Breakfast and a hike.

We stopped at Benton's Sugar Shack today.

Syrup grade gauge?

Had magnificent breakfasts that included maple baked beans and maple cooked kielbasa. These items were the source of a couple arguments as we swapped some of our portions, despite leaving with a doggie bag!

 They also host the White Mountain Boogie N' Blues Festival.

I was fortunate enough to hear one owner recount their legal battle with Bev (from the above sign) to continue this event, culminating in a town vote where 85% of the town voted to support it. It was the highest attended vote in this town! Pictures of the Blues Brothers, John Lee Hooker, and the Uppity Blues Women adorn this room.

Touring the evaporator bolstered my belief that the process was at least in part invented as a way to keep warm when the sap runs. A body has to be prepared for the seasonal changes.

The season maples run is what I call the thaw.

We are in the lake areas of New Hampshire,

I imagine the M/S Mount Washington was recently put in the water for the season.

and signs of the thaw are everywhere.

A short hike at the Markus Wildlife Sanctuary

let us enjoy the sights and sounds

of the early spring thaw.

There are several reminders

of this winter's tenacity.