basin Trail in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

The Basin Trail to Hermit Falls: 1.3 miles to falls.

We parked just before the Basin Campground at the boat ramp for beautiful Basin Pond.  We must come back with a boat to explore the water.  The trail leaves the parking area and skirts the pond on your right and the campground on your left.  We passed one woman and her dog who was looking for the geocache in the area and told us about an impressive beaver dam at the end of the pond.  We saw parts of the dam from the trail and a few beaver chewed trees.

Basin Pond can be seen along the trail.

Mountain cliffs tower over the pond.

The trail is mostly flat and crosses several streams.  Before we knew it, we were at Hermit Falls where we stopped for a few minutes to take in the view.

Lindsay and Alden crossing one of the streams.

Andrew hikes along the Basin Trail.

Here we all are with Hermit Falls in the background.

Lindsay and Alden pose in front of Hermit Falls.

We followed the Hermit Falls Loop above the falls and ate our lunch at the top of the falls.  We continued on the loop trail that climbs steeply up a hill and back around until it meets back up with the original Basin Trail.

Lindsay and Alden at the lunch spot.

Andrew’s turn to carry Alden.

Interesting mushrooms along the trail.

After an exciting hike up to the falls, Alden slept most of the hike back.

On our way back we passed several groups of people heading toward the falls, many we guessed were camping too.   After the oppressive humidity we’ve been having, the cooler air on this day made for a perfect hike.