There is a type of joy that comes from the finite: a morning routine, a dog walk in the morning sun, dinner at the same restaurant for the hundredth time. There is a lot in these small worlds, a comfort found deep inside the places and moments you know best.
There is a type of joy that comes from the infinite as well: an adventure spanning out in front of you, a new hobby or job, the start of another summer. The possibility of the world seems to open itself to you.
Over spring break, I found fulfilment in both these ways. I visited both Mt. Washington, NH and the town of Washington, CT. Both find their places among the best experiences of my life, but in completely different ways.
Washington, CT is a quintessential small town in northeastern Connecticut. It inspired the town ‘Stars Hollow’ in the show Gilmore Girls. Immediately after the history march exam, Selia Sitzer, Ella Thomas, Alex Sheinkin, Dash Gilrain-Lennon and I decided to take a trip to this unique area. We drove for 90 minutes on back roads through suburbia, forests and farmland. The moment of arrival in Washington was incredibly obvious: we were greeted by no less than 5 church steeples in a one mile radius. There was a small bookstore, café, ha
rdware store, lovely gazebo, and picturesque town hall. We visited every part of this small town, and were met with great almond croissants, an interesting selection of books, and some town chatter. Washington isn’t a limitless or long-lasting experience: it’s a day trip at the longest. There was something nice about the lack of options – the trip is what you make of it, not a slew of constant excitement. You can bask in the aesthetic of it all without feeling overwhelmed, leave having embraced the town in its entirety. Washington CT was a place I will remember for years, but also somewhere that I don’t immediately itch to return to, a perfect example of the first type of joy.
Mt. Washington, NH is the tallest mountain in the northeast. It is known to have some of the worst weather in the world, holding the North American record for the fastest wind speed recorded at 231 mph. It is the centerpiece of the Presidential Range in the White Mountain National Forest – these mountains rise far above tree line, with deep couloirs, glacial cirques, and never ending talus fields. I rolled into the Pinkham Notch parking lot, which was crawling with ice climbers, hikers, and skiers. I was there to spend my entire day skiing the eastern facing ravines of Mt. Washington. It was 8AM when I started, and I had no idea what the day had in store. Luckily, what appeared to be a morning weather window expanded through the afternoon and night. I ended up skiing until 7PM, pulling out my headlamp and donning crampons and an ice axe when I ran out of sunlight and soft snow. For anyone interested in the exact details, I skied Right Gully, Lobster Claw, Hillman’s Highway, two runs in the Gulf of Slides, the GOS ski trail, and the Sherburne trail. I stopped only briefly at 4PM for a short lunch, but otherwise was moving through the mountains for 11 hours straight, finding myself in quite a lovely flow. Unlike Washington, CT, Mt. Washington is completely overwhelming. Incredible ski lines fall in every direction, the range truly limitless. Being in a place like this still feels dreamlike, and is truly a never ending playground, a textbook example of the second type of joy.
I think that it’s important to balance these two types of experiences to build a fulfilling life – it’s important to broaden your horizons and push yourself, but also to make sure that you bring yourself back to center, and aren’t always overwhelmed. Anyways, all that to say, you should go to Washington!
